Fundamental
This privacy policy is intended to inform the users of this website about the nature, scope and purpose of the collection and use of personal data by the website operator “blp GeoServices Ltd.”.
The website operator takes your privacy very seriously and treats your personal data confidentially and in accordance with the statutory provisions. As new technologies and the continuous development of this website may result in changes to this privacy policy, we recommend that you read through the privacy policy again at regular intervals.
Definitions of the terms used (e.g. “personal data” or “processing”) can be found in Art. 4 DSGVO.
Access data
We, the website operator or page provider, collect data about accesses to the website based on our legitimate interest (see Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) and store them as “server log files” on the website server. The following data is logged in this way:
- Visited website
- Time at the time of access
- Amount of data sent in bytes
- Source/reference from which you came to the site
- Browser used
- Operating system used
- IP address used
The server log files ( Apache access log ) are stored for a maximum of 3 days and then deleted. The data is stored for security reasons, e.g. to be able to clarify cases of abuse. If data must be retained for evidentiary reasons, they are exempt from deletion until the incident is finally clarified.
Reach measurement & cookies
This website uses cookies for pseudonymized reach measurement, which are transferred to the user’s browser either from our server or the server of a third party. Cookies are small files that are stored on your terminal device. Your browser accesses these files. The use of cookies increases the user-friendliness and security of this website.
The cookies are stored for a maximum of 7 days and then deleted.
If you do not want cookies to be stored on your end device for range measurement, you can object to the use of these files here:
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Cookie deactivation page of the network advertising initiative: http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1#!/
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Cookie deactivation page of the US website: http://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2#!/
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Cookie deactivation page of the European website: http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1#!/
Common browsers offer the setting option to not allow cookies. Note: It is not guaranteed that you will be able to access all functions of this website without restrictions if you make the appropriate settings.
Collection and processing of personal data
The website operator collects, uses and discloses your personal data only if this is permitted by law or if you consent to the data collection.
Personal data is any information that can be used to identify you and that can be traced back to you – for example, your name, e-mail address and telephone number.
You can also visit this website without providing any personal information. However, in order to improve our online services, we store (without personal reference) your access data to this website. This access data includes, for example, the file you requested or the name of your Internet provider. By anonymizing the data, it is not possible to draw conclusions about your person.
- Which? – We process personal data such as first name, last name, IP address, e-mail address, place of residence, postal code and content details from the contact form.
- How? – We process personal data only with the express permission of the users concerned and in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations.
- Why? – Personal data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interest in fulfilling our contractually agreed services and optimizing our online offering.
How long we store your data
When you post a comment, it is saved indefinitely, including metadata. This way, we can automatically detect and approve follow-up comments instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users who register on our site, we also store the personal information they provide in their user profiles. Administrators of the website can view this information.
Embedded content from other websites
Posts on this website may contain embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves exactly as if the visitor had visited the other website.
These websites may collect information about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking services, and record your interaction with that embedded content, including your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged into that website.
Customer account / registration function
If you create a customer account with us via our website, we will collect and store the data you entered during registration (e.g. your name, address or e-mail address) exclusively for pre-contractual services, for the fulfillment of the contract or for the purpose of customer care (e.g. to provide you with an overview of your previous orders with us or to be able to offer you the so-called notepad function). At the same time, we then store the IP address and the date of your registration along with the time. Of course, this data will not be passed on to third parties.
In the course of the further registration process, your consent to this processing will be obtained and reference will be made to this data protection declaration. The data collected by us in this process will be used exclusively for the provision of the customer account.
Insofar as you consent to this processing, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a) DSGVO is the legal basis for the processing.
If the opening of the customer account also serves pre-contractual measures or the fulfillment of the contract, the legal basis for this processing is also Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO.
The consent given to us for the opening and maintenance of the customer account can be revoked at any time with effect for the future in accordance with Art. 7 (3) DSGVO. For this purpose, you only need to inform us of your revocation.
The data collected in this respect will be deleted as soon as the processing is no longer necessary. However, we must observe retention periods under tax and commercial law.
Contact requests / contact possibility
If you contact us via contact form or e-mail, the data you provide will be used to process your request. The provision of the data is necessary for processing and answering your request – without their provision, we can not answer your request or at best limited.
The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b) DSGVO.
User contributions, comments and ratings
We offer you the opportunity to publish questions, answers, opinions or ratings, hereinafter referred to as “contributions”, on our website. If you make use of this offer, we process and publish your contribution, date and time of submission as well as the pseudonym used by you, if applicable.
The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a) DSGVO. In accordance with Art. 7 (3) DSGVO, you can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future. For this purpose, you only need to inform us of your revocation.
In addition, we also process your IP and e-mail address. The IP address is processed because we have a legitimate interest in initiating or supporting further steps if your contribution infringes the rights of third parties and/or it is otherwise unlawful.
The legal basis in this case is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) DSGVO. Our legitimate interest lies in the legal defense that may be necessary.
Subscription to articles
If you publish contributions on our website, we also offer you the option of subscribing to any follow-up contributions from third parties. In order to be able to inform you about these follow-up contributions by e-mail, we process your e-mail address.
The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a) DSGVO. You can revoke your consent to this subscription at any time with effect for the future in accordance with Art. 7 (3) DSGVO. To do so, you only need to inform us of your revocation or click on the unsubscribe link contained in the respective email.
What are Facebook tools?
We use selected Facebook tools on our website. Facebook is a social media network of the company Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2 Ireland. With the aid of this tool we can provide the best possible offers to you and anyone interested in our products and services.
