Legals & Policies

General Assembly Records

Sky360 is obliged by law to publish its yearly General Assembly reports. Our records are below.

General Assembly 2025

The GA took place online on Sunday 19th of April 2026, 4pm UTC via a Discord meeting.

General Assembly 2024

The GA took place online on Sunday 6th of April 2025, 4pm UTC via a Discord meeting.

General Assembly 2023

The GA took place online on Sunday xxth of xxx 2024, 4pm UTC via a Discord meeting.

General Assembly 2022

The GA took place online on Sunday 26th of February 2023, 4pm UTC via a Discord meeting.

General Assembly 2021/22

The GA took place online on Sunday 28th of August 2022, 4pm UTC via a Discord meeting.

Ethics Policy

Our ethics policy aims to give all members of the organization Sky360 guidelines on our community's ethics and stance on various controversial matters. The purpose of this policy is to establish a culture of openness, trust, and fairness. This policy applies to every ordinary and supporting member or who has business relations (or similar) with Sky360 . This includes individual people such as community members, interns, volunteers, but also business entities, such as vendors, enterprise customers or venture capital companies. The organization's ethics policy consists of a set of principles and values that guide the behavior of the members and are essential to maintaining a healthy community. Our organizations policy rests on common values:

Open source & integrity

We release all our codes and models under the Creative Commons (hardware) and MIT (software) license. We want to maximize the impact and benefit of using open source, and to ensure that any technical, legal, or business risks resulting from that usage are properly mitigated. We will use resources available wisely and in accordance with our mission as stated in our bylaws and will avoid waste, mismanagement, and fraud.

Lawfulness

We will comply with all applicable laws and regulations and will maintain high standards of integrity and ethical behavior. Following laws regarding fraud, bribery, corruption, and any kind of assault is taken for granted.

Fairness

We and all members refrain from acting in ways that exploit others, their effort, or their mistakes. We do not allow for discriminating against people with protected characteristics (e.g., race, sex, religion,..). Any form of psychological, physical, sexual, or verbal abuse, intimidation, threat, or harassment will not be tolerated. As an internationally active organization, we expect all members to treat all people with due respect in every cultural setting.

Data integrity & custody

Protecting the confidentiality and integrity of data is significant for reliable scientific evaluation of the data collected. We maintain appropriate access controls to ensure that data is accessible by taking care of data paths from each station to a central node where they are then made public. We strive to ensure that the data collected remains unaltered and in the intended state for further evaluation.

We employ robust security measures to prevent unauthorized access, loss, or theft of data. We ensure that appropriate safeguards are sufficiently available to maintain data integrity and traceability.

Non-profit

We do not intend to make any disproportionate financial surplus from our activities. Any profits from sales are used to enable the community to achieve our common goals as set out in our bylaws. We present all financial activities of Sky360 on a regular basis according to our transparency responsibilities.

Transparency & accountability

Sky360 is structured around the idea of open (citizen) science, which builds on a high level of transparency and information sharing. We try to share all we can via our channels on a regular basis to achieve maximal accountability and aim at enabling access for everyone.

Privacy

We comply with all requirements to ensure that all personal information is kept completely and appropriately private. All members are required to comply. People affiliated with Sky360 are covered by our data protection policy. We will not expose, disclose, or endanger information of members, stakeholders, customers or our community. Sky360 will protect the privacy of its donors and will not share donor information with third parties without permission. We do not support any kind of privacy breaches and respect the private spheres of individuals and other third parties.

Peaceful conduct

We do not support any (violent) military institutions with our project. We have only peaceful purposes and refrain from cooperating with military institutions that serve the purpose of war or armed conflict.

Policy review

We are aware that our data integrity and custody requirements may evolve over time. We review our current policy on a regular basis to ensure its continued relevance. Any changes to this policy will be communicated to all members (and stakeholders) affiliated with Sky360.

Introduction and overview

We have written this privacy statement in order to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller - and the processors commissioned by us - process, will process in the future and what lawful options you have. The terms used are to be understood as gender-neutral.
In short, we inform you comprehensively about the data we process about you.

Data protection statements usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. This privacy statement, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. As far as transparency is concerned, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly way, links to further information are provided. In this way, we inform you in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the course of our business activities if there is a corresponding legal basis. This is certainly not possible by providing the most concise, unclear and legalistic explanations possible, as is often standard practice on the Internet when it comes to data protection. We hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative and perhaps there is one or two pieces of information you did not know.
If you still have questions, we would like to ask you to contact the responsible office mentioned below or in the imprint, to follow the links provided and to look at further information on third-party sites. Our contact details can of course also be found in the imprint.

