Privacy policy

1. An overview of data protection

General information

The following information will provide you with an easy to navigate overview of what will happen with your personal data when you visit this website. The term “personal data” comprises all data that can be used to personally identify you. For detailed information about the subject matter of data protection, please consult our Data Protection Declaration, which we have included beneath this copy.

Data recording on this website

Who is the responsible party for the recording of data on this website (i.e. the “controller”)?

The data on this website is processed by the operator of the website, whose contact information is available in the “Imprint” on this website.

How do we record your data?

We collect your data as a result of your sharing of your data with us. This may, for instance be information you enter into our contact form.

Other data shall be recorded by our IT systems automatically or after you consent to its recording during your website visit. This data comprises primarily technical information (e.g. web browser, operating system or time the site was accessed). This information is recorded automatically when you access this website.

What are the purposes we use your data for?

A portion of the information is generated to guarantee the error free provision of the website. Other data may be used to analyze your user patterns.

What rights do you have as far as your information is concerned?

You have the right to receive information about the source, recipients and purposes of your archived personal data at any time without having to pay a fee for such disclosures. You also have the right to demand that your data are rectified or eradicated. If you have consented to data processing, you have the option to revoke this consent at any time, which shall affect all future data processing. Moreover, you have the right to demand that the processing of your data be restricted under certain circumstances. Furthermore, you have the right to log a complaint with the competent supervising agency.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time under the address disclosed in the “Imprint” on this website if you have questions about this or any other data protection related issues.

Analysis tools and tools provided by third parties

When you visit this website, we count page views with Cloudflare Web Analytics, without cookies and only as aggregated figures. Beyond that, your browsing patterns are analyzed only if you have given your consent beforehand: with Microsoft Clarity, which shows us how visitors use our pages, with the Meta Pixel and the Meta Conversions API, which we use to measure which of our ads lead to sign-ups for our newsletter and to requests through our contact form, and with Google Analytics and Google Ads, which we integrate through the Google Tag Manager.

For detailed information about these tools please consult our Data Protection Declaration below.

2. Hosting and Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

External Hosting

This website is hosted by an external service provider (host). Personal data collected on this website are stored on the servers of the host. These may include, but are not limited to, IP addresses, contact requests, metadata and communications, contract information, contact information, names, web page access, and other data generated through a web site.

The host is used for the purpose of fulfilling the contract with our potential and existing customers (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR) and in the interest of secure, fast and efficient provision of our online services by a professional provider (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR).

Our host will only process your data to the extent necessary to fulfil its performance obligations and to follow our instructions with respect to such data.

We are using the following host:

Cloudflare, Inc.
101 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
USA

This website is delivered through Cloudflare’s global content delivery network (Cloudflare Pages). Your requests to this website pass through Cloudflare servers, which may also be located outside the European Union. Server-side functions of this website, such as forwarding your newsletter sign-up to our newsletter service provider, also run on Cloudflare’s infrastructure.

Data processing is based on standard contractual clauses, which you can find here: https://www.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-customer-scc/.

The company is certified under the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the US intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards when data is processed in the US. Every company certified under the DPF commits to complying with these data protection standards. For more information, please contact the provider at the following link: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/participant/5666.

Execution of a contract data processing agreement

In order to guarantee processing in compliance with data protection regulations, we have concluded an order processing contract with our host. For more information, please refer to Cloudflare’s data protection terms at https://www.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-customer-dpa/.

3. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website and its pages take the protection of your personal data very seriously. Hence, we handle your personal data as confidential information and in compliance with the statutory data protection regulations and this Data Protection Declaration.

Whenever you use this website, a variety of personal information will be collected. Personal data comprises data that can be used to personally identify you. This Data Protection Declaration explains which data we collect as well as the purposes we use this data for. It also explains how, and for which purpose the information is collected.

We herewith advise you that the transmission of data via the Internet (i.e. through e-mail communications) may be prone to security gaps. It is not possible to completely protect data against third-party access.

The data processing controller on this website is:

H.O.F. Alutec
Metallverarbeitungs GmbH & Co. KG
Brookstrasse 8
D - 49497 Mettingen

Phone: +49 (0) 54 52-97 33-10
E-mail: [email protected]

The controller is the natural person or legal entity that single-handedly or jointly with others makes decisions as to the purposes of and resources for the processing of personal data (e.g. names, e-mail addresses, etc.).

Storage duration

Unless a more specific storage period has been specified in this privacy policy, your personal data will remain with us until the purpose for which it was collected no longer applies. If you assert a justified request for deletion or revoke your consent to data processing, your data will be deleted, unless we have other legally permissible reasons for storing your personal data (e.g. tax or commercial law retention periods); in the latter case, the deletion will take place after these reasons cease to apply.