If your data is collected and forwarded via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (fanpage), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this. However, should any further processing occur, then Facebook is solely responsible for this data. Our joint commitments were also set out in a publicly available agreement at https://www.facebook. com / legal / controller_addendum . It e.g. states that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our website. We are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website and are in accordance with the applicable privacy laws. Facebook, on the other hand, is e.g. responsible for the data security of Facebook’s products. If you have any questions about Facebook’s data collection and processing, you can contact the company directly. Should you direct the question to us, we are obliged to forward it to Facebook.
In the following we will give you an overview on the different Facebook tools, as well as on what data is sent to Facebook and how you can erase this data.
Along with many other products, Facebook also offers so called “Facebook Business Tools”. This is Facebook’s official name for its tools, but it is not very common. Therefore, we decided to merely call them “Facebook tools”. They include the following:
- Facebook-Pixel
- Social Plugins (e.g. the “Like” or “Share“ button)
- Facebook Login
- Account Kit
- APIs (application programming interface)
- SDKs (Softwart developmept kits)
- Plattform-integrations
- Plugins
- Codes
- Specifications
- Documentations
- Technologies and Services
With these tools Facebook can extend its services and is able to receive information on user activities outside of Facebook.
Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?
We only want to show our services and products to people who are genuinely interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook Ads) we can reach exactly these people. However, to be able to show suitable adverts to users, Facebook requires additional information on people’s needs and wishes. Therefore, information on the user behaviour (and contact details) on our website, are provided to Facebook. Consequently, Facebook can collect better user data and is able to display suitable adverts for our products or services. Thanks to the tools it is possible to create targeted, customised ad campaigns of Facebook.
Facebook calls data about your behaviour on our website “event data” and uses them for analytics services. That way, Facebook can create “campaign reports” about our ad campaigns’ effectiveness on our behalf. Moreover, by analyses we can get a better insight in how you use our services, our website or our products. Therefore, some of these tools help us optimise your user experience on our website. With the social plugins for instance, you can share our site’s contents directly on Facebook.
What data is stored by Facebook tools?
With the use of Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) may be sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address may be transmitted.
Facebook uses this information to match the data with the data it has on you (if you are a Facebook member). However, before the customer data is transferred to Facebook, a so called “Hashing” takes place. This means, that a data record of any size is transformed into a string of characters, which also has the purpose of encrypting data.
Moreover, not only contact data, but also “event data“ is transferred. These data are the information we receive about you on our website. To give an example, it allows us to see what subpages you visit or what products you buy from us. Facebook does not disclose the obtained information to third parties (such as advertisers), unless the company has an explicit permission or is legally obliged to do so. Also, “event data“ can be linked to contact information, which helps Facebook to offer improved, customised adverts. Finally, after the previously mentioned matching process, Facebook deletes the contact data.
To deliver optimised advertisements, Facebook only uses event data, if they have been combined with other data (that have been collected by Facebook in other ways). Facebook also uses event data for the purposes of security, protection, development and research. Many of these data are transmitted to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are little text files, that are used for storing data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools used, and on whether you are a Facebook member, a different number of cookies are placed in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools we will go into more detail on Facebook cookies. You can also find general information about the use of Facebook cookies at https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies.
How long and where are the data stored?
Facebook fundamentally stores data, until they are no longer of use for their own services and products. Facebook has servers for storing their data all around the world. However, customer data is cleared within 48 hours after they have been matched with their own user data.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have the right of information, rectification, transfer and deletion of your data.
The collected data is only fully deleted, when you delete your entire Facebook account. Deleting your Facebook account works as follows:
- Click on settings in the top right side in Facebook.
- Then, click “Your Facebook information“ in the left column.
- Now click on “Deactivation and deletion”.
- Choose “Permanently delete account“ and then click on “Continue to account deletion“.
- Enter your password, click on “continue“ and then on “Delete account“.
The retention of data Facebook receives via our site is done via cookies (e.g. with social plugins), among others. You can deactivate, clear or manage both all and individual cookies in your browser. How this can be done differs depending on the browser you use. The following instructions show, how to manage cookies in your browser:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
If you generally do not want to allow any cookies at all, you can set up your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to decide upon the permission or deletion of every single cookie.
Legal basis
If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or Facebook’s cookie policy.
Facebook also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Facebook uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Facebook to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
We hope we could give you an understanding of the most important information about the use of Facebook tools and data processing. If you want to find out more on how Facebook use your data, we recommend reading the data policies at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.
Facebook Login
We integrated the convenient Facebook Login to our website. With it, you can easily log into our site with your Facebook account, without having to create a new user account. If you decide to register via the Facebook Login, you will be redirected to the social media network Facebook. There, you can log in with your Facebook user data. By using this method to log in, data on you and your user behaviour is stored and transmitted to Facebook.
To save the data, Facebook uses various cookies. In the following we will show you the most significant cookies that are placed in your browser or that already exist when you log into our site via the Facebook Login:
Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose: This cookie is used to make the social plugin function optimally on our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months
Name: datr
Value: 4Jh7XUA2122480811SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl
Purpose: Facebook sets the “datr” cookie, when a web browser accesses facebook.com. The cookie helps to identify login activities and protect users.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: _js_datr
Value: deleted
Purpose: Facebook sets this session cookie for tracking purposes, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are logged out.
Expiry date: after the end of the session
Note: The cookies we stated are only a small range of the cookies which are available to Facebook. Other cookies include for example _ fbp, sb or wd. It is not possible to disclose an exhaustive list, since Facebook have a multitude of cookies at their disposal which they use in variation.