Scope of application

This data protection declaration applies to all personal data processed by us in the organisation and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (order processors). By personal data, we mean information within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 1 DSGVO, such as a person's name, e-mail address and postal address. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer our services and products, whether online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes:

  • all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
  • social media sites and email communications
  • mobile apps for smartphones and other devices
In short, the data protection declaration applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in the organisation via the aforementioned channels in a structured manner. If we enter into legal relationships with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately where applicable.

Legal basis

In the following privacy statement, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.

As far as EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016, which you can of course read online on EUR-Lex, the gateway to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679 .


We only process your data if at least one of the following conditions applies:

 

  • Consent (Article 6(1)(a) DSGVO)
    You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose.
    An example would be the storage of your entered data of a contact form.
  • Contract (Article 6(1)(b) DSGVO)
    In order to fulfil a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you, we process your data.
    For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.
  • Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) DSGVO)
    If we are subject to a legal obligation, we process your data.
    For example, we are legally obliged to keep invoices for accounting purposes. These usually contain personal data.
  • Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) DSGVO)
    In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your fundamental rights, we reserve the right to process personal data.
    For example, we need to process certain data in order to operate our website in a secure and economically efficient manner. This processing is therefore a legitimate interest.

 

Other conditions such as the performance of recording in the public interest and the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually arise for us. If such a legal basis should be relevant, it will be indicated at the appropriate place.


In addition to the EU Regulation, national laws also apply:

 

  • In Austria, this is the Federal Act on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data (Data Protection Act), or DSG for short.

 

If other regional or national laws apply, we will inform you about them in the following sections.

Contact details of the responsible person

If you have any questions about data protection, please find below the contact details of the person or body responsible:

Sky360 - Verein zur Erforschung von Himmelsphänomenen
Am Lohningfeld 5, 5700 Zell am See, Austria.

Authorised to represent: Richard G. Hopf
E-mail: secretary@sky360.org

Storage period

It is a general criterion that we only store personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This means that we delete personal data as soon as the reason for processing the data no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obliged to store certain data even after the original purpose has ceased to exist, for example for accounting purposes.

Should you wish your data to be deleted or revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as soon as possible and insofar as there is no obligation to store it.

We will inform you about the specific duration of the respective data processing below, provided we have further information on this.

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.

According to Article 13 of the GDPR, you have the following rights to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

You have a right of access under Article 15 GDPR to know whether we are processing data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to know the following information:
  • the purpose for which we are processing it;
  • the categories, i.e. types, of data being processed;
  • who receives this data and, if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
  • how long the data will be stored;
  • the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
  • that you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
  • the origin of the data if we have not collected it from you;
  • whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically analysed to arrive at a personal profile of you.
You have a right to rectification of data under Article 16 of the GDPR, which means that we must rectify data if you find errors.
You have the right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") under Article 17 of the GDPR, which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it any further.
According to Article 19 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a common format upon request.
You have a right to object under Article 21 of the GDPR, which entails a change in processing after enforcement.
If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
If data is used to carry out direct advertising, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may then no longer use your data for direct marketing.
If data is used for profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling thereafter.
According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example profiling).
In short, you have rights - do not hesitate to contact the controller listed above at our office!

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can complain to the supervisory authority. For Austria, this is the data protection authority, whose website can be found at https://www.dsb.gv.at/. The following local data protection authority is responsible for our organisation:

Austria Data Protection Authority
Head: Mag. Dr. Andrea Jelinek
Address: Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna
Telephone: +43 1 52 152-0
E-mail: dsb@dsb.gv.at

Data processing security

To protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organisational measures. Where possible, we encrypt or pseudonymize personal data. In this way, we make it as difficult as possible, within the scope of our possibilities, for third parties to infer personal information from our data.

Article 25 of the GDPR refers to "data protection through technical design and through data protection-friendly default settings" and thus means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to the server room) are always designed with security in mind and that appropriate measures are taken. In the following, we will go into more detail on specific measures, if necessary.

TLS encryption with https

TLS, encryption and https sound very technical and they are. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure stands for "secure hypertext transfer protocol") to transfer data tap-proof on the internet.
This means that the complete transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured - no one can "listen in".

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and fulfil data protection by design of technology Article 25(1) DSGVO). 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 recognise the use of this data transmission protection by the small lock symbol at the top left of the browser, to the left of the Internet address (e.g. beispielseite.de) and the use of the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our Internet address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend a Google search for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki" to get good links to further information.

Communication

Data subjects: All those who communicate with us by telephone, e-mail or online form.
Data processed: e.g. telephone number, name, e-mail address, form data entered. You can find more details on this in the respective type of contact used.
Purpose: Handling of communication with customers, business partners, etc.
Duration of storage: Duration of the business case and legal requirements.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO (Contract), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests).
When you contact us and communicate by telephone, e-mail or online form, personal data may be processed.