Designation of a data protection officer as mandated by law

We have appointed a data protection officer for our company.

DSO Datenschutz Osnabrück GmbH
Dipl.-Kfm. Björn Voitel
Mercatorstr. 11
49080 Osnabrück

Phone: +49 (0) 54 1 60 08 16 31
E-mail: [email protected]

Information on data transfer to the USA

Our website uses, in particular, tools from companies based in the USA. When these tools are active, your personal information may be transferred to the US servers of these companies. We must point out that the USA is not a safe third country within the meaning of EU data protection law. US companies are required to release personal data to security authorities without you as the data subject being able to take legal action against this. The possibility cannot therefore be excluded that US authorities (e.g. secret services) may process, evaluate and permanently store your data on US servers for monitoring purposes. We have no influence over these processing activities.

A wide range of data processing transactions are possible only subject to your express consent. You can also revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.

IN THE EVENT THAT DATA ARE PROCESSED ON THE BASIS OF ART. 6 SECT. 1 LIT. E OR F GDPR, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AT ANY TIME OBJECT TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA BASED ON GROUNDS ARISING FROM YOUR UNIQUE SITUATION. THIS ALSO APPLIES TO ANY PROFILING BASED ON THESE PROVISIONS. TO DETERMINE THE LEGAL BASIS, ON WHICH ANY PROCESSING OF DATA IS BASED, PLEASE CONSULT THIS DATA PROTECTION DECLARATION. IF YOU LOG AN OBJECTION, WE WILL NO LONGER PROCESS YOUR AFFECTED PERSONAL DATA, UNLESS WE ARE IN A POSITION TO PRESENT COMPELLING PROTECTION WORTHY GROUNDS FOR THE PROCESSING OF YOUR DATA, THAT OUTWEIGH YOUR INTERESTS, RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OR IF THE PURPOSE OF THE PROCESSING IS THE CLAIMING, EXERCISING OR DEFENCE OF LEGAL ENTITLEMENTS (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21 SECT. 1 GDPR).

IF YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS BEING PROCESSED IN ORDER TO ENGAGE IN DIRECT ADVERTISING, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AT ANY TIME OBJECT TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR AFFECTED PERSONAL DATA FOR THE PURPOSES OF SUCH ADVERTISING. THIS ALSO APPLIES TO PROFILING TO THE EXTENT THAT IT IS AFFILIATED WITH SUCH DIRECT ADVERTISING. IF YOU OBJECT, YOUR PERSONAL DATA WILL SUBSEQUENTLY NO LONGER BE USED FOR DIRECT ADVERTISING PURPOSES (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21 SECT. 2 GDPR).

Right to log a complaint with the competent supervisory agency

In the event of violations of the GDPR, data subjects are entitled to log a complaint with a supervisory agency, in particular in the member state where they usually maintain their domicile, place of work or at the place where the alleged violation occurred. The right to log a complaint is in effect regardless of any other administrative or court proceedings available as legal recourses.

Right to data portability

You have the right to demand that we hand over any data we automatically process on the basis of your consent or in order to fulfil a contract be handed over to you or a third party in a commonly used, machine readable format. If you should demand the direct transfer of the data to another controller, this will be done only if it is technically feasible.

SSL and/or TLS encryption

For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as purchase orders or inquiries you submit to us as the website operator, this website uses either an SSL or a TLS encryption program. You can recognize an encrypted connection by checking whether the address line of the browser switches from “http://” to “https://” and also by the appearance of the lock icon in the browser line.

If the SSL or TLS encryption is activated, data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

Information about, rectification and eradication of data

Within the scope of the applicable statutory provisions, you have the right to at any time demand information about your archived personal data, their source and recipients as well as the purpose of the processing of your data. You may also have a right to have your data rectified or eradicated. If you have questions about this subject matter or any other questions about personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time at the address provided in the “Imprint”.

Right to demand processing restrictions

You have the right to demand the imposition of restrictions as far as the processing of your personal data is concerned. To do so, you may contact us at any time at the address provided in the “Imprint”. The right to demand restriction of processing applies in the following cases:

In the event that you should dispute the correctness of your data archived by us, we will usually need some time to verify this claim. During the time that this investigation is ongoing, you have the right to demand that we restrict the processing of your personal data.
If the processing of your personal data was/is conducted in an unlawful manner, you have the option to demand the restriction of the processing of your data in lieu of demanding the eradication of this data.
If we do not need your personal data any longer and you need it to exercise, defend or claim legal entitlements, you have the right to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data instead of its eradication.
If you have raised an objection pursuant to Art. 21 Sect. 1 GDPR, your rights and our rights will have to be weighed against each other. As long as it has not been determined whose interests prevail, you have the right to demand a restriction of the processing of your personal data.