On the one hand, Facebook Login enables a fast and easy registration process. On the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to share data with Facebook. In turn, we can customise our offer and advertising campaigns better to your needs and interests. The data we receive from Facebook by this means, is public data such as
- your Facebook name
- your profile picture
- your stored email address
- friends lists
- button clicks (e.g. “Like“ button)
- date of birth
- language
- place of residence
In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. These include information on the terminal device you used, which of our subpages you visit, or what products you have bought from us.
By using Facebook Login, you agree to the data processing. You can terminate this agreement anytime. If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data processing, we recommend you to read Facebook’s Data Policy at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.
If you are registered with Facebook, you can change your advertisement settings anytime at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen.
Facebook Social Plugins
We installed so-called social plugins from Facebook Inc. to our website. You can recognise these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, the “Like” button (hand with raised thumb) or by a “Facebook plugin” label. A social plugin is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our page. Each plugin has its own function. The most used functions are the well-known “Like” and “Share” buttons.
Facebook offers the following social plugins:
- “Save” button
- “Like” button, Share, Send and Quote
- Page plugin
- Comments
- Messenger plugin
- Embedded posts and video player
- Group Plugin
At https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins you will find more information on how the individual plugins are used. On the one hand, we use the social plug-ins to offer you a better user experience on our site, and on the other hand because Facebook can optimise our advertisements with it.
If you have a Facebook account or have already visited facebook.com, Facebook has already placed at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser sends information to Facebook via this cookie as soon as you visit our website or interact with social plugins (e.g. the “Like” button).
The received information will be deleted or anonymised within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, the websites you have visited, the date, time and other information relating to your browser.
In order to prevent Facebook from collecting much data and matching it with your Facebook data during your visit to our website, you must log out of Facebook while you visit our website.
If you are not logged in to Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser sends less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. Nevertheless, data such as your IP address or which website you are visiting can be transmitted to Facebook. We would like to explicitly point out that we do not know what exact data is collected. However, based on our current knowledge, we want to try informing you as best we can about data processing. You can also read about how Facebook uses the data in the company’s data policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.
At least the following cookies are set in your browser when you visit a website with social plugins from Facebook:
Name: dpr
Value: no information
Purpose:This cookie is used to make the social plugins work on our website.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4122480811c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose:The cookie is also necessary for the plugins to function properly
Expiry date: after 3 months
Note: These cookies were set after our test and may be placed even if you are not a Facebook member.
If you are registered with Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. If you are not a Facebook user, you can go to https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/ and manage your usage-based online advertising. There you have the option to deactivate or activate providers.
If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend the company’s own data policies at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.
Facebook Fanpage
We also have a Facebook fan page for our website. The provider of this service is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. The responsible entity for the European area is the company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland).
Facebook also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Facebook uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (i. e. outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and thus especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are legal templates provided by the EU Commission. Their purpose is to ensure that your data complies with European data privacy standards, even if your data is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). With these clauses, Facebook commits to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data, even if it is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the standard contractual clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en
Facebook’s data processing terms, which correspond to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.
You can find out more about the data that is processed by using Facebook in their Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.
What is Instagram?
We have integrated functions of Instagram to our website. Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Since 2012, Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook Inc. and is a part of Facebook’s products. The inclusion of Instagram’s contents on our website is called embedding. With this, we can show you Instagram contents such as buttons, photos or videos directly on our website. If you open websites of our online presence, that have an integrated Instagram function, data gets transmitted to, as well as stored and processed by Instagram. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Therefore, your data will be processed across all Facebook firms.
In the following, we want to give you a more detailed insight on why Instagram collects data, what data these are and how you can control data processing. As Instagram belongs to Facebook Inc., we have, on the one hand received this information from the Instagram guidelines, and on the other hand from Facebook’s Data Policy.
Instagram is one of the most famous social media networks worldwide. Instagram combines the benefits of a blog with the benefits of audio-visual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. To “Insta“ (how the platform is casually called by many users) you can upload photos and short videos, edit them with different filters and also share them to other social networks. Also, if you do not want to be active on Instagram yourself, you can just follow other interesting users.
Why do we use Instagram on our website?
Instagram is a social media platform whose success has skyrocketed within recent years. Naturally, we have also reacted to this boom. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. Therefore, we attach great importance to diversified contents. With the embedded Instagram features we can enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting Instagram contents. Since Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook, the collected data can also serve us for customised advertising on Facebook. Hence, only persons who are genuinely interested in our products or services can see our ads.
Instagram also uses the collected data for tracking and analysis purposes. We receive summarised statistics and therefore more insight to your wishes and interests. It is important to mention that these reports do not identify you personally.
What data is stored by Instagram?
Whenever you land on one of our sites, which have Instagram functions (i.e. Instagram photos or plugins) integrated to them, your browser automatically connects with Instagram’s servers. Thereby, data is sent to, as well as saved and processed by Instagram. This always happens, whether you have an Instagram account or not. Moreover, it includes information on our website, your computer, your purchases, the advertisements you see and on how you use our offer. The date and time of your interaction is also stored. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram saves significantly more data on you.
Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume this is also the case for Instagram. Customer data are for example names, addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses. These data are only transmitted to Instagram, if they have been “hashed” first. Thereby, a set of data is transformed into a string of characters, which encrypts any contact data. Moreover, the aforementioned “event data“ (data on your user behaviour) is transmitted as well. It is also possible, that contact data may get combined with event data. The collected data data is matched with any data Instagram already has on you.