The data is processed for the handling and processing of your question and the related business transaction. The data will be stored for the same period of time or as long as required by law.

Persons concerned:
All those who seek contact with us via the communication channels provided by us are affected by the above-mentioned processes.

Telephone:
When you call us, the call data is stored pseudonymously on the respective end device and with the telecommunications provider used. In addition, data such as name and telephone number may subsequently be sent by e-mail and stored for the purpose of responding to enquiries. The data is deleted as soon as the business case has been closed and legal requirements permit.

E-mail:
If you communicate with us by e-mail, data may be stored on the respective end device (computer, laptop, smartphone,...) and data is stored on the e-mail server. The data is deleted as soon as the business transaction has been completed and legal requirements permit.

Online forms:
If you communicate with us using online forms, data is stored on our web server and may be forwarded to an e-mail address of ours. The data will be deleted as soon as the business transaction has been completed and legal requirements permit.

Legal basis:
The processing of data is based on the following legal grounds:
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent)
    You give us your consent to store your data and to further use it for purposes related to the business case;
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO (contract)
    There is a need for the performance of a contract with you or a processor such as the telephone provider or we need to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as the preparation of an offer;
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)
    We want to operate customer enquiries and business communication in a professional framework. For this purpose, certain technical facilities such as e-mail programmes, exchange servers and mobile operators are necessary in order to be able to operate the communication efficiently.

Cookies

Data subjects: Visitors to the website.
Purpose: Depends on the cookie. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
Data processed: Depending on the particular cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
Storage period: Depends on the cookie, can vary from hours to years.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What are 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.

Whenever you browse the internet, you use a browser. Popular 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 applications. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically placed in the cookie folder, effectively the "brain" of your browser. 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 return to our site, your browser transmits the "user-related" information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our site knows who you are and offers you the setting you are used to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

HTTP cookie interaction between browser and web server

There are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created directly by our site, third-party cookies are created by partner websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie is to be evaluated individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiry time of a cookie also varies from a few minutes to a few years. Cookies are not software programmes and do not contain viruses, Trojans or other "pests". Cookies also cannot access information on your PC.

For example, cookie data may look like this:

Name: _ga
Wert: GA1.2.1326744211.152111977416-9
Purpose: to distinguish website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

At least 4096 bytes per cookie
At least 50 cookies per domain
At least 3000 cookies in total

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.

One can distinguish 4 types of cookies:

Essential 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 basket, then continues surfing on other pages and later goes to the checkout. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart even if the user closes his browser window.

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

Goal-oriented cookies:
These cookies provide a better user experience. For example, locations entered, 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 practical, but also very annoying.

Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you are asked which of these types of cookies you would like to allow. And of course, this decision is also stored in a cookie.

If you want to know more about cookies and are not afraid of technical documentation, we recommend https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) called "HTTP State Management Mechanism".

Purpose of processing via cookies:
The purpose ultimately depends on the cookie in question. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

What data is processed?
Cookies are small helpers for many different tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to generalise what data is stored in cookies, but we will inform you about the data processed or stored within the framework of the following data protection declaration.

Storage period of cookies:
The storage period depends on the individual cookie and is specified further below. Some cookies are deleted after less than an hour, others can remain stored on a computer for several years.

You can also influence the storage period yourself. You can delete all cookies manually at any time via your browser (see also "Right to object" below). Furthermore, cookies that are based on consent will be deleted at the latest after revocation of your consent, whereby the legality of the storage remains unaffected until then.

Right of objection - how can I delete cookies?
You decide how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies originate from, you always have the option of deleting, deactivating or only partially permitting cookies. 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.

If you basically do not want any cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow the cookie or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best way is to search for the instructions in Google with the search term "Delete Cookies Chrome" or "Deactivate Cookies Chrome" in the case of a Chrome browser.

Legal basis:
The so-called "Cookie Guidelines" have been in place since 2009. These state that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these directives. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in § 96 para. 3 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG).

For absolutely necessary cookies, even if there is no consent, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide visitors to the website with a pleasant user experience and for this purpose certain cookies are often absolutely necessary.

Where cookies are used that are not strictly necessary, this is only done with your consent. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO.

Web hosting

Data subjects: Visitors to the website.
Purpose: Professional hosting of the website and securing its operation.
Data processed: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. More details can be found below or with the respective web hosting provider used.
Storage period: Depends on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is web hosting?
When you visit websites nowadays, certain information - including personal data - is automatically created and stored, including on this website. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible and only with justification. By website, by the way, we mean the totality of all web pages on a domain, i.e. everything from the home page (homepage) to the very last sub-page (like this one). By domain, we mean, for example, sky360.org.