If you have restricted the processing of your personal data, these data – with the exception of their archiving – may be processed only subject to your consent or to claim, exercise or defend legal entitlements or to protect the rights of other natural persons or legal entities or for important public interest reasons cited by the European Union or a member state of the EU.

4. Recording of data on this website

Cookies

Our websites and pages use what the industry refers to as “cookies.” Cookies are small text files that do not cause any damage to your device. They are either stored temporarily for the duration of a session (session cookies) or they are permanently archived on your device (permanent cookies). Session cookies are automatically deleted once you terminate your visit. Permanent cookies remain archived on your device until you actively delete them or they are automatically eradicated by your web browser.

In some cases, it is possible that third-party cookies are stored on your device once you enter our site (third-party cookies). These cookies enable you or us to take advantage of certain services offered by the third party (e.g. cookies for the processing of payment services).

Cookies have a variety of functions. Many cookies are technically essential since certain website functions would not work in the absence of the cookies (e.g. the shopping cart function or the display of videos). The purpose of other cookies may be the analysis of user patterns or the display of promotional messages.

Cookies, which are required for the performance of electronic communication transactions (required cookies) or for the provision of certain functions you want to use (functional cookies, e.g. for the shopping cart function) or those that are necessary for the optimization of the website (e.g. cookies that provide measurable insights into the web audience), shall be stored on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR, unless a different legal basis is cited. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure the technically error free and optimized provision of the operator’s services. If your consent to the storage of the cookies has been requested, the respective cookies are stored exclusively on the basis of the consent obtained (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR); this consent may be revoked at any time.

You have the option to set up your browser in such a manner that you will be notified any time cookies are placed and to permit the acceptance of cookies only in specific cases. You may also exclude the acceptance of cookies in certain cases or in general or activate the delete function for the automatic eradication of cookies when the browser closes. If cookies are deactivated, the functions of this website may be limited.

In the event that third-party cookies are used or if cookies are used for analytical purposes, we will separately notify you in conjunction with this Data Protection Policy and, if applicable, ask for your consent.

On your first visit, a banner asks whether we may use Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics through the Google Tag Manager (category “Statistics”) as well as the Meta Pixel, the Meta Conversions API and Google Ads through the Google Tag Manager (category “Marketing”) (see section 5). On the countdown page, on the confirmation page after a newsletter sign-up and on the legal pages in the design of the countdown page (hereinafter “countdown pages”), the banner asks about the same two categories. Clarity is not used on the countdown pages, so there the category “Statistics” covers only Google Analytics. “Allow” enables statistics and marketing; under “Settings” you can choose each category separately. We built this banner ourselves; no external provider is involved. As long as you have not made a choice, or if you decline, nothing is loaded from Microsoft, Meta or Google for these purposes, and no data is sent to them.

We store your choice in the cookie “ufo_consent” in your browser. The cookie contains only your decisions on statistics and marketing and the time of your choice, and it is valid for 180 days; after that, we ask again. Like every cookie, “ufo_consent” is sent to our website with each request, but our server does not evaluate it. When you sign up for the newsletter or send the contact form, the form tells our server whether you have consented, so that the server reports this to Meta only if you have. You can change your choice at any time with the “Cookie settings” link in the footer.

Until 4 November 2026, the countdown page stored the choice for six months in your browser’s local storage (localStorage, entry “ufo_consent”). If such an entry exists, it is moved into the cookie once on your next visit, keeping its date, and the old entry is deleted.

If you reach our website through a link with campaign parameters, for example from an ad, we store the parameters utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content and fbclid together with the time of the visit in your browser’s session storage (sessionStorage, entry “ufo_attribution”). Session storage is deleted when you close the browser tab. When you sign up for the newsletter, this information is sent to our server with the form. We pass utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign and utm_content on to our newsletter service provider Brevo as the origin of your sign-up (see section 6). We send the fbclid parameter to Meta only, and only if you have consented (see section 5). We do not share this information with any other third parties. The page also keeps technical helper values in session storage, for example a counter that stops the page from reloading endlessly when the countdown ends.

Storing and reading these entries is technically necessary to respect your consent decision and to attribute the newsletter sign-up you requested to its origin (§ 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG). The legal basis for processing your consent decision is Art. 6 (1)(c) GDPR. We process the origin information together with your newsletter sign-up on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR).

Server log files

The provider of this website and its pages automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files, which your browser communicates to us automatically. The information comprises:

The type and version of browser used
The used operating system
Referrer URL
The hostname of the accessing computer
The time of the server inquiry
The IP address

This data is not merged with other data sources.

This data is recorded on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in the technically error free depiction and the optimization of the operator’s website. In order to achieve this, server log files must be recorded.