Furthermore, the gathered data are transferred to Facebook via little text files (cookies) which usually get set in your browser. Depending on the Instagram function used, and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, the amount of data that gets stored varies.
We assume data processing on Instagram works the same way as on Facebook. Therefore, if you have an account on Instagram or have visited www.instagram.com, Instagram has set at least one cookie. If this is the case, your browser uses the cookie to send information to Instagram, as soon as you come across an Instagram function. No later than 90 days (after matching) the data is deleted or anonymised. Even though we have studied Instagram’s data processing in-depth, we cannot tell for sure what exact data Instagram collects and retains.
In the following we will show you a list of the least cookies placed in your browser when click on an Instagram function (e.g. button or an Insta picture). In our test we assume you do not have an Instagram account, since if you would be logged in to your Instagram account, your browser would place significantly more cookies.
The following cookies were used in our test:
Name: csrftoken
Value: “”
Purpose: This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent falsifications of requests. We could not find out more information on it.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: mid
Value: “”
Purpose: Instagram places this cookie to optimise its own offers and services in- and outside of Instagram. The cookie allocates a unique user ID.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: fbsr_122480811124024
Value: no information
Purpose: This cookie stores the login request of Instagram app users.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: rur
Value: ATN
Purpose: This is an Instagram cookie which guarantees functionality on Instagram.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: urlgen
Value: “{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe122480811”
Purpose: This cookie serves Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: after end of session
Note: We do not claim this list to be exhaustive. The cookies that are placed in each individual case, depend on the functions embedded as well as on your use of Instagram.
How long and where are these data stored?
Instagram shares the information obtained within the Facebook businesses with external partners and persons you are globally connected with. Data processing is done according to Facebook’s internal data policy. Your data is distributed to Facebook’s servers across the world, partially for security reasons. Most of these servers are in the USA.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right of information, rectification, transfer and deletion of your data. Furthermore, you can manage your data in Instagram’s settings. If you want to delete your data on Instagram completely, you will have to delete your Instagram account permanently.
And this is how an Instagram account can be deleted:
First, open the Instagram app. Then, navigate to your profile page, select the three bars in the top right, choose “Settings” and then click “Help”. Now, you will be redirected to the company’s website, where you must click on “Managing Your Account” and then “Delete Your Account”.
When you delete your account completely, Instagram deletes posts such as your photos and status updates. Any information other people shared about you are not a part of your account and do therefore not get deleted.
As mentioned before, Instagram primarily stores your data via cookies. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, managing them varies a bit. We will show you the instructions of the most relevant browsers here.
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
Generally, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. Then you can individually decide upon the permission of every cookie.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.
Instagram and Facebook also process data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
As a basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfers there, Facebook uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Facebook to comply with the EU’s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en
We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Instagram. On
https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
you can take a closer look at Instagram’s data guidelines.
What is LinkedIn?
On our website we use social plugins from the social media network LinkedIn, of the LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Social plugins can be feeds, content sharing or a link to our LinkedIn page. Social plugins are clearly marked with the well-known LinkedIn logo and for example allow sharing interesting content directly via our website. Moreover, LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company Wilton Place in Dublin is responsible for data processing in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
By embedding these plugins, data can be sent to, as well as stored and processed by LinkedIn. In this privacy policy we want to inform you what data this is, how the network uses this data and how you can manage or prevent data retention.
LinkedIn is the largest social network for business contacts. In contrast to e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn focuses exclusively on establishing business connections. Therefore, companies can present services and products on the platform and establish business relationships. Many people also use LinkedIn to find a job or to find suitable employees for their own company. In Germany alone, the network has over 11 million members. In Austria there are about 1.3 million.
Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?
We know how busy you are. You just cannot keep up with following every single social media channel. Even if it would really be worth it, as it is with our channels, since we keep posting interesting news and articles worth spreading. Therefore, on our website we have created the opportunity to share interesting content directly on LinkedIn, or to refer directly to our LinkedIn page. We consider built-in social plugins as an extended service on our website. The data LinkedIn collects also help us to display potential advertising measures only to people who are interested in our offer.
What data are stored by LinkedIn?
LinkedIn stores no personal data due to the mere integration of social plugins. LinkedIn calls the data generated by plugins passive impressions. However, if you click on a social plugin to e.g. share our content, the platform stores personal data as so-called “active impressions”. This happens regardless of whether you have a LinkedIn account or not. If you are logged in, the collected data will be assigned to your account.
When you interact with our plugins, your browser establishes a direct connection to LinkedIn’s servers. Through that, the company logs various usage data. These may include your IP address, login data, device information or information about your internet or cellular provider. If you use LinkedIn services via your smartphone, your location may also be identified (after you have given permission). Moreover, LinkedIn can share these data with third-party advertisers in “hashed” form. Hashing means that a data set is transformed into a character string. This allows data to be encrypted, which prevents persons from getting identified.
Most data on of your user behaviour is stored in cookies. These are small text files that usually get placed in your browser. Furthermore, LinkedIn can also use web beacons, pixel tags, display tags and other device recognitions.
Various tests also show which cookies are set when a user interacts with a social plug-in. We do not claim for the information we found to be exhaustive, as it only serves as an example. The following cookies were set without being logged in to LinkedIn:
Name: bcookie
Value: =2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16122480811-
Purpose: This cookie is a so-called “browser ID cookie” and stores your identification number (ID).
