Privacy Policy

Security and protection of your personal data

We consider it our primary duty to maintain the confidentiality of the personal data you provide and to protect it against unauthorized access. We therefore apply the utmost care and state-of-the-art security standards to ensure maximum protection of your personal data.

As a private-law company, we are subject to the provisions of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). We have implemented technical and organizational measures to ensure that data protection regulations are observed both by us and by our external service providers.

Definitions
The legislator requires that personal data be processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner for the data subject ("lawfulness, fairness, transparency"). To ensure this, we inform you about the individual legal definitions that are also used in this privacy policy:

Personal data
"Personal data" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter "data subject"); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier, or to one or more special characteristics that express the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that natural person.

Processing
"Processing" means any operation or set of operations performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, or another