If you want to view a website on a screen, you use a programme called a web browser to do so. You probably know some web browsers by name: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

This web browser needs to connect to another computer where the website's code is stored: the web server. Running a web server is a complicated and costly task, which is why it is usually done by professional providers. These offer web hosting and thus ensure reliable and error-free storage of website data.

When the browser on your computer (desktop, laptop, smartphone) connects and during data transfer to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. On the one hand, your computer stores data, on the other hand, the web server also needs to store data for a while to ensure proper operation.

Why do we process personal data?
The purposes of the data processing are:

Professional hosting of the website and securing the operation to maintain operational and IT security.
Anonymous evaluation of access behaviour to improve our offer and, if necessary, to prosecute or pursue claims

What data is processed?
Even while you are visiting our website right now, our web server, which is the computer on which this website is stored, usually automatically saves data such as:
  • the complete internet address (URL) of the website you are visiting
  • Browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)
  • the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)
  • the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL)
  • the host name and IP address of the device being accessed (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
  • the date and time
  • in files, the so-called web server log files
How long is data stored?
As a rule, the above data is stored for a fortnight and then automatically deleted. We do not pass on this data, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed by the authorities in the event of unlawful behaviour.

In short, your visit is logged by our provider (the company that runs our website on special computers (servers)), but we do not pass on your data without your consent!

Legal basis:
The lawfulness of the processing of personal data in the context of web hosting results from Art. 6 (1) lit. f DSGVO (protection of legitimate interests), because the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to present the company on the internet in a secure and user-friendly way and to be able to pursue attacks and claims from this if necessary.

As a rule, there is a contract between us and the hosting provider for commissioned processing in accordance with Art. 28 f. DSGVO, which ensures compliance with data protection and guarantees data security.

Website construction kit

Data subjects: Visitors to the website.
Purpose: Optimisation of our service performance.
Data processed: Data such as technical usage information such as browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps as well as contact details, IP address or your geographical location. More details can be found below in this privacy policy and in the privacy policy of the providers.
Storage period: Depends on the provider.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent).

What are website building systems?
We use a website construction kit system for our website. Modular systems are special forms of a content management system (CMS). With a modular system, website operators can create a website very easily and without programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosts also offer building block systems. By using a modular system, personal data of you may also be collected, stored and processed. In this data protection text, we provide you with general information about data processing by modular systems. You can find more detailed information in the provider's data protection declarations.

Why do we use website construction kit systems for our website?
The biggest advantage of a modular system is that it is easy to use. We want to offer you a clear, simple and concise website that we can easily operate and maintain ourselves - without external support. A modular system now offers many helpful functions that we can use even without programming knowledge. This enables us to design our web presence according to our wishes and to offer you an informative and pleasant time on our website.

What data is stored by a modular system?
Exactly what data is stored depends, of course, on the website construction kit system used. Each provider processes and collects different data from the website visitor. However, as a rule, technical usage information such as operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, hosting provider and the date of your website visit are collected. Tracking data (e.g. browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps, etc.) may also be processed. In addition, personal data may also be collected and stored. This is mostly contact data such as email address, telephone number (if you have provided it), IP address and geographical location data. You can find out exactly what data is stored in the provider's privacy policy.

How long and where is the data stored?
We will inform you about the duration of the data processing below in connection with the website construction kit system used, provided we have further information on this. You will find detailed information about this in the provider's privacy policy. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. It may be that the provider stores data from you according to its own specifications, over which we have no influence.

Right of objection:
You always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the person responsible for the website construction kit system used at any time. You can find contact details either in our privacy policy or on the website of the relevant provider.

You can delete, deactivate or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Please note, however, that all functions may then no longer work as usual.

Legal basis:
We have a legitimate interest in using a website construction kit in order to optimise our online service and present it to you in an efficient and user-friendly manner. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use the construction kit if you have given your consent.

Insofar as the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, the data will only be processed on the basis of your consent. This applies in particular to tracking activities. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO.

With this data protection declaration, we have provided you with the most important general information about data processing. If you would like more detailed information, you will find further information - if available - in the following section or in the privacy policy of the provider.

Web analytics

Data subjects: Visitors to the website.
Purpose: To analyse visitor information in order to optimise the web offer.
Data processed: Access statistics containing data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. More details can be found in the respective web analytics tool used.
Storage period: Depends on the web analytics tool used.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What is Web Analytics?
We use software on our website to evaluate the behaviour of website visitors, known as web analytics for short. This involves collecting data that the respective analytic tool provider (also called tracking tool) stores, manages and processes. With the help of the data, analyses of user behaviour on our website are created and made available to us as the website operator. In addition, most tools offer various test options. For example, we can test which offers or contents are best received by our visitors. For this purpose, we show you two different offers for a limited period of time. After the test (so-called A/B test), we know which product or content our website visitors find more interesting. For such test procedures, as for other analytics procedures, user profiles can also be created and the data stored in cookies.