Contact form

If you submit inquiries to us via our contact form, the information provided in the contact form as well as any contact information provided therein will be stored by us in order to handle your inquiry and in the event that we have further questions. We will not share this information without your consent.

If you have consented to the category “Marketing”, sending the contact form is also reported to Meta as the event “Lead” (see section 5). Our server transmits only your e-mail address from the form to Meta, and only as a hash value; it does not transmit your name, company, country or message. In addition, the Meta Pixel in your browser can read customer information from the form fields, for example your e-mail address, name and country, and send it to Meta as hash values (automatic advanced matching, see section 5). Your message is not transmitted to Meta.

If the Google Tag Manager is active (see section 5), the page also passes the sending of the contact form to it as the event “generate_lead”, together with the same event ID. If you have consented to marketing, it also passes your e-mail address, only as a hash value, for enhanced conversions in Google Ads (see section 5). Your name, company, country and message are not passed on to Google.

The processing of these data is based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR, if your request is related to the execution of a contract or if it is necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures. In all other cases the processing is based on our legitimate interest in the effective processing of the requests addressed to us (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) or on your agreement (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) if this has been requested.

The information you have entered into the contact form shall remain with us until you ask us to eradicate the data, revoke your consent to the archiving of data or if the purpose for which the information is being archived no longer exists (e.g. after we have concluded our response to your inquiry). This shall be without prejudice to any mandatory legal provisions – in particular retention periods.

Request by e-mail, telephone or fax

If you contact us by e-mail, telephone or fax, your request, including all resulting personal data (name, request) will be stored and processed by us for the purpose of processing your request. We do not pass these data on without your consent.

These data are processed on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR if your inquiry is related to the fulfillment of a contract or is required for the performance of pre-contractual measures. In all other cases, the data are processed on the basis of our legitimate interest in the effective handling of inquiries submitted to us (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR) or on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR) if it has been obtained.

The data sent by you to us via contact requests remain with us until you request us to delete, revoke your consent to the storage or the purpose for the data storage lapses (e.g. after completion of your request). Mandatory statutory provisions - in particular statutory retention periods - remain unaffected.

Cloudflare Turnstile

We use Cloudflare Turnstile (hereinafter “Turnstile”) on this website. The provider is Cloudflare Inc., 101 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107, USA (hereinafter “Cloudflare”).

Turnstile is used to check whether data entered on this website (e.g., in a contact form) is entered by a human or by an automated program. To do this, Turnstile analyzes the behavior of the website visitor based on various characteristics. We use Turnstile on the newsletter form and on the contact form.

This analysis begins automatically as soon as the website visitor enters a website with Turnstile enabled. For the analysis, Turnstile evaluates various information (e.g., IP address, how long the website visitor has been on the website, or mouse movements made by the user). The data collected during the analysis is forwarded to Cloudflare.

The data is stored and analyzed on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its web offerings from abusive automated spying and from SPAM. If consent has been requested, processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TDDDG, insofar as the consent includes the storage of cookies or access to information on the user’s device (e.g., device fingerprinting) within the meaning of the TDDDG. Consent can be revoked at any time.

Data processing is based on standard contractual clauses, which you can find here: https://www.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-customer-scc/.

For more information about Cloudflare Turnstile, please refer to the data protection terms at https://www.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-customer-dpa/.

5. Analysis tools and advertising

Cloudflare Web Analytics

To know how often our pages are visited and how fast they load, we use Cloudflare Web Analytics. The provider is Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107, USA, which also hosts this website (see section 2).

Cloudflare Web Analytics works without cookies, stores nothing in your browser and does not use fingerprinting to recognize visitors. When a page loads, a small script reports the page view to Cloudflare, with the address of the page, the referring page, information about the browser, operating system and device type, and the load times of the page. We see only aggregated figures, for example the number of page views per page or per country, and cannot identify individual visitors from them.

The use of Cloudflare Web Analytics is based on Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR. We have a legitimate interest in knowing how often our pages are used and how fast they load, so that we can operate and improve the website. The order processing contract and the data transfer to the USA are described in section 2.

Microsoft Clarity

We use Microsoft Clarity on all pages of this website except the countdown pages (see section 4), but only if you have consented to the category “Statistics”. The provider is Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited, One Microsoft Place, South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, D18 P521, Ireland (hereinafter “Clarity”).

Clarity is a tool for analyzing user behavior on this website. We use it to see whether visitors find their way through our pages, in particular through the scrolling sequences. Clarity records mouse movements, clicks and scrolling and creates graphic representations of the parts of a page that visitors use most (heatmaps). Clarity can also record sessions, so that we can view the use of the pages in the form of videos. Entries in form fields are masked and are not transmitted to Microsoft in readable form.

