Privacy Policy

Data Protection

We have prepared this Privacy Policy (Version 11/01/2021-221139413) to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, what information we collect, how we use data, and what choices you have as a visitor to this website.

Unfortunately, it is in the nature of things that these explanations sound very technical; however, we have made every effort to describe the most important points as simply and clearly as possible.

Automatic Data Storage

When you visit websites today, certain information is automatically generated and stored—and this is also the case on this website.

When you visit our website, as you are doing right now, our web server (the computer on which this website is hosted) automatically stores data such as

  • the address (URL) of the webpage accessed
  • browser and browser version
  • the operating system used
  • the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL)
  • the hostname and IP address of the device used to access the site
  • Date and time

in files (web server log files).

Web server log files are typically stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not share this data with third parties; however, we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be accessed in the event of unlawful conduct.

Cookies

Our website uses HTTP cookies to store user-specific data.
Below, we explain what cookies are and why they are used so that you can better understand this privacy policy.

What exactly are cookies?

Whenever you browse the Internet, you use a browser. Well-known 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 is undeniable: cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More specifically, they are HTTP cookies, since there are also other types of cookies for different applications. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed in the cookie folder—essentially 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 your language or personal page settings. When you visit our site again, your browser sends this “user-specific” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and provides you with the settings you’re accustomed to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file; in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

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 must be evaluated individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiration time of a cookie also varies from a few minutes to a few years. Cookies are not software programs and do not contain viruses, Trojans, or other “malware.” Cookies also cannot access information on your computer.

Here’s an example of what cookie data might look like:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152221139413-6
Purpose: To distinguish between website visitors
Expiration date: After 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

  • At least 4,096 bytes per cookie
  • At least 50 cookies per domain
  • At least 3,000 cookies in total

What types of cookies are there?

The specific cookies we use depend on the services employed and are explained in the following sections of this Privacy Policy. Here, we’d like to briefly discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.

There are 4 types of cookies:

Essential Cookies
These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functionality of the website. For example, these cookies are needed when a user adds a product to the shopping cart, then continues browsing other pages, and only proceeds to checkout later. These cookies ensure that the shopping cart is not cleared, even if the user closes their browser window.

Performance Cookies
These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. They are also used to measure the website’s loading time and how it performs across different browsers.

Functional Cookies
These cookies enhance the user experience. For example, they store entered locations, font sizes, or form data.

Advertising Cookies
These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to deliver personalized ads to the user. This can be very convenient, but it can also be very annoying.

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

How can I delete cookies?

You decide for yourself how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies come from, you always have the option to delete, disable, or only partially allow 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, or if you want to change or delete cookie settings, you can do so in your browser settings:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you do not want cookies at all, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide for each individual cookie whether to allow it or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser. It’s best to search for instructions on Google using the search terms “delete cookies Chrome” or “disable cookies Chrome” if you’re using the Chrome browser.

What about my privacy?

The so-called “Cookie Directive” has been in effect since 2009. It stipulates that storing cookies requires your consent. However, reactions to these guidelines still vary widely among EU countries. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 96(3) of the Telecommunications Act (TKG).

If you’d like to learn more about cookies and don’t mind reading technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments titled “HTTP State Management Mechanism.”

Storage of Personal Data

Personal data that you submit to us electronically on this website—such as your name, email address, mailing address, or other personal information provided when submitting a form or leaving a comment on the blog—is used by us, along with the time of submission and your IP address, solely for the purpose specified in each instance. This data is securely stored and not disclosed to third parties.

We therefore use your personal data only to communicate with visitors who expressly request contact and to process the services and products offered on this website. We do not disclose your personal data without your consent; however, we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be accessed in the event of unlawful conduct.

If you send us personal data via email—that is, outside of this website—we cannot guarantee secure transmission or the protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data via unencrypted email.

Rights Under the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with the provisions of the GDPR and the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG), you generally have the following rights:

  • Right to rectification (Article 16 GDPR)
  • Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) (Article 17 of the GDPR)
  • Right to restriction of processing (Article 18 of the GDPR)
  • Right to be notified—obligation to notify in connection with the rectification or erasure of personal data or the restriction of processing (Article 19 of the GDPR)
  • Right to data portability (Article 20 of the GDPR)
  • Right to object (Article 21 of the GDPR)
  • Right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing—including profiling— (Article 22 of the GDPR)

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection rights have otherwise been infringed, you may file a complaint with the supervisory authority, which in Austria is the Data Protection Authority; you can find its website at https://www.dsb.gv.at/.

Analysis of Visitor Behavior

In the following privacy policy, we inform you about whether and how we analyze data from your visit to this website. The analysis of the collected data is generally anonymous, and we cannot identify you personally based on your behavior on this website.

You can learn more about how to object to this analysis of visitor data in the following privacy policy.

TLS Encryption with HTTPS

We use HTTPS to transmit data securely over the Internet (data protection through technology design Article 25(1) of the GDPR). By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission over the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data. You can recognize the use of this data transmission security feature by the small padlock icon in the upper-left corner of your browser and the use of the https (instead of http) as part of our web address.

Google Maps Privacy Policy

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. For the European region, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Maps allows us to better display locations to you and thus tailor our service to your needs. When you use Google Maps, data is transmitted to Google and stored on Google’s servers. Here, we’d like to explain in more detail what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored, and how you can prevent this.

What is Google Maps?

Google Maps is an online mapping service provided by Google. With Google Maps, you can search online via a computer, tablet, or app for the exact locations of cities, attractions, accommodations, or businesses. If a business is listed on Google My Business, additional information about the company is displayed alongside its location. To display directions, map sections of a location can be embedded into a website using HTML code. Google Maps displays the Earth’s surface as a street map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to Street View images and high-quality satellite imagery, very precise representations are possible.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

All our efforts on this page are aimed at providing you with a useful and meaningful experience on our website. By integrating Google Maps, we can provide you with the most important information about various locations. You can see at a glance where our company is headquartered. The directions always show you the best or fastest route to us. You can view directions for routes by car, public transportation, on foot, or by bike. For us, providing Google Maps is part of our customer service.

What data does Google Maps store?

In order for Google Maps to provide its full service, the company must collect and store data from you. This includes, among other things, the search terms you enter, your IP address, and your latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner feature, the starting address you enter is also stored. However, this data is stored on Google Maps’ websites. We can only inform you about this; we have no control over it. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behavior. Google uses this data primarily to optimize its own services and to provide you with individualized, personalized advertising.

The following cookie is set in your browser due to the integration of Google Maps:

Name: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ221139413-5
Purpose: NID is used by Google to tailor ads to your Google searches. With the help of this cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interactions with ads. This ensures that you always receive tailored advertisements. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiration date: after 6 months

Note: We cannot guarantee that the information regarding the stored data is complete. Changes can never be ruled out, especially when it comes to the use of cookies. To identify the NID cookie, a dedicated test page was created that exclusively integrated Google Maps.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google’s servers are located in data centers around the world. However, most servers are located in the United States. For this reason, your data is increasingly stored in the U.S. You can find detailed information on the locations of Google’s data centers here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Google distributes the data across various storage media. This makes the data more quickly accessible and better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data center also has special emergency procedures in place. For example, if there are problems with Google’s hardware or a natural disaster brings the servers to a standstill, the data will almost certainly remain protected nonetheless.

Google stores some data for a specified period of time. For other data, Google only offers the option to delete it manually. Furthermore, the company also anonymizes information (such as advertising data) in server logs by deleting part of the IP address and cookie information after 9 or 18 months, respectively.

How can I delete my data or prevent it from being stored?

With the automatic deletion feature for location and activity data introduced in 2019, information about your location and web/app activity is stored for either 3 or 18 months—depending on your choice—and then deleted. You can also manually delete this data from your history at any time via your Google Account. If you want to completely prevent location tracking, you’ll need to pause “Web and App Activity” section in your Google Account. Click “Data & Personalization” and then select the “Activity settings” option. Here, you can turn the activity on or off.

In your browser, you can also disable, delete, or manage individual cookies. Depending on which browser you use, the process works slightly differently. The following guides show you how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you generally do not want to accept cookies, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide for each individual cookie whether to allow it or not.

Google is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which governs the proper and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI. If you would like to learn more about Google’s data processing practices, we recommend reviewing the company’s privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

We use Google Fonts on our website. These are the “Google fonts” provided by Google Inc. For the European region, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services.

You do not need to log in or create a password to use Google Fonts. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, fonts) are retrieved via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google account, you don’t need to worry that your Google account data will be transmitted to Google while using Google Fonts. Google tracks the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely. We’ll take a closer look at exactly how this data is stored later on.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is a directory of over 800 fonts that Google makes available to its users free of charge.

Many of these fonts are released under the SIL Open Font License, while others are released under the Apache License. Both are free software licenses.

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

Google Fonts allows us to use fonts on our website without having to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is a key component in maintaining the high quality of our website. All Google fonts are automatically optimized for the web, which saves data usage and is a major advantage, especially for use on mobile devices. When you visit our site, the small file size ensures fast loading times. Furthermore, Google Fonts are secure web fonts. Differences in rendering systems across various browsers, operating systems, and mobile devices can lead to errors. Such errors can sometimes cause text or entire web pages to appear distorted. Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform issues with Google Fonts. Google Fonts supports all major browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) and works reliably on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). We use Google Fonts so that we can present our entire online service as attractively and consistently as possible.

What data does Google store?

When you visit our website, the fonts are loaded via a Google server. This external request transmits data to Google’s servers. This also allows Google to recognize that you—or rather, your IP address—are visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to limit the use, storage, and collection of end-user data to what is necessary for the proper delivery of fonts. By the way, API stands for “Application Programming Interface” and serves, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector.

Google Fonts securely stores CSS and font requests on Google’s servers, ensuring they are protected. Based on the collected usage statistics, Google can determine how well the individual fonts are received. Google publishes the results on internal analytics platforms, such as Google Analytics. In addition, Google uses data from its own web crawler to identify which websites use Google Fonts. This data is published in the Google Fonts BigQuery database. Business owners and developers use the Google web service BigQuery to analyze and process large volumes of data.

However, it’s important to note that every Google Font request automatically transmits information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution, and browser name to Google’s servers. It is not clear whether this data is also stored, nor does Google explicitly state this.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores requests for CSS assets on its servers—which are primarily located outside the EU—for one day. This allows us to use the fonts with the help of a Google stylesheet. A stylesheet is a formatting template that allows you to quickly and easily change, for example, the design or font of a website.

The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google’s goal in doing so is to improve website loading times across the board. When millions of websites reference the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately reappear on all other websites visited later. Sometimes Google updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage, and improve design.

How can I delete my data or prevent it from being stored?

The data that Google stores for one day or one year cannot be easily deleted. The data is automatically transmitted to Google when you visit a page. To delete this data early, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=221139413. In this case, you can only prevent data storage by not visiting our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google grants us unrestricted access to all fonts. This means we have unlimited access to a vast array of fonts, allowing us to optimize our website’s appearance. For more information about Google Fonts and other questions, visit https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=221139413. While Google addresses privacy-related issues there, the page does not contain truly detailed information about data storage. It is relatively difficult to obtain truly precise information from Google about stored data.

You can also read about what data Google generally collects and how it is used at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

We use the analytics tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) from the American company Google Inc. on our website. For the European region, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Analytics collects data about your activities on our website. For example, when you click a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics help us better tailor our website and services to your needs. Below, we’ll discuss the tracking tool in more detail and, most importantly, explain what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a tracking tool used to analyze traffic on our website. For Google Analytics to function, a tracking code is embedded in our website’s code. When you visit our website, this code records various actions you perform on our site. 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 on your user behavior. These reports may include, among others:

  • Audience reports: Audience reports help us get to know our users better and understand more precisely who is interested in our service.
  • Advertising reports: Advertising reports allow us to more easily analyze and improve our online advertising.
  • Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports provide us with helpful information on how we can attract more people to our services.
  • Behavioral reports: These reports show us how you interact with our website. We can track the path you take on our site and which links you click.
  • Conversion reports: A conversion is a process in which you perform a desired action in response to a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a casual website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing efforts resonate with you. This is how we aim to increase our conversion rate.
  • Real-Time Reports: These reports let us know immediately what’s happening on our website right now. For example, we can see how many users are reading this text at the moment.

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 achieve this goal.

The statistically analyzed data gives us a clear picture of our website’s strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that interested people can find it more easily on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us better understand you as a visitor. We therefore know exactly what we need to improve on our website to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps us tailor our advertising and marketing efforts to be more personalized and cost-effective. 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 generate a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognizes you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a “returning” user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This is what makes it possible to analyze pseudonymous user profiles in the first place.

Your interactions on our website are measured using identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs. Interactions include all types of actions you perform on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google Account), data generated by Google Analytics may be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not share Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, authorize it. Exceptions may occur if required by law.

Google Analytics uses the following cookies:

Name: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152221139413-5
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Its primary purpose is to distinguish between website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152221139413-1
Purpose: This cookie is also used to distinguish between website visitors
Expiration date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Purpose: Used to reduce the request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_<property-id>.
Expiration date: After 1 minute

Name: AMP_TOKEN
Value: Not specified
Purpose: The cookie contains 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.
Expiration date: after 30 seconds up to one year

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

Name: __utmt
Value: 1
Purpose: Like _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>, this cookie is used to throttle the request rate.
Expiration date: after 10 minutes

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

Name: __utmc
Value: 167421564
Purpose: This cookie is used to establish new sessions for returning visitors. It is a session cookie and is stored only until you close your browser.
Expiration date: Upon closing the browser

Name: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Purpose: This cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. In other words, the cookie records where you came from to reach our website. This could have been another website or an advertisement.
Expiration date: after 6 months

Name: __utmv
Value: not specified
Purpose: This cookie is used to store user-defined data. It is updated whenever information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Note: This list is not exhaustive, as Google frequently changes the cookies it uses.

Here is an overview of the most important data collected by Google Analytics:

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps. Heatmaps show exactly which areas you click on. This gives us information about where you “navigate” on our site.

Session duration: Google defines session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving it. If you’ve been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.

Bounce rate: A bounce occurs when you view only one page on our website and then leave our website.

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 displayed only in truncated form so that it cannot be uniquely identified.

Location: The IP address can be used to determine the country and your approximate location. This process is also referred to as IP geolocation.

Technical information: Technical information includes, among other things, your browser type, your internet service provider, and your screen resolution.

Source: Google Analytics—and, of course, we—are also interested in knowing which website or advertisement brought you to our site.

Additional data includes contact information, any reviews, media playback (e.g., when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media, or adding items to your favorites. This list is not exhaustive and is intended only as a general guide to data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has servers located around the world. Most servers are in the United States, so your data is usually stored on U.S. servers. You can find out exactly where Google’s data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed across various physical storage devices. This has the advantage of making the data more readily accessible and better protected against tampering. Every Google data center has appropriate emergency procedures in place for your data. For example, if Google’s hardware fails or natural disasters cripple servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google remains low.

By default, Google Analytics is set to retain your user data for 26 months. After that, your user data is deleted. However, we have the option to choose the retention period for user data ourselves. We have five options available:

  • Deletion after 14 months
  • Deletion after 26 months
  • Deletion after 38 months
  • Deletion after 50 months
  • No automatic deletion

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

How can I delete my data or prevent it from being stored?

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

If you wish to disable, delete, or manage cookies in general (regardless of Google Analytics), there are separate instructions for each browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

Google Analytics is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the proper and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information on this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=221139413. We hope we’ve been able to provide you with the most important information regarding data processing by Google Analytics. If you’d like to learn more about this tracking service, we recommend these two links: http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de.

YouTube Privacy Policy

We have embedded 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 visit a page on our website that has an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to YouTube’s or Google’s servers. In the process, various types of data are transmitted (depending on your settings). Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all data processing within the European Union.

Below, we’ll explain in more detail what data is processed, why we’ve embedded YouTube videos, and how you can manage or delete your data.

What is YouTube?

On YouTube, users can watch, rate, comment on, and upload videos for free. Over the past 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 embedded on 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 strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website. And, of course, interesting videos are a must. With our embedded videos, we provide you with additional helpful content alongside our text and images. Furthermore, the embedded videos make it easier for people to find our website via the Google search engine. Even when we run ads through Google Ads, Google—thanks to the data it collects—can ensure that these ads are shown only to people who are interested in our offerings.

What data does YouTube store?

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’re logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can usually associate your interactions on our website with your profile using cookies. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, and technical information such as browser type, screen resolution, or your internet service provider. Additional data may include contact information, any ratings you’ve given, sharing content via social media, or adding content to your YouTube favorites.

If you are not signed in to a Google or YouTube account, Google stores data using a unique identifier linked to your device, browser, or app. This ensures, for example, that your preferred language setting is retained. However, much interaction data cannot be stored because fewer cookies are set.

In the following list, we show cookies that were set in a browser test. We list cookies set without a signed-in YouTube account on one hand, and cookies set with a signed-in account on the other. This list is not exhaustive, as user data always depends on interactions on YouTube.

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y221139413-1
Purpose: This cookie records a unique ID to store statistics about the video you watched.
Expiration date: at the end of the session

Name: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose: This cookie also records your unique ID. Google uses PREF to collect statistics on how you use YouTube videos on our website.
Expiration date: after 8 months

Name: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie records your unique ID on mobile devices to track your GPS location.
Expiration 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 videos).
Expiration date: after 8 months

Additional cookies that are set when you are logged in to your YouTube account:

Name: APISID
Value: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7221139413-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile of your interests. The data is used for personalized advertisements.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: This cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to use various Google services. CONSENT also serves security purposes to verify users and protect user data from unauthorized attacks.
Expiration date: after 19 years

Name: HSID
Value: AcRwpgUik9Dveht0I
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile based on your interests. This data helps display personalized ads.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALl6aL…
Purpose: This cookie stores information about your login credentials.
Expiration 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 of your interests.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI221139413-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google account ID and the time of your last login in a digitally signed and encrypted format.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: SIDCC
Value: AN0-TYuqub2JOcDTyL
Purpose: This cookie stores information about how you use the website and what ads you may have seen before visiting our site.
Expiration 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’s servers. Most of these servers are located in the United States. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de, you can see exactly where Google’s data centers are located. Your data is distributed across the servers. This makes the data more quickly accessible and better protected against tampering.

Google stores the collected data for varying lengths of time. You can delete some data at any time; other data is automatically deleted after a limited period; and still other data is stored by Google for a longer period. Some data (such as items from “My Activity,” photos, documents, or products) stored in your Google Account remains there until you delete it. Even if you’re 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 it from being stored?

Generally, you can manually delete data in your Google Account. With the automatic deletion feature for location and activity data introduced in 2019, information is stored for either 3 or 18 months—depending on your choice—and then deleted.

Regardless of whether you have a Google Account or not, you can configure your browser to delete or disable Google cookies. The process varies depending on which browser you use. The following guides show you how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Deleting and managing cookies

If you do not want to accept cookies at all, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide for each individual cookie whether to allow it or not. Since YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, there is a joint privacy policy. If you’d like to learn more about how your data is handled, we recommend reviewing the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Source: Created with the Privacy Policy Generator from firmenwebseiten.at