Why do we use web analytics?
We have a clear goal with our website: we want to deliver the best web offer on the market for our industry. In order to achieve this goal, we want to offer the best and most interesting offer on the one hand, and on the other hand we want to make sure that you feel completely comfortable on our website. With the help of web analysis tools, we can take a closer look at the behaviour of our website visitors and then improve our website accordingly for you and for us. For example, we can see how old our visitors are on average, where they come from, when our website is visited the most or which content or products are particularly popular. All this information helps us to optimise the website and thus best adapt it to your needs, interests and wishes.

What data is processed?
Exactly what data is stored depends, of course, on the analysis tools used. But as a rule, for example, what content you view on our website, which buttons or links you click on, when you call up a page, which browser you use, which device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) you use to visit the website or which computer system you use are stored. If you agreed that location data may also be collected, these may also be processed by the web analysis tool provider.

In addition, your IP address is also stored. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO), IP addresses are personal data. However, your IP address is usually stored pseudonymously (i.e. in an unrecognisable and shortened form). For the purpose of testing, web analysis and web optimisation, no direct data, such as your name, age, address or e-mail address, is stored as a matter of principle. All this data, if collected, is stored pseudonymously. This means that you cannot be identified as a person.

How long the respective data is stored always depends on the provider. Some cookies only store data for a few minutes or until you leave the website again, other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing:
We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, provided we have further information on this. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is strictly necessary to provide our services and products. If, as in the case of accounting for example, it is required by law, this storage period may be exceeded.

Right to object:
You also have the right and the possibility to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser.

Legal basis:
The use of web analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur during the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part in analysing the behaviour of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. With the help of web analytics, we detect website errors, can identify attacks and improve economic efficiency. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

Since web analytics tools use cookies, we also recommend that you read our general data protection declaration on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the data protection statements of the respective tools.

Information on specific web analytics tools - if available - can be found in the following sections.

Google Analytics

Data subjects: Visitors to the website.
Purpose: To analyse visitor information in order to optimise the website.
Data processed: Access statistics, which include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
Storage period: Depending on the properties used.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What is Google Analytics?
On our website, we use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) of the American company Google Inc. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. For example, when you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics help us to better tailor our website and service to your preferences. In the following, we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and, in particular, inform you about what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Google Analytics is a tracking tool that is used to analyse the traffic on our website. In order for Google Analytics to work, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various actions you take on our website. As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics servers and stored there.

Google processes the data and we receive reports about your user behaviour. These reports may include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Audience reports
    Audience reports help us get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
  • Display reports
    Display reports help us analyse and improve our online advertising.
  • Acquisition reports
    Acquisition reports give us helpful information on how to attract more people to our service.
  • Behaviour reports
    This tells us how you interact with our website. We can track the path you take on our site and which links you click on.
  • Conversion reports
    Conversion is when you take a desired action as a result of a marketing message. For example, when you go from being just a website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing efforts are working for you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
  • Real-time reports
    Here we always know immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.
Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?
Our goal with this website is clear: we want to offer you the best possible service. The statistics and data from Google Analytics help us to achieve this goal.

The statistically evaluated data shows us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimise our site so that it is found more easily by interested people on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. We thus know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures in a more individual and cost-effective way. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?
Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognises you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognised as a "returning" user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles.

In order to be able to analyse our website with Google Analytics, a property ID must be inserted into the tracking code. The data is then stored in the corresponding property. For each newly created property, the Google Analytics 4 property is standard. Alternatively, you can also create the Universal Analytics property. Depending on the property used, data is stored for different periods of time.

Identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs are used to measure your interactions on our website. Interactions are all types of actions you take on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google Account), data generated through Google Analytics may be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not share Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, authorise it. Exceptions may occur if required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga
Wert: 2.1326744211.152111977416-5
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Wert: 2.1687193234.152111977416-1
Purpose: The cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Purpose: Used to lower the request rate. If Google Analytics is provided via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_ <property-id>.
Expiry date: after 1 minute

Name: AMP_TOKEN
Value: not specified
Purpose: The cookie has a token that can be used to retrieve a user ID from the AMP client ID service. Other possible values indicate a logout, a request or an error.
Expiry date: after 30 seconds up to one year

Name: __utma
Wert: 1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Purpose: This cookie is used to track your behaviour on the website and measure performance. The cookie is updated every time information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: __utmt
Value: 1
Purpose: The cookie is used like _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id> to throttle the request rate.
Expiry date: after 10 minutes

Name: __utmb
Value: 3.10.1564498958
Purpose: This cookie is used to determine new sessions. It is updated every time new data or information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes

Name: __utmc
Value: 167421564
Purpose: This cookie is used to set new sessions for returning visitors. This is a session cookie and is only stored until you close the browser again.
Expiry date: After you close the browser.

