Information about Cookies Cookies are small text files that a website temporarily places, with help from the browser, onto the hard disk of a client’s computer in order to store little bits of information about the website. There are various types of cookies, which can be divided into two categories: technical cookies and profiling cookies, the latter of which are used for marketing and promotional purposes.
This website uses both technical and profiling cookies. Details regarding these cookies may be found below.
Technical cookies are mainly relevant for the functionality of the website. This category of cookies includes naviga-tion and/or session cookies, which enable user-friendly navigation around the website. In addition there are analytics cookies, which collect information such as the number of website visitors and the manner in which traffic arrives at the website. The group of technical cookies also encompasses functional cookies, which enable the website to re-member selections you’ve made (for example, the filter settings you selected or an automatic language preference for the website).
In addition, there are cookies that detect the user’s settings, preferences and actions; a user profile is created through these cookies, which are called profiling cookies. This also allows advertising messages to be combined with the interests of users, thus enabling advertising to be addressed to specific target groups. As soon as the user opens a web page that utilizes this latter form of cookies, a banner noting that the operator of the website uses cookies for marketing purposes is displayed. The banner also informs the user that the site may allow third-party cookies.
The banner links to a page with detailed information (where you are presently located), through which the user can decline the storage of cookies. The banner allows the user to give his or her explicit consent, and indicates that fur-ther navigation on the website signifies automatic consent to the use of cookies.
Clicking on the detailed information does not necessarily imply consent. The banner does not disappear after a cer-tain time, but rather continues to be displayed until the user has either accepted cookies or has consciously navi-gated further. We are legally required to record and store the user’s decision; thus, no banner will appear on subse-quent visits to the website. In addition, the use of cookies may be declined either generally or selectively.
If you do not want to accept our cookies, you can decline them through your web browser. The applicable function varies from browser to browser. Details may be found below. Please note that rejecting cookies completely will quite likely lead to limitations in the website’s functioning.
Below is a list of those technologies that we use our on sites, including their context, scope and type. It may happen that what are known as third-party cookies (cookies from other advertisers) are used. Further information may be found in the relevant section. You can also explicitly block the use of third-party cookies in the respective browser settings.
Profiling Cookies – Retargeting
We emphasize that no personal data is stored through the profiling cookies used, and that usage profiles are not matched with personal data. It is not possible to identify individual persons through the profiling cookie; rather, only information that enables the targeted compilation of anonymous information for interest-based marketing cam-paigns is stored.
If you would like to stop profiling cookies from being placed, you can block them directly by using your browser set-tings (see descriptions below). Please note that for promotional reasons it is possible that the profiling cookies are transferred to third parties or third-party systems such as Facebook, Google, Instagram and others. At this time, the privacy policy of their own systems is applied.
Web Tracking – Google Analytics
In order to continually improve and optimize our service, we use what are known as tracking technologies. This web-site uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies that enable the analysis of your website usage, for the purpose of determining the attractiveness of our website and improving its performance and content. The information that the cookie generates about your usage of this website (including your IP address) is transmitted to a Google server in the U.S. and stored there. On behalf of the operator of this site, Google uses this information to evaluate your use of the website, compiling reports about website activ-ity and continuing to provide website-usage and internet-related services to the website operator. In addition, Google may transmit this information to third parties when doing so is required by law and/or where such third par-ties process the information on behalf of Google and/or other web-analytics service providers. Under no circum-stances, however, will your IP address be associated with other data from Google and/or other web-analytics service providers.
You may decline the use of cookies by selecting the relevant settings on your browser; please note, however, that in this case you may not be able to use all of this website’s features to their fullest extent. In addition, you can prevent the data relating to your usage of the website generated by the cookie (incl. your IP address) from reaching Google as well as the processing of these data by Google, by downloading and installing the following browser plugin: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
For general information about Google Analytics and data protection, please visit https://support.google.com/analyt-ics/answer/6004245?hl=en
By using this website you consent to data processing by Google and/or other web-analytics services in the previ-ously described manner and for the purposes outlined above.
Google Adwords Remarketing
We use Google Remarketing in order to retarget users on the Google Display Network. Google uses cookies, which are stored on your computer, for the purpose of analyzing how users utilize the website. The information that the cookie generates about your usage of this website (including your IP address) is sent to a Google server in the U.S. and stored there. Google subsequently shortens your IP address by cutting off last three digits, thus making a clear assignment of the IP address impossible.
Google adheres to the privacy policy of the US Safe Harbor agreement, and is registered with the Safe Harbor pro-gram of the US Department of Commerce. Google uses this information in order to evaluate your website usage, compile reports on website activity for web-site operators and continue to provide other services related to the website and the Internet. Google may also trans-fer this information to third parties, where appropriate, to the extent that it is required by law or that these third par-ties process the information on Google's behalf.
Third party providers, including Google, display ads on Internet sites. Third party providers, including Google, use stored cookies in order to display ads that are based on the user’s previous visits to this website.
Under no circumstances will Google associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
You can disable Google’s use of cookies by visiting the page that allows you to disable Google’s ads. Please note, however, that you may not be able to use all features of this website to their fullest extent if you do so.
By using this site you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described above, and for the purposes outlined above. The collection and storage of data can be denied at any time, with future effect. No remarketing will be used on sensitive-content sites with personally identifiable information.
Google AdWords Conversion Tracking
This website also uses Google Conversion Tracking. Here, a cookie is placed onto your computer by Google Adwords if you land on our website through a Google ad. These cookies expire after 30 days, and are not used for personal identification. If the user visits certain pages of the website of an Adwords customer, and the cookie has not yet ex-pired, Google and the customer can recognize that the user clicked on the ad and was redirected to this site. Each AdWords customer receives a different cookie. Cookies thus cannot be tracked through the websites of Adwords customers. Information obtained using the conversion cookie is also used to generate conversion statistics for Ad-Words customers who have opted for conversion tracking. Adwords customers know the total number of users who have clicked on their ad and have landed to the respective page with a conversion tracking tag. They do not, how-ever, receive information through which they can identify users personally. If you do not wish to participate in the tracking process, you can also reject the cookie that must be placed to facilitate it; this may be done through a browser setting that generally disables the automatic placement of cookies.
You can also disable conversion-tracking cookies by setting your browser to block cookies that originate from the domain www.googleadservices.com.
Using Browser Settings to Block Cookies
FIREFOX
For more detailed information, please visit: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/block-websites-storing-site-preferences
GOOGLE CHROME
For detailed information, please visit: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647
INTERNET EXPLORER
For detailed information, please visit: http://windows.microsoft.com/windows7/blockenable-or-allow-cookies
SAFARI
For detailed information, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH5042?locale=en_US
Third-party cookies are cookies that originate from a different provider than that of the website being visited by the user. When a user visits a website and another entity transmits cookies to that site, they are third-party cookies. So-cial Plugins for Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are examples. The usual purpose of this is to make sharing of content on social network platforms easier. For more details, please refer to the information pages for third parties.
For the sake of transparency, we list all of the third parties that are associated with our above-mentioned websites and that use third-party cookies, and refer to the corresponding information pages:
Facebook Social Plugins
This website uses social plugins from the social networking site facebook.com (operated by Facebook Inc., 1601 South California Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA). The plugins are recognizable by the presence of the Facebook logo or the phrase “Facebook Social Plugin.” This plugin performs the following functions:
For more information about the purpose, extent and processing of your data, as well as your rights as regards this data, please see Facebook’s Data Protection Policy.
The Facebook Social Plugin is disabled on this website and, as a result, no data is transmitted. To activate and use the Facebook Social Plugin, click once on the “F” or activation button. By activating the button, your data will be trans-mitted to Facebook.