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: lang
Value: v=2&lang=en-gb
Purpose:This cookie saves your default or preferred language.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: lidc
Value: 1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G122480811…
Purpose:This cookie is used for routing. Routing records how you found your way to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website.
Expiry date: after 24 hours
Name: rtc
Value: kt0lrv3NF3x3t6xvDgGrZGDKkX
Purpose:No further information could be found about this cookie.
Expiry date: after 2 minutes
Name: JSESSIONID
Value: ajax:1224808112900777718326218137
Purpose: This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: bscookie
Value: “v=1&201910230812…
Purpose: This cookie is a security cookie. LinkedIn describes it as a secure browser ID cookie.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: fid
Value: AQHj7Ii23ZBcqAAAA…
Purpose: We could not find any further information about this cookie.
Expiry date: after 7 days
Note: LinkedIn also works with third parties. That is why we identified the Google Analytics cookies _ga and _gat in our test.
How long and where are the data stored?
In general, LinkedIn retains your personal data for as long as the company considers it necessary for providing its services. However, LinkedIn deletes your personal data when you delete your account. In some exceptional cases, LinkedIn keeps some summarised and anonymised data, even account deletions. As soon as you delete your account, it may take up to a day until other people can no longer see your data. LinkedIn generally deletes the data within 30 days. However, LinkedIn retains data if it is necessary for legal reasons. Also, data that can no longer be assigned to any person remains stored even after the account is closed. The data are stored on various servers in America and presumably also in Europe.
How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?
You have the right to access and delete your personal data at any time. In your LinkedIn account you can manage, change and delete your data. Moreover, you can request a copy of your personal data from LinkedIn.
How to access account data in your LinkedIn profile:
In LinkedIn, click on your profile icon and select the “Settings & Privacy” section. Now click on “Privacy” and then on the section “How LinkedIn uses your data on”. Then, click “Change” in the row with “Manage your data and activity”. There you can instantly view selected data on your web activity and your account history.
In your browser you also have the option of preventing data processing by LinkedIn. As mentioned above, LinkedIn stores most data via cookies that are placed in your browser. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies. Depending on which browser you have, these settings work a little different. You can find the instructions for the most common browsers here:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
You can generally set your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. Then you can always decide individually whether you want to allow the cookie or not.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, your consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.
LinkedIn also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
LinkedIn uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraph 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige LinkedIn to comply with the EU’s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by LinkedIn. On https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy you can find out more on data processing by the social media network LinkedIn.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) LinkedIn
In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with LinkedIn. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.
This contract is required by law because LinkedIn processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that LinkedIn may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/dpa?.
YouTube
What is YouTube?
We have integrated YouTube videos to our website. Therefore, we can show you interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal, which has been a subsidiary company of Google LLC since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you visit a page on our website that contains an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to the servers of YouTube or Google. Thereby, certain data are transferred (depending on the settings). Google is responsible for YouTube’s data processing and therefore Google’s data protection applies.
In the following we will explain in more detail which data is processed, why we have integrated YouTube videos and how you can manage or clear your data.
On YouTube, users can watch, rate, comment or upload videos for free. Over the past few years, YouTube has become one of the most important social media channels worldwide. For us to be able to display videos on our website, YouTube provides a code snippet that we have integrated to our website.
Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?
YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and best content. We strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website, which of course includes interesting videos. With the help of our embedded videos, we can provide you other helpful content in addition to our texts and images. Additionally, embedded videos make it easier for our website to be found on the Google search engine. Moreover, if we place ads via Google Ads, Google only shows these ads to people who are interested in our offers, thanks to the collected data.
What data is stored by YouTube?
As soon as you visit one of our pages with an integrated YouTube, YouTube places at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, by using cookies YouTube can usually associate your interactions on our website with your profile. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, technical information such as browser type, screen resolution or your Internet provider. Additional data can include contact details, potential ratings, shared content via social media or YouTube videos you added to your favourites.
If you are not logged in to a Google or YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier linked to your device, browser or app. Thereby, e.g. your preferred language setting is maintained. However, many interaction data cannot be saved since less cookies are set.
In the following list we show you cookies that were placed in the browser during a test. On the one hand, we show cookies that were set without being logged into a YouTube account. On the other hand, we show you what cookies were placed while being logged in. We do not claim for this list to be exhaustive, as user data always depend on how you interact with YouTube.
Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y122480811-1
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video that was viewed.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose: This cookie also registers your unique ID. Google receives statistics via PREF on how you use YouTube videos on our website.
Expiry date: after 8 months
Name: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track GPS locations.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes
Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 95Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie tries to estimate the user’s internet bandwith on our sites (that have built-in YouTube videos).
Expiry date: after 8 months
Further cookies that are placed when you are logged into your YouTube account:
Name: APISID
Value: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7122480811-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data is then used for personalised advertisements.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: The cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to the use of various Google services.
CONSENT also provides safety measures to protect users from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years
Name: HSID
Value: AcRwpgUik9Dveht0I
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data helps to display customised ads.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALl6aL…
Purpose: This cookie stores information on your login data.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: SAPISID
Value: 7oaPxoG-pZsJuuF5/AnUdDUIsJ9iJz2vdM
Purpose: This cookie identifies your browser and device. It is used to create a profile on your interests.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI122480811-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google Account ID and your last login time, in a digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: SIDCC
Value: AN0-TYuqub2JOcDTyL
Purpose: This cookie stores information on how you use the website and on what advertisements you may have seen before visiting our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months
How long and where is the data stored?