In addition, Clarity processes technical information, for example browser, operating system, device type, screen size, the address of the page visited and the referring page, as well as your IP address. Your data is stored on Microsoft servers (Microsoft Azure).

Clarity uses cookies to recognize a visitor across page views. The cookie “_clck” stores a randomly generated user ID and is kept for one year. The cookie “_clsk” combines several page views into one session and is kept for one day. Clarity does not set further cookies on our site, for example for advertising, because we tell Clarity that there is no consent for them. We pass your consent decision to Clarity through its consent interface (Consent API).

The use of Clarity is based exclusively on your consent (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TDDDG). You can revoke your consent at any time: use the “Cookie settings” link in the footer, deselect “Statistics” and save your selection, or choose “Necessary only”. After that, Clarity no longer records your use of the website, and the cookies “_clck” and “_clsk” are deleted.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/offering-eu-model-clauses.

The US parent company Microsoft Corporation is certified under the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the US intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards when data is processed in the US. Every company certified under the DPF commits to complying with these data protection standards. For more information, please see the following link: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/participant/6474.

For more information on data protection at Clarity, please refer to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/faq and to Microsoft’s privacy statement at https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement.

Google Tag Manager

On all pages of this website, including the countdown pages (see section 4), we use the Google Tag Manager. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (hereinafter “Google”).

The Google Tag Manager is a tool that allows us to integrate tracking and statistics tools and other technologies on our website. The Google Tag Manager itself does not create user profiles, does not store cookies and does not carry out any independent analyses. It only manages and runs the tools integrated through it. At present, these are Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads (see below). However, the Google Tag Manager does collect your IP address, which may also be transmitted to Google’s parent company in the United States.

We load the Google Tag Manager from Google’s servers only after you have consented to the category “Statistics” or “Marketing”; before that, nothing is loaded from Google. Before loading, the page sets all consent types of Google’s consent mode (Consent Mode v2) to “denied” and then updates them from your choice: “Marketing” allows ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization, “Statistics” allows analytics_storage. Without consent to statistics or marketing, the Google Tag Manager is not loaded and no Google tag runs, not even in a cookieless form.

The page passes only the following events to the Google Tag Manager: a newsletter sign-up (“sign_up”, with an event ID), the confirmation of the sign-up through the link in the confirmation e-mail (“newsletter_confirm”, once per session), the sending of the contact form (“generate_lead”, with an event ID), a click on a link to the contact page (“contact_sales_click”, with the position of the link on the page and the product the link refers to), a click on an e-mail link (“email_click”, with the position of the link) and a click on a download (“file_download”, with the file name, the file type, the path of the file, the product and type of document concerned and the position of the link). With your consent to marketing, the events “sign_up” and “generate_lead” also carry your e-mail address as a hash value, for enhanced conversions in Google Ads (see “Google Ads”); your e-mail address is never passed on in plain text, and the other contents of forms are not passed on.

The use of the Google Tag Manager is based exclusively on your consent (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TDDDG). You can revoke your consent at any time with the “Cookie settings” link in the footer. After that, the Google tags on the current page run with the withdrawn consent types denied, and the page deletes the corresponding Google cookies (see the sections “Google Analytics 4” and “Google Ads”). If you allow neither statistics nor marketing, the Google Tag Manager is no longer loaded from the next page view on.

Google Analytics 4

On all pages of this website, including the countdown pages (see section 4), we use Google Analytics 4 through the Google Tag Manager, but only if you have consented to the category “Statistics”. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google Analytics enables us to analyze how visitors use our website. We use it to see how often our pages are visited, how visitors find their way through them and how many people sign up for our newsletter and how many requests come through our contact form. For this, Google Analytics records, for example, page views, the time spent on a page, clicks on links and the events described in the section “Google Tag Manager”, together with information about the device, browser and operating system, the referring page and your approximate location (country, region, city). Interactions with forms and file downloads are not recorded by the enhanced measurement, downloads only through our own event “file_download”; Google Analytics does not receive your e-mail address, not even as a hash value, nor the contents of forms.

According to Google, Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. Your IP address is used only to determine your approximate location and is then discarded. Google Signals, which would link data with Google accounts, is turned off. We keep the data in Google Analytics for 14 months.

Google Analytics stores the cookies “_ga”, which distinguishes visitors by a randomly generated ID, and “ga” followed by an ID, which stores the state of the session, in your browser, each for up to two years.

Google Analytics runs only with your consent to statistics. This also applies if you have allowed only marketing: the Google Tag Manager then loads, but the Google Analytics tags in it run only if analytics_storage is allowed. We use the basic mode of Google’s consent mode (Consent Mode v2), so without your consent Google Analytics sends nothing, not even without cookies.