Name: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Purpose: The cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. This means that the cookie stores from where you came to our website. This may have been another page or an advertisement.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Name: __utmv
Value: not specified
Purpose: The cookie is used to store custom user data. It is updated whenever information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Note: This list cannot claim to be complete, as Google also changes the choice of its cookies time and again.

Here we show you an overview of the most important data collected with Google Analytics:
  • Heatmaps
    Google creates so-called heatmaps. Heatmaps allow us to see exactly those areas that you click on. This gives us information about where you are "travelling" on our site.
  • Session duration
    Google defines session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.
  • Bounce rate
    A bounce is when you view only one page on our website and then leave our website again.
  • Account creation
    When you create an account or place an order on our website, Google Analytics collects this data.
  • IP address
    The IP address is only shown in abbreviated form so that no clear attribution is possible.
  • Location
    The IP address can be used to determine the country and your approximate location. This process is also referred to as IP location determination.
  • Technical information
    Technical information includes your browser type, internet service provider or screen resolution.
  • Source of origin
    Google Analytics and we are of course also interested in which website or which advertisements you came to our site from.
Other data include contact details, any ratings, the playing of media (e.g. if you play a video via our site), the sharing of content via social media or the addition to your favourites. This list does not claim to be complete and only serves as a general orientation of the data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?
Google has its servers spread all over the world. Most servers are located in America and consequently your data is mostly stored on American servers. You can find out exactly where Google's data centres are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en.

Your data is distributed on different physical data carriers. This has the advantage that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. In each Google data centre, there are corresponding emergency programmes for your data. If, for example, the hardware at Google fails or natural disasters paralyse servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google still remains low.

The retention period of the data depends on the properties used. When using the newer Google Analytics 4 properties, the retention period of your user data is fixed at 14 months. For other so-called event data, we have the option to choose a retention period of 2 months or 14 months.

For Universal Analytics properties, the default retention period for your user data is 26 months. Your user data will then be deleted. However, we have the option to choose the retention period of user data ourselves. Five variants are available to us for this purpose:
  • Deletion after 14 months
  • Cancellation after 26 months
  • Cancellation after 38 months
  • Deletion after 50 months
  • No automatic deletion
In addition, there is also the option for data to be deleted only when you no longer visit our website within the period we have chosen. In this case, the retention period will be reset each time you visit our website again within the specified period.

Once the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data associated with cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs (e.g. DoubleClick domain cookies). Reporting results are based on aggregated data and are stored separately from user data. Aggregated data is a merging of individual data into a larger unit.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete or restrict your data. You can prevent Google Analytics from using your data by using the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js). You can download and install the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. Please note that this add-on only deactivates the collection of data by Google Analytics.

If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the relevant links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers under the section "Cookies".

Legal basis:
The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur in the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors in order to improve our offer technically and economically. With the help of Google Analytics, we recognise website errors, can identify attacks and improve economic efficiency. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. This may be associated with various risks to the lawfulness and security of the data processing.

Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO) as the basis for data processing for recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data comply with European data protection standards even if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the US. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses and are also applicable to Google Analytics, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about Google Analytics data processing. If you want to learn more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/en/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

Google Analytics data processing addendum:
We have entered into a direct customer agreement with Google for the use of Google Analytics by accepting the "Data Processing Addendum" in Google Analytics.

You can find out more about the data processing addendum for Google Analytics here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636?hl=en&utm_id=ad

Email marketing

Data subject: Newsletter subscribers.
Purpose: Direct marketing by email, notification of system relevant events.
Data processed: Data entered during registration but at least the email address. More details can be found in the respective email marketing tool used.
Storage period: Duration of the subscription.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What is email marketing?
In order to keep you up to date, we also use the option of e-mail marketing. If you have agreed to receive our e-mails or newsletters, your data will also be processed and stored. E-mail marketing is a sub-area of online marketing. It involves sending news or general information about a company, products or services by e-mail to a specific group of people who are interested in them.

If you want to take part in our e-mail marketing (usually via newsletter), you usually just have to register with your e-mail address. To do this, you fill out an online form and send it off. However, it may also happen that we ask you for your title and name so that we can write to you personally.

In principle, subscribing to newsletters works with the help of the so-called "double opt-in procedure". After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an e-mail to confirm your newsletter registration. This ensures that the e-mail address belongs to you and that no one has registered with a third-party e-mail address. We or a notification tool we use logs each individual subscription. This is necessary so that we can prove that the registration process is legally correct. As a rule, the time of registration, the time of the registration confirmation and your IP address are saved. In addition, it is also logged when you make changes to your stored data.

