1. Informational usage

   You can visit our website without providing any personal details. If you exclusively use our website for data purposes and do not provide us with any personal details, we will not process any personal data, with the exception of data transferred by your browser in order to permit your use of the Website as well as information provided to us through the installed cookies.

1. Technical provision of our web site

For the technical provision of the Website, our system (i.e. the web server) automatically collects data from your browser each time the Website is called up.
The temporary storage of your IP address by our system is necessary to allow delivery of the Website to your computer. This is why the IP address of the user hast to be stored for the duration of the session.
The IP address is stored in the log files to ensure the functionality of our website. In addition, we use this data to optimize the Website and to ensure the security of our data technology systems (e.g. attack detection). Furthermore, the data is evaluated for marketing purposes in connection with the tools mentioned in section B.I.2 "Analysis and Tracking".

The following data is collected:

• IP address
• Country
• Browser type and version (e.g.: Chrome/51.0.2704.103)
• Browser language (e.g.: German)
• Operating system used (e.g.: Windows 11)
• Cookies On / Off
• Time of access
• The previous website from which you reached us



Furthermore, we use cookies to provide you with certain technical functions of our website for your use. Some functions of our website can therefore not be offered without the use of cookies.

We process your personal data for the technical provision of our website on the basis of the following legal basis:

• To carry out pre-contractual measures in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR, insofar as you visit our website to obtain information about our company and our products/services; and
• To protect our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR, in order to be able to make the Website technically available to you. Our legitimate interest in doing so is to be able to provide you with an attractive, technically functional and user-friendly Website, as well as to take measures to protect our website from cyber risks and to prevent our Website from posing cyber risks to third parties.


2. Analysis and tracking

For the purpose of analysis and tracking the use of our website, we or the service providers acting on our behalf use cookies which enable an evaluation of your surfing behavior. This allows us to improve the quality of our website and its content. We learn how the Website is used and can thus constantly optimize our offer. You can obtain more detailed information about the cookies and tools we use, their purposes and functions, the data processed in each case, the data recipients, the place of processing or transfer to so-called third countries (outside the EU/EEA).

We process your personal data on the basis of the following legal basis:

• Your consent according to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR.


3. Social Media Links

Links to LinkedIn, YouTube are integrated on the website. You will, for instance, be redirected to our LinkedIn page or YouTube channel after clicking on the link, i.e. only then will user data be transferred to the respective site. For information on the handling of your data when using the social media sites, please refer to the respective data protection notices:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
YouTube: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en


2. Active usage

   In addition to the purely informative use of our website, you can also actively use our website to contact us. In addition to the processing of your personal data described above in the case of purely informational use, we will then also process further personal data from you which we require, for example, to process your enquiry.

   We process your personal data to respond to user requests on the basis of the following legal grounds:

• To protect our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR; our legitimate interest is to respond appropriately to customer enquiries;
• If the request is aimed at the conclusion of a contract, the additional legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR;
• If the request is aimed at asserting your data subject rights, the additional legal basis is Art. 6 (1) lit. c GDPR, as the processing of your data is necessary for the fulfilment of legal obligations.


3. Legal enforcement

   We also process your personal data on our Website in order to be able to assert our rights and enforce our legal claims. We also process your personal data in order to be able to defend ourselves against legal claims. Finally, we process your personal data to the extent necessary to prevent or prosecute criminal offences.

   We process your personal data for this purpose on the following legal basis:

• To protect our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR, insofar as we assert legal claims or defend ourselves in legal disputes or we prevent or investigate criminal offences.


4. Retention period
1. Informational usage

   In the case of purely informational usage of our website, we store your personal data on our servers exclusively for the duration of your visit to our website. After you have left our website, your personal data will be deleted.

   Cookies installed by us are usually will also be deleted after you leave our website. However, some cookies will be stored for a longer period of time, but you have the option of deleting installed cookies yourself at any time.

2. Active usage

   When you actively use our website, we will initially store your personal data for the duration of the response to your inquiry and the actual initiation of a contract (pre-contractual legal relationship).

   We will also process your data for the duration of your subscription to our newsletter, customer magazine, and other promotional communications or for the duration of our marketing campaigns or until you withdraw your consent to receive/participate.

   In addition, we will then store your personal data until the statute of limitations for any legal claims arising from the relationship with you has expired, in order to use it as evidence if necessary. The statute of limitations is usually between one (1) and three (3) years, but can be as long as 30 years.

   We will delete your personal data when the statute of limitations expires, unless there is a legal obligation to retain the data, for example under the German Commercial Code (Sections 238, 257 para. 4 HGB) or under the German Fiscal Code (Section147 para. 3, 4 AO). These retention requirements can range from two to ten years. For this period, the data will be processed again solely in the event of a review by the tax authorities.

If you have come to us via one of our social media sites, please also note the further data on the processing of your data on these platforms.

1. right of access,
2. right to rectification,
3. right to erasure or restriction of processing,
4. right to object,
5. right to data portability,
6. right to revoke the declaration of consent under data protection law,
7. right to complain to a supervisory authority.

• State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen)
• Kavalleriestr. 2-4
• 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
• Phone: +49 211/38424-0
• Fax: +49 211/38424-10
• E-Mail:poststelle@ldi.nrw.de

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Any changes will be announced by posting the amended Privacy Policy on our website. Unless otherwise specified, such changes shall take effect immediately. Therefore, please check this Privacy Policy regularly to view the most current version.

Last updated in April 2024