We have linked Google Analytics with our Google Ads account, so that requests measured in Google Analytics can be used in Google Ads. Data for advertising purposes is only shared if you have also consented to marketing.

The use of Google Analytics is based exclusively on your consent (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TDDDG). You can revoke your consent at any time: use the “Cookie settings” link in the footer, deselect “Statistics” and save your selection, or choose “Necessary only”. After that, Google Analytics no longer records your use of the website, and the page immediately deletes the cookies “_ga” and “ga*” in your browser.

We have concluded an order processing agreement with Google for Google Analytics. Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/controllerterms/mccs/. Google LLC is certified under the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF); see the section “Google Tag Manager”.

For more information on how Google Analytics handles your data, please refer to https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245 and to Google’s privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

Google Ads with conversion tracking and remarketing

On all pages of this website, including the countdown pages, we use Google Ads through the Google Tag Manager, but only if you have consented to the category “Marketing”. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Conversion tracking: If you reach our website through a Google ad and then sign up for the newsletter or send the contact form, Google can record this as a conversion. We use this to measure which of our Google ads lead to newsletter sign-ups and requests. We only see the total number of conversions; we receive no information that identifies you.

Enhanced conversions: If you have consented to marketing and sign up for the newsletter or send the contact form, the page converts the e-mail address you entered into a uniform format (lower case, without spaces), turns it into a SHA-256 hash value in your browser and passes this hash value through the Google Tag Manager to Google Ads. Your e-mail address is never transmitted in plain text. Google compares the hash value with the hash values of the e-mail addresses of its users in order to assign sign-ups and requests to ads that were shown or clicked before, also where cookies are missing. We use this to assign sign-ups and requests to our ads more reliably.

Remarketing: After a visit to our website, Google can show you our ads on other websites and in Google services. For this, Google can assign your visit to an advertising ID or, if you are logged in, to your Google account.

Google Ads stores cookies in your browser for this, in particular “_gcl_au” for the measurement of conversions and, after a click on an ad, “_gcl_aw” or “_gcl_dc” with the click identifier, each for up to 90 days. Google can also set cookies on its own domains, for example doubleclick.net. The Google Ads tags run only if ad_storage is allowed, that is, only with your consent to marketing, even if the Google Tag Manager has loaded because of your consent to statistics. As long as ad_storage is denied, Google tags do not use these cookies and send ad requests only in redacted form (ads_data_redaction).

The use of Google Ads is based exclusively on your consent (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TDDDG). You can revoke your consent at any time: use the “Cookie settings” link in the footer, deselect “Marketing” and save your selection, or choose “Necessary only”. After that, Google tags run with advertising consent denied, and the page immediately deletes the Google cookies “_gcl_au”, “_gcl_aw” and “_gcl_dc” in your browser.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/controllerterms/mccs/. Google LLC is certified under the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF); see the section “Google Tag Manager”.

For details on how Google handles your data, please refer to Google’s privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en. You can adjust the ads Google shows you at https://myadcenter.google.com/.

Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API

To measure conversion rates, this website uses the visitor activity pixel of Meta (Meta Pixel) and the Meta Conversions API on all of its pages, but only if you have agreed through our consent banner or have chosen the category “Marketing” in the “Cookie settings”. The provider of these services is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, D04 X2K5, Ireland (hereinafter “Meta”). According to Meta’s statement the collected data will be transferred to the USA and other third-party countries too.

This tool allows the tracking of page visitors after they have been linked to the website of the provider after clicking on an ad from Meta (e.g. on Facebook or Instagram). This makes it possible to analyze the effectiveness of the ads for statistical and market research purposes and to optimize future advertising campaigns. We use this to measure which of our ads lead to sign-ups for our newsletter and to requests through our contact form.

Meta Pixel: Once you have consented, your browser loads a script from Meta’s servers and reports the page view (event “PageView”). When you sign up for the newsletter, the event “Lead” is reported as well, and when you complete the sign-up with the link in the confirmation e-mail, the event “CompleteRegistration”. When you send the contact form, the event “Lead” is reported as well. For this, the Meta Pixel stores the cookies “_fbp” and, where applicable, “_fbc” in your browser.

Additional functions of the Meta Pixel: This website uses the same Meta Pixel as our website www.h-of.de. The following functions are switched on in it:

Automatic advanced matching: The Meta Pixel reads customer information that you enter in forms on this website, for example your e-mail address and, where it recognizes them, your name and country. It converts this information into SHA-256 hash values in your browser and sends the hash values to Meta. On this website, this concerns the newsletter form and the contact form; neither form asks for a phone number.
Automatic event tracking: Meta evaluates page views, the texts of buttons and the metadata of our pages in order to recognize events such as sign-ups on its own and to record them.
Automatic page information: Meta uses an AI-based function to recognize information on our pages, for example page titles and product information, and sends it to Meta together with the events.
Conversion measurement on the device: From 12 November 2026, part of the conversion measurement takes place on your device.

