Data protection declaration

We have written this data protection declaration (version 18.09.2019) to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, what information we collect, how we use data and what options you have as a visitor to this website.

Unfortunately, it is in the nature of things that these explanations sound very technical, but we have tried to describe the most important things as simply and clearly as possible.

Automatic data storage

When you visit websites these days, certain information is automatically created and stored, including on this website.

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

the address (URL) of the website accessed
browser and browser version
the operating system used
the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL)
the host name and IP address of the device from which access is made
date and time

in files (web server log files).

Web server log files are usually stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass this data on, but cannot rule out that this data will be viewed in the event of illegal behavior.
The legal basis according to Article 6 paragraph 1 f GDPR (legality of processing) is that there is a legitimate interest in enabling the error-free operation of this website by recording web server log files.

Cookies

Our website uses HTTP cookies to store user-specific data.

If you do not want cookies at all, you can set your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be placed. This allows you to decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow the cookie or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser.

Personal data protection

The so-called "cookie guidelines" have been in place since 2009. They state that the storage of cookies requires the consent of the website visitor (i.e. you). However, there are still very different reactions to these guidelines within the EU countries. In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline was largely implemented in Section 15 Paragraph 3 of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

Storage of personal data

Personal data that you send us electronically on this website, such as name, email address, address or other personal information when submitting a form or comments in the blog, will be used by us together with the time and IP address only for the specified purpose, stored securely and not passed on to third parties.

We therefore only use your personal data to communicate with those visitors who expressly request contact and to process the services and products offered on this website. We do not pass on your personal data without your consent, but cannot rule out that this data will be viewed in the event of illegal behavior.

If you send us personal data by email - i.e. outside of this website - we cannot guarantee the secure transmission and protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data unencrypted by email.

The legal basis according to Article 6 paragraph 1 a GDPR (legality of processing) is that you give us your consent to process the data you have entered. You can revoke this consent at any time - an informal email is sufficient, you can find our contact details in the imprint.

Rights according to the General Data Protection Regulation

According to the provisions of the GDPR, you are generally entitled to the following rights:

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

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection rights have otherwise been violated in any way, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI).

TLS encryption with https

We use https to transmit data securely over the Internet (Data protection through technology design Article 25 Paragraph 1 GDPR. By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data. You can recognize the use of this data transmission security by the small lock symbol at the top left of the browser and the use of the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our Internet address.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

We use Google Fonts from Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) on our website.

You do not need to log in or enter a password to use Google fonts. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, fonts) are requested 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 about your Google account data being sent to Google while you use Google Fonts. Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely. We will look at exactly how data storage works in more detail.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is an interactive directory with more than 800 fonts that Google LLC makes available for free use.

Many of these fonts are published under the SIL Open Font License, while others are published under the Apache License. Both are free software licenses. This means we can use them freely without paying license fees. Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts, we can use fonts on our own website and don't have to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important building block for maintaining the high quality of our website. All Google fonts are automatically optimized for the web, which saves data volume and is a great advantage, especially for use on mobile devices. When you visit our site, the small file size ensures a quick loading time. Furthermore, Google Fonts are so-called secure web fonts. Different image synthesis systems (rendering) in different browsers, operating systems and mobile devices can lead to errors. Such errors can sometimes distort text or entire web pages. Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform problems with Google Fonts. Google Fonts supports all common 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 beautifully and consistently as possible. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 f Letter F GDPR, this already represents a "legitimate interest" in the processing of personal data. In this case, "legitimate interest" means both legal and economic or non-material interests that are recognized by the legal system.

What data is stored by Google?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server. This external call transmits data to the Google servers. This is how Google recognizes that you or your IP address are visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to reduce the collection, storage and use of end user data to what is necessary for the efficient provision of fonts. API stands for "Application Programming Interface" and serves, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector.

Google Fonts stores CSS and font requests securely with Google and is therefore protected. The collected usage figures enable Google to determine the popularity of the fonts. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. Google also uses data from its own web crawler to determine which websites use Google fonts. This data is published in the Google Fonts BigQuery database. BigQuery is a Google web service for companies that want to move and analyze large amounts of data.

However, it should be noted that every Google Font request automatically transfers information such as IP address, language settings, browser screen resolution, browser version and browser name to Google servers. It is not clear whether this data is also stored or is not clearly communicated by Google.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores requests for CSS assets for one day on its servers, which are mainly located outside the EU. This enables us to use the fonts using a Google style sheet. A style sheet is a format template that can be used to quickly and easily change the design or font of a website, for example.

The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google's goal is to fundamentally improve the loading time of websites. If millions of websites refer to the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately appear 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 data storage?

The data that Google stores for a day or a year cannot simply be deleted. The data is automatically sent to Google when the page is accessed. To be able to delete this data early, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=311116480. In this case, you can only prevent data storage if you do not visit our site. Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unrestricted access to all fonts. This means we have unlimited access to a sea of ​​fonts and can get the most out of our website. You can find out more about Google Fonts and other questions at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=311116480<. Google does address data protection-related issues there, but it does not contain really detailed information about data storage. It is relatively difficult (almost impossible) to get really precise information about stored data from Google.

You can also read about which data is generally collected by Google and what this data is used for at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Matomo privacy policy

This website uses the open source web analysis service Matomo. Matomo uses so-called "cookies". These are text files that are stored on your computer and that enable an analysis of your use of the website. For this purpose, the information generated by the cookie about the use of this website is stored on our server. The IP address is anonymized before storage. Matomo cookies remain on your device until you delete them. The storage of Matomo cookies and the use of this analysis tool are based on Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the anonymized analysis of user behavior in order to optimize both its website and its advertising. The information generated by the cookie about the use of this website will not be passed on to third parties. You can prevent the storage of cookies by setting your browser software accordingly; However, we would like to point out that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of this website to their full extent. If you do not agree to the storage and use of your data, you can deactivate the storage and use here. In this case, an opt-out cookie will be stored in your browser, which prevents Matomo from storing usage data. If you delete your cookies, this will also result in the Matomo opt-out cookie being deleted. The opt-out must be reactivated when you visit our site again.

Google Maps data protection declaration

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) on our website.