The data YouTube receive and process on you are stored on Google’s servers. Most of these servers are in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=en you can see where Google’s data centres are located. Your data is distributed across the servers. Therefore, the data can be retrieved quicker and is better protected against manipulation.
Google stores collected data for different periods of time. You can delete some data anytime, while other data are automatically deleted after a certain time, and still other data are stored by Google for a long time. Some data (such as elements on “My activity”, photos, documents or products) that are saved in your Google account are stored until you delete them. Moreover, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser, or app, even if you are not signed into a Google Account.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
Generally, you can delete data manually in your Google account. Furthermore, in 2019 an automatic deletion of location and activity data was introduced. Depending on what you decide on, it deletes stored information either after 3 or 18 months.
Regardless of whether you have a Google account or not, you can set your browser to delete or deactivate cookies placed by Google. These settings vary depending on the browser you use. The following instructions will show how to manage cookies in your browser:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This will enable you to decide to either allow or permit each individual cookie.
Legal basis
If you have consented processing and storage of your data by integrated YouTube elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use integrated YouTube elements if you have given your consent. YouTube also sets cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.
YouTube also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of the data processing.
YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (which are outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) or for data transfer there. These clauses oblige YouTube to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en
Since YouTube is a subsidiary company of Google, Google’s privacy statement applies to both. 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.
YouTube Subscribe Button
We have integrated the YouTube subscribe button to our website, which you can recognise by the classic YouTube logo. The logo shows the words “Subscribe” or “YouTube” in white letters against a red background, with a white “Play” symbol on the left. The button may also be displayed in a different design.
Our YouTube channel consistently offers you funny, interesting or exciting videos. With the built-in “Subscribe” button you can subscribe to our channel directly via our website and do not need to go to YouTube’s website for it. With this feature, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to access our comprehensive content. Please note that YouTube may save and process your data.
If you see a built-in subscription button on our page, YouTube sets at least one cookie, according to Google. This cookie stores your IP address and our URL. It also allows YouTube to receive information about your browser, your approximate location and your default language. In our test the following four cookies were placed, without us being logged into YouTube:
Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5122480811Y
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID, which stores statistics of the viewed video.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose:This cookie also registers your unique ID. Google uses PREF to get statistics on how you interact with YouTube videos on our website.
Expiry date: after 8 months
Name: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose:This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track your GPS location.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes
Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 12248081195Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie tries to estimate the user’s internet bandwith on our website (that contain built-in YouTube video).
Expiry date: after 8 months
Note: These cookies were set after a test, thus we do not claim for the list to be exhaustive.
If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube may store many of the actions and interactions you make on our website via cookies, to then assign them to your YouTube account. This gives YouTube information on e.g. how long you have been browsing our website, which browser type you use, which screen resolution you prefer or what actions you take.
On the one hand, YouTube uses this data to improve its own services and offers, and on the other hand to provide analyses and statistics for advertisers (who use Google Ads).
Blogs and publishing media
What are blogs and publishing media?
We use blogs or other means of communication on our website through which we can communicate with you – and through which you can communicate with us. Your data may also be stored and processed by us. This may be necessary in order for us to display content appropriately, make communication work smoothly and increase security. In this privacy policy, we will show you general information on which of your data may be processed. The exact information on data processing, however, always depends on the tools and functions used. You will find detailed information about data processing in the privacy policies of the individual providers.
Why do we use blogs and publication media?
Our greatest motivation for our website is to offer you interesting and exciting content. At the same time, your opinions and your content are important to us. That’s why we want to create a good interactive exchange between you and ourselves. With various blogs and publication options, we can achieve exactly that. You can e. g. post comments about our content, reply to others’ comments or, in some cases, make posts yourself.
Which data is processed?
Exactly which data is processed always depends on the communication functions we use. Very often IP address, username and published content are stored. This is done primarily to ensure security protection, prevent spam, and for us to be able to take action against any illegal content. What is more, cookies may also be used for data retention. They are small text files that are stored as information in your browser. You can find more details about the collected and stored data in our individual sections and in the privacy policies of the respective providers.
Duration of data processing
We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, post and comment functions store data until you revoke data storage. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as is absolutely necessary for us to provide you with our services.
Right to object
You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party communication tools at any time. This can be done 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 erasing the cookies in your browser.
Since cookies can also be used in publication media, we also recommend you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal Basis
We use this means of communication mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you or other customers, business partners and visitors. Provided the use serves to process or initiate contractual relationships, the legal basis also extends to Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 lit. b. GDPR.
Certain types of processing require your consent – in particular the use of cookies and comment or message functions. Provided you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated publication media, this consent is the legal basis for any data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most communication features we use set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.
Information on specific tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.
Blog Posts and Comment Functions
There are various online communication tools that we may use on our website. For example, we use blog posts and comment functions. This gives you the possibility to comment on our content or to write articles. If you make use of this function, your IP address may be stored for security reasons. This is how we protect ourselves from illegal content such as insults, unauthorised advertising or prohibited political propaganda. In order to recognise whether any comments are spam, we can also store and process user information on the basis of our legitimate interests. If we start a survey, we will also store your IP address for the duration of the survey so we can be sure that everyone who takes part only votes once. Moreover, cookies may also be used for storage purposes. All data that we store about you (such as content or information about you) will be stored until you object.
Audio and video
What are audio and video elements?
We have integrated audio and video elements to our website. Therefore, you can watch videos or listen to music/podcasts directly via our website. This content is delivered by service providers and is obtained from the respective providers’ servers.