All of these functions work only after you have consented to marketing, because the Meta Pixel does not load otherwise.

Meta Conversions API: If you have consented and sign up for the newsletter or send the contact form, our server also reports this directly to Meta (event “Lead”). The following data is transmitted:

the e-mail address you entered, as a SHA-256 hash value, i.e. not in plain text,
your IP address and your browser identifier (user agent),
the Meta identifiers from the cookies “_fbp” and “_fbc”, where available; if “_fbc” is missing, this identifier is formed from the fbclid parameter of the address through which you reached our website,
the address of the page on which you signed up or sent the contact form, the time of the sign-up or request and a randomly generated event ID.

The event ID is the same one the Meta Pixel reports from your browser, so that Meta counts a sign-up or request only once. Meta can match the hash values of your e-mail address and of the other customer information against the hash values of its users’ data and thereby assign the sign-up or request to a Meta account. We do not store the data sent to Meta ourselves.

For us as the operators of this website, the data shown in Meta’s reports is anonymous. We are not in a position to arrive at any conclusions as to the identity of users from it. However, Meta archives the information and processes it, so that it is possible to make a connection to the respective user profile and Meta is in a position to use the data for its own promotional purposes in compliance with Meta’s Privacy Policy. This enables Meta to display ads on Meta platforms as well as in locations outside of them. We as the operator of this website have no control over the use of such data.

The use of the Meta Pixel and the Meta Conversions API is based exclusively on your consent (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TDDDG). You can revoke your consent at any time: use the “Cookie settings” link in the footer. It opens the cookie settings, where you deselect “Marketing” and save your selection or choose “Necessary only”. After that, the Meta Pixel no longer loads, our server no longer reports sign-ups or contact requests to Meta, and the page deletes the cookies “_fbp” and “_fbc” in your browser.

We are jointly responsible with Meta for collecting the data on our website and transmitting it to Meta (Art. 26 GDPR). Meta alone is responsible for any further processing after the transmission. How the obligations are divided is set out in Meta’s joint controller agreement (Controller Addendum), which you can view at https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum.

Data transmission to the US is based on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/legal/EU_data_transfer_addendum and https://de-de.facebook.com/help/566994660333381.

The US parent company Meta Platforms, Inc. is certified under the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the US intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards when data is processed in the US. Every company certified under the DPF commits to complying with these data protection standards. For more information, please see the following link: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/list.

In Meta’s Data Privacy Policies, you will find additional information about the protection of your privacy at: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

You also have the option to deactivate the remarketing function “Custom Audiences” in the ad settings section under https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. To do this, you first have to log into Facebook.

If you do not have a Facebook account, you can deactivate any user based advertising by Facebook on the website of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter offered on this website, we will need from you an e-mail address as well as information that allow us to verify that you are the owner of the e-mail address provided and consent to the receipt of the newsletter. In addition, we store the language in which you signed up and, if you reached our website through a link with campaign parameters, the origin of your sign-up (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign and utm_content, see section 4). No further data shall be collected. We shall use such data only for the sending of the requested information and to evaluate which campaigns lead to sign-ups. We shall not share such data with any third parties, with the exception of the transmission to Meta and Google, which takes place only with your separate consent (see section 5). With your consent to marketing, Google receives through the Google Tag Manager a notice of your sign-up and of its confirmation and, for enhanced conversions in Google Ads, your e-mail address as a hash value, never in plain text. The purpose is to assign sign-ups to our ads (see section 5).

The processing of the information entered into the newsletter subscription form shall occur exclusively on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You may revoke the consent you have given to the archiving of data, the e-mail address and the use of this information for the sending of the newsletter at any time, for instance by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link in the newsletter. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing transactions that have taken place to date.

The data deposited with us for the purpose of subscribing to the newsletter will be stored by us until you unsubscribe from the newsletter or the newsletter service provider and deleted from the newsletter distribution list after you unsubscribe from the newsletter. Data stored for other purposes with us remain unaffected.

After you unsubscribe from the newsletter distribution list, your e-mail address may be stored by us or the newsletter service provider in a blacklist to prevent future mailings. The data from the blacklist is used only for this purpose and not merged with other data. This serves both your interest and our interest in complying with the legal requirements when sending newsletters (legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR). The storage in the blacklist is indefinite. You may object to the storage if your interests outweigh our legitimate interest.