Why do we use email marketing?
We naturally want to stay in touch with you and always present you with the most important news about our company. To do this, we use, among other things, e-mail marketing - often just called "newsletters" - as an essential part of our online marketing. Provided you agree to this or it is legally permitted, we will send you newsletters, system e-mails or other notifications by e-mail. When we use the term "newsletter" in the following text, we mainly mean regularly sent e-mails. Of course, we do not want to annoy you in any way with our newsletters. That is why we really always try to offer only relevant and interesting content. For example, you can learn more about our company, our services or products. Since we are always improving our offers, you will always find out through our newsletter when there is news or when we are offering special, lucrative promotions. If we use a service provider who offers a professional mailing tool for our email marketing, we do so in order to be able to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is basically to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our corporate goals.

What data is processed?
When you become a subscriber to our newsletter via our website, you confirm membership of an email list by email. In addition to your IP address and e-mail address, your title, name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, only if you agree to this data storage. The data marked as such are necessary so that you can participate in the service offered. Providing this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will result in you not being able to use the service. In addition, information about your device or your preferred content on our website may be stored. You can find out more about the storage of data when you visit a website in the section "Automatic data storage". We record your declaration of consent so that we can always prove that it complies with our laws.

Duration of data processing:
If you unsubscribe your email address from our email/newsletter mailing list, we may store your address for up to three years based on our legitimate interests so that we can still prove your consent at the time. We may only process this data if we need to defend ourselves against any claims.

However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual deletion request at any time. If you permanently object to the consent, we reserve the right to store your e-mail address in a blacklist. As long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course keep your e-mail address.

Right of objection:
You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to the newsletter subscription. This usually only takes a few seconds or one or two clicks. In most cases, you will find a link to cancel your newsletter subscription directly at the end of each email. If you really can't find the link in the newsletter, please contact us by email and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately.

Legal basis:
The sending of our newsletter is based on your consent (Article 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). This means that we may only send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand.

Information on special email marketing services and how they process personal data - if available - can be found in the following sections.

Audio & video

Data subjects: Visitors to the website.
Purpose: Optimisation of our service performance.
Data processed: Data such as contact details, user behaviour data, information about your device and your IP address may be stored. More details on this can be found below in the relevant data protection texts.
Storage period: Data is generally stored for as long as it is necessary for the purpose of the service.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What are audio and video elements?
We have integrated audio and video elements on our website so that you can watch videos or listen to music/podcasts directly via our website. The content is provided by service providers. All content is therefore also obtained from the corresponding servers of the providers.

These are integrated functional elements of platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Spotify. The use of these portals is usually free of charge, but paid content can also be published. With the help of these embedded elements, you can listen to or view the respective content via our website.

If you use audio or video elements on our website, your personal data may also be transmitted to the service providers, processed and stored.

Why do we use audio & video elements on our website?
Of course, we want to provide you with the best experience on our website. And we are aware that content is no longer conveyed merely in text and static images. Instead of just giving you a link to a video, we offer audio and video formats directly on our website that are entertaining or informative and ideally even both. This enhances our service and makes it easier for you to access interesting content. Thus, in addition to our texts and images, we also offer video and/or audio content.

What data is stored by audio & video elements?
When you call up a page on our website that has an embedded video, for example, your server connects to the service provider's server. This also transfers data from you to the third-party provider and stores it there. Some data is collected and stored regardless of whether or not you have an account with the third-party provider. This usually includes your IP address, browser type, operating system and other general information about your end device. Furthermore, most providers also collect information about your web activity. This includes, for example, session duration, bounce rate, which button you clicked on or via which website you use the service. All this information is usually stored via cookies or pixel tags (also called web beacons). Pseudonymised data is usually stored in cookies in your browser. You can always find out exactly what data is stored and processed in the privacy policy of the respective provider.

Duration of data processing:
You can find out exactly how long the data is stored on the servers of the third-party providers either below in the data protection text of the respective tool or in the data protection declaration of the provider. In principle, personal data is only processed for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services or products. As a rule, this also applies to third-party providers. In most cases, you can assume that certain data will be stored on the servers of third-party providers for several years. Data can be stored for different lengths of time specifically in cookies. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, others may be stored in your browser for several years.

Right of objection:
You also have the right and the possibility to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. The lawfulness of the processing until the revocation remains unaffected.

Since the integrated audio and video functions on our site usually also use cookies, you should also read our general data protection declaration on cookies. You can find out more about the handling and storage of your data in the data protection declarations of the respective third-party providers.

Legal basis:
If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored through integrated audio and video elements, this consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In principle, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the integrated audio and video elements if you have given your consent.

YouTube

Data subjects: Visitors to the website.
Purpose: Optimisation of our service performance.
Data processed: Data such as contact details, user behaviour data, information about your device and your IP address may be stored. More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
Storage period: Data is generally stored for as long as it is necessary for the purpose of the service.
Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What is YouTube?
We have integrated YouTube videos on our website. This allows us to present interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal that has been a subsidiary of Google since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you call up a page on our website that has a YouTube video embedded, your browser automatically connects to the YouTube or Google servers. In the process, various data are transferred (depending on the settings). Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all data processing in Europe.

In the following, we would like to explain in more detail which data is processed, why we have integrated YouTube videos and how you can manage or delete your data.

On YouTube, users can watch, rate, comment on and upload videos themselves free of charge. Over the last few years, YouTube has become one of the most important social media channels worldwide. To enable us to display videos on our website, YouTube provides a code snippet that we have built into our site.

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?
YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and the best content. We are committed to providing you with the best possible user experience on our website. And of course, we can't do without interesting videos. With the help of our embedded videos, we provide you with further helpful content in addition to our texts and images. In addition, the embedded videos make our website easier to find on the Google search engine. Also, when we run ads through Google Ads, Google - thanks to the data it collects - can really only show these ads to people who are interested in what we have to offer.

What data is stored by YouTube?
As soon as you visit one of our pages that has a YouTube video embedded, YouTube sets at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can usually assign your interactions on our website to your profile using cookies. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, technical information such as browser type, screen resolution or your internet service provider. Other data may include contact details, any ratings, sharing of content via social media or adding to your favourites on YouTube.

If you are not signed in to a Google Account or YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier associated with your device, browser or app. For example, your preferred language setting is retained. But a lot of interaction data cannot be stored because fewer cookies are set.

In the following list, we show cookies that were set in the browser in a test. On the one hand, we show cookies that are set without a logged-in YouTube account. On the other hand, we show cookies that are set with a logged-in account. The list cannot claim to be complete because the user data always depends on the interactions on YouTube.

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y111977416-1
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video watched.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose: This cookie also registers your unique ID. Google gets statistics about how you use YouTube videos on our website via PREF.
Expiry date: after 8 months

Name: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track GPS location.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes

Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 95Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie attempts to estimate the user's bandwidth on our websites (with embedded YouTube video).
Expiry date: after 8 months

Other cookies set when you are logged in with your YouTube account:

Name: APISID
Wert: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7111977416-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile of your interests. The data is used for personalised advertisements.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.en+20150628-20-0
Purpose: The cookie stores the status of a user's consent to use various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security purposes to verify users and protect user data from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years

Name: HSID
Value: AcRwpgUik9Dveht0I
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile of your interests. This data helps to display personalised advertising.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALl6aL...
Purpose: This cookie stores information about your login details.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: SAPISID
Value: 7oaPxoG-pZsJuuF5/AnUdDUIsJ9iJz2vdM
Purpose: This cookie works by uniquely identifying your browser and device. It is used to create a profile about your interests.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI111977416-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google Account ID and your last login time in digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: SIDCC
Value: AN0-TYuqub2JOcDTyL
Purpose: This cookie stores information about how you use the website and what advertisements you may have seen before visiting our site.
Expiry date: after 3 months

How long and where is the data stored?
The data that YouTube receives from you and processes is stored on Google servers. Most of these servers are located in America. You can see exactly where Google's data centres are located at https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de. Your data is distributed across the servers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against manipulation.

Google stores the collected data for different lengths of time. Some data you can delete at any time, others are automatically deleted after a limited time and still others are stored by Google for a longer period of time. Some data (such as items from "My Activity", photos or documents, products) stored in your Google Account will remain stored until you delete it. Even if you are not signed in to a Google Account, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser or app.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
Basically, you can delete data in your Google Account manually. With the automatic deletion feature of location and activity data introduced in 2019, information will be stored depending on your decision - either 3 or 18 months and then deleted.

Whether you have a Google account or not, you can configure your browser to delete or disable cookies from Google. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Under the section "Cookies" you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

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. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow it or not.

Legal basis:
If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by embedded YouTube elements, this consent is considered the legal basis of the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the embedded YouTube elements if you have given your consent. YouTube also sets cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text on cookies carefully and view the data protection declaration or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider.

YouTube also processes data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. This may be associated with various risks for the lawfulness and security of data processing.

As a basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a data transfer there, YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). These clauses oblige YouTube to comply with the EU level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here, among other places: https://ec.europa.eu/info/index_en.

As YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, there is a joint privacy policy. If you want to learn more about how your data is handled, we recommend the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.