Audio and video elements are integrated functional elements of platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Spotify. It is usually free of charge to use these portals, but they can also contain paid content. With the integrated elements, you can listen to or view any of their content on our website.
If you use audio or video elements on our website, your personal data may get transmitted to as well as processed and retained by service providers.
Why do we use audio & video elements on our website?
We of course want to provide you with the best offer on our website. And we are aware that content is no longer just conveyed in text and static images. Instead of just giving you a link to a video, we offer you audio and video formats directly on our website. These are entertaining or informative, but ideally they are both. Our service therefore gets expanded and it gets easier for you to access interesting content. In addition to our texts and images, we thus also offer video and/or audio content.
Which data are retained by audio & video elements?
When you visit a page on our website with e.g. an embedded video, your server connects to the service provider’s server. Thus, your data will also be transferred to the third-party provider, where it will be stored. Certain data is collected and stored regardless of whether you have an account with the third party provider or not. This usually includes your IP address, browser type, operating system and other general information about your device. Most providers also collect information on your web activity. This e.g. includes the session duration, bounce rate, the buttons you clicked or information about the website you are using the service on. This data is mostly stored via cookies or pixel tags (also known as web beacons). Any data that is pseudonymised usually gets stored in your browser via cookies. In the respective provider’s Privacy Policy, you can always find more information on the data that is stored and processed.
Duration of data processing
You can find out exactly how long the data is stored on the third-party provider’s servers either in a lower point of the respective tool’s Privacy Policy or in the provider’s Privacy Policy. Generally, personal data is only processed for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services or products. This usually also applies to third-party providers. In most cases, you can assume that certain data will be stored on third-party providers’ servers for several years. Data can be retained for different amounts of time, especially when stored in cookies. Some cookies are deleted after you leave a website, while others may be stored in your browser for a few years.
Right to object
You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can e.g. also prevent data retention via cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser. The legality of the processing up to the point of revocation remains unaffected.
Since the integrated audio and video functions on our site usually also use cookies, we recommend you to also read our general Privacy Policy on cookies. You can find out more about the handling and storage of your data in the Privacy Policies of the respective third party providers.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated audio and video elements, your consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in maintaining fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated audio and video elements if you have consented to it.
Shariff
We use the Shariff Social Media buttons on our website. The provider of this service is the German company Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG, Karl-Wiechert-Allee 10, 30625 Hanover, Germany. The service itself does not use any personal data. Instead, Shariff only serves as the connection between the user and other services. You can find out more about the data that is processed by using Shariff directly from the corresponding social media channels, as they are responsible for the corresponding data processing.
Here are the Privacy Policies of the most common Social Media channels:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update
Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
Twitter: https://twitter.com/en/privacy
Matomo
On our website we use Matomo, a web analysis tool. The provider of this service is the company InnoCraft Ltd, 7 Waterloo Quay PO625, 6140 Wellington, New Zealand. You can find out more on the data that are being processed when using Matomo, in their Privacy Policy at https://matomo.org/privacy-policy/. Questions regarding data protection can be sent by e-mail to privacy@matomo.org.
Linking social media via graphic or text link
We also promote presences on the social networks listed below on our website. The integration takes place via a linked graphic of the respective network. The use of this linked graphic prevents the automatic establishment of a connection to the respective server of the social network when a website with a social media advertisement is called up in order to display a graphic of the respective network itself. Only by clicking on the corresponding graphic will the user be redirected to the service of the respective social network.
After the user has been forwarded, information about the user is collected by the respective network. It cannot be ruled out here that processing of the data collected in this way takes place in the USA.
This is initially data such as IP address, date, time and page visited. If the user is logged into his user account of the respective network during this time, the network operator may be able to assign the collected information of the specific visit of the user to the personal account of the user. If the user interacts via a “Share” button of the respective network, this information can be stored in the user’s personal user account and may be published. If the user wants to prevent the collected information from being directly assigned to his user account, he must log out before clicking on the graphic. In addition, it is possible to configure the respective user account accordingly.
The following social networks are integrated into our site by linking:
Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland, a subsidiary of Facebook Inc, 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
Privacy Policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php
EU-US Privacy Shield Certification https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active
Facebook social plug-in
We use the plug-in of the social network Facebook on our website. Facebook is an internet service of facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. In the EU, this service is in turn operated by Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland, hereinafter both referred to as “Facebook”.
Through certification under the EU-US Privacy Shield (“EU-US Privacy Shield”).
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active
Facebook guarantees that the data protection requirements of the EU are also complied with when processing data in the USA.
The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) DSGVO. Our legitimate interest lies in improving the quality of our website.
Facebook provides further information about the possible plug-ins and their respective functions at
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/ for you.
If the plug-in is stored on one of the pages of our website that you visit, your internet browser downloads a representation of the plug-in from Facebook’s servers in the USA. For technical reasons, it is necessary for Facebook to process your IP address. In addition, the date and time of your visit to our website are also recorded.
If you are logged in to Facebook while you visit one of our web pages provided with the plug-in, the information collected by the plug-in from your specific visit will be recognized by Facebook. Facebook may assign the information collected in this way to your personal user account there. If, for example, you use the so-called “Like” button of Facebook, this information will be stored in your Facebook user account and possibly published via the platform of Facebook. If you wish to prevent this, you must either log out of Facebook before visiting our website or prevent the loading of the Facebook plug-in by using an add-on for your internet browser.
Facebook provides further information on the collection and use of data as well as your rights and protection options in this regard in the privacy policy available at
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics on our website. This is a web analytics service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, hereinafter referred to as “Google”.
Through the certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield (“EU-US Privacy Shield”)
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active
Google guarantees that the data protection requirements of the EU are also complied with when processing data in the USA.
The Google Analytics service is used to analyze the usage behavior of our website. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) DSGVO. Our legitimate interest lies in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our website.
Usage and user-related information, such as IP address, location, time or frequency of visits to our website, is transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. However, we use Google Analytics with the so-called anonymization function. Through this function, Google already shortens the IP address within the EU or EEA.
The data collected in this way is in turn used by Google to provide us with an evaluation of the visit to our website and the usage activities there. This data may also be used to provide other services related to the use of our website and the use of the Internet.
Google states that it will not associate your IP address with any other data. In addition, Google keeps a record of your IP address at
https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/partners
Google provides you with further information on data protection law, including information on how to prevent the use of your data.
In addition, Google offers a website at
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de
offers a so-called deactivation add-on together with further information on this. This add-on can be installed with standard Internet browsers and offers you further control over the data that Google collects when you visit our website. The add-on tells the JavaScript (ga.js) of Google Analytics that information about the visit to our website should not be transmitted to Google Analytics. However, this does not prevent information from being transmitted to us or to other web analytics services. If and which other web analytics services are used by us, you will of course also find out in this privacy policy.
Google Maps
On our website, we use Google Maps to display our location and to create directions. This is a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, hereinafter referred to as “Google”.
Through certification under the EU-US Privacy Shield (“EU-US Privacy Shield”).
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active
Google guarantees that the data protection requirements of the EU are also complied with when processing data in the USA.
To enable the display of certain fonts on our website, a connection to the Google server in the USA is established when you access our website.
If you call up the Google Maps component integrated into our website, Google stores a cookie on your terminal device via your Internet browser. In order to display our location and provide directions, your user settings and data are processed. Here we cannot exclude that Google uses servers in the USA.
The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) DSGVO. Our legitimate interest lies in optimizing the functionality of our website.
Through the connection to Google established in this way, Google can determine from which website your request was sent and to which IP address the directions are to be transmitted.
If you do not agree to this processing, you have the option of preventing the installation of cookies by making the appropriate settings in your Internet browser. Details on this can be found above under the item “Cookies”.
In addition, the use of Google Maps and the information obtained via Google Maps is subject to the Google Terms of Use https://policies.google.com/terms?gl=DE&hl=de and the Terms and Conditions for Google Maps https://www.google.com/intl/de_de/help/terms_maps.html.
In addition, Google offers a website at
https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated
https://policies.google.com/privacy
offers further information.
Google reCAPTCHA
We use Google reCAPTCHA on our website to check and prevent interactions on our website by automated access, e.g. by so-called bots. This is a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, hereinafter referred to as “Google”.
Through certification under the EU-US Privacy Shield (“EU-US Privacy Shield”)
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active
Google guarantees that the data protection requirements of the EU are also complied with when processing data in the USA.
Through this service, Google can determine from which website a request is sent as well as from which IP address you use the so-called reCAPTCHA input box. In addition to your IP address, other information may be collected by Google that is necessary for the offer and guarantee of this service.
The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) DSGVO. Our legitimate interest lies in the security of our website and in the defense against unwanted, automated access in the form of spam or similar.
Google offers a service for this purpose at
https://policies.google.com/privacy
for further information on the general handling of your user data.
Google Fonts
On our website, we use Google Fonts to display external fonts. This is a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, hereinafter referred to as “Google”.
Through the certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield (“EU-US Privacy Shield”)
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active
Google guarantees that the data protection requirements of the EU are also complied with when processing data in the USA.
To enable the display of certain fonts on our website, a connection to the Google server in the USA is established when our website is accessed.
The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) DSGVO. Our legitimate interest lies in the optimization and economic operation of our website.
Through the connection to Google established when our website is called up, Google can determine from which website your request was sent and to which IP address the display of the font is to be transmitted.
Google offers at
https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated
https://policies.google.com/privacy
Rights of the user
As a user, you have the right to request free information about what personal data has been stored about you. You also have the right to have incorrect data corrected and to have your personal data processed restricted or deleted. If applicable, you may also exercise your right to data portability. If you believe that your data has been processed unlawfully, you may lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.
Data deletion
Unless your request conflicts with a legal obligation to retain data (e.g. data retention), you have a right to have your data deleted. Data stored by us will be deleted if it is no longer required for its intended purpose and there are no legal retention periods. If deletion cannot be carried out because the data is required for permissible legal purposes, data processing will be restricted. In this case, the data will be blocked and not processed for other purposes.
Right of objection
Users of this website may exercise their right to object to the processing of their personal data at any time.
If you wish to correct, block, delete or obtain information about the personal data stored about you or have questions regarding the collection, processing or use of your personal data or wish to revoke consents granted, please contact the following email address: office@blpgeo.at
How we protect your data
Notwithstanding our efforts to maintain a reasonably high level of due diligence at all times, it cannot be ruled out that information you disclose to us via the Internet may be viewed and used by other persons.
Please note that we therefore accept no liability whatsoever for the disclosure of information due to errors in data transmission not caused by us and/or unauthorized access by third parties (e.g. hacking attack).
- SSL Encryption
This site uses SSL encryption for security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as requests that you send to us as site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection by the fact that the address line of the browser changes from “http://” to “https://” and by the lock symbol in your browser line.
If SSL encryption is activated, the data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.