Double opt-in procedure

Sign-up takes place in a double opt-in procedure: after you submit the form, you receive an e-mail with a confirmation link. You are added to the distribution list only once you click this link. This ensures that nobody can sign up with someone else’s e-mail address.

To prove your consent, the time of the sign-up and of the confirmation as well as the IP address used for the confirmation are logged. The legal basis for this is our legitimate interest in being able to prove your consent (Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR in conjunction with Art. 7 (1) GDPR).

We send our newsletter with Brevo. The provider is Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker Straße 126, 10179 Berlin, Germany (hereinafter “Brevo”).

Your sign-up is transmitted directly to Brevo by a server-side function on Cloudflare’s infrastructure (see section 2). We do not store the sign-up data in a database of our own; it is held by Brevo, which also stores the confirmation and the log from the double opt-in procedure. Brevo processes your data on our behalf and only in accordance with our instructions.

In order to guarantee processing in compliance with data protection regulations, we have concluded an order processing contract with Brevo.

For details on how Brevo handles your data, please refer to Brevo’s privacy policy: https://www.brevo.com/legal/privacypolicy/.

We maintain publicly available profiles in social networks. The individual social networks we use can be found below.

Social networks such as Facebook, Google+ etc. can generally analyze your user behavior comprehensively if you visit their website or a website with integrated social media content (e.g. like buttons or banner ads). When you visit our social media pages, numerous data protection-relevant processing operations are triggered. In detail:

If you are logged in to your social media account and visit our social media page, the operator of the social media portal can assign this visit to your user account. Under certain circumstances, your personal data may also be recorded if you are not logged in or do not have an account with the respective social media portal. In this case, this data is collected, for example, via cookies stored on your device or by recording your IP address.

Using the data collected in this way, the operators of the social media portals can create user profiles in which their preferences and interests are stored. This way you can see interest-based advertising inside and outside of your social media presence. If you have an account with the social network, interest-based advertising can be displayed on any device you are logged in to or have logged in to.

Please also note that we cannot retrace all processing operations on the social media portals. Depending on the provider, additional processing operations may therefore be carried out by the operators of the social media portals. Details can be found in the terms of use and privacy policy of the respective social media portals.

Legal basis

Our social media appearances should ensure the widest possible presence on the Internet. This is a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. The analysis processes initiated by the social networks may be based on divergent legal bases to be specified by the operators of the social networks (e.g. consent within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR).

Responsibility and assertion of rights

If you visit one of our social media sites (e.g., Facebook), we, together with the operator of the social media platform, are responsible for the data processing operations triggered during this visit. You can in principle protect your rights (information, correction, deletion, limitation of processing, data portability and complaint) vis-à-vis us as well as vis-à-vis the operator of the respective social media portal (e.g. Facebook).

Please note that despite the shared responsibility with the social media portal operators, we do not have full influence on the data processing operations of the social media portals. Our options are determined by the company policy of the respective provider.

Storage time

The data collected directly from us via the social media presence will be deleted from our systems as soon as the purpose for their storage lapses, you ask us to delete it, you revoke your consent to the storage or the purpose for the data storage lapses. Stored cookies remain on your device until you delete them. Mandatory statutory provisions - in particular, retention periods - remain unaffected.

We have no control over the storage duration of your data that are stored by the social network operators for their own purposes. For details, please contact the social network operators directly (e.g. in their privacy policy, see below).

Facebook

We have a profile on Facebook. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, D04 X2K5, Ireland. According to Meta’s statement the collected data will also be transferred to the USA and to other third-party countries.

We have signed an agreement with Meta on shared responsibility for the processing of data (Controller Addendum). This agreement determines which data processing operations we or Meta are responsible for when you visit our Facebook Fanpage. This agreement can be viewed at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum.

You can customize your advertising settings independently in your user account. Click on the following link and log in: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads.

Details can be found in the Facebook privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

LinkedIn

We have a LinkedIn profile. The provider is the LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland. LinkedIn uses advertising cookies.

If you want to disable LinkedIn advertising cookies, please use the following link: https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls/retargeting-opt-out.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/dpa and https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/eu-sccs.

For details on how they handle your personal information, please refer to LinkedIn’s privacy policy: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Twitter

We use the short message service Twitter. The provider is Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland.

You can customize your Twitter privacy settings in your user account. Click on the following link and log in: https://twitter.com/personalization.

For details, see the Twitter Privacy Policy: https://twitter.com/privacy.

Instagram

We have a profile on Instagram. The provider is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, D04 X2K5, Ireland. For details on how they handle your personal information, see the Instagram Privacy Policy: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875.

YouTube

We have a profile on YouTube. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Details on how they handle your personal data can be found in the YouTube privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

Information obligations pursuant to Art. 13 GDPR

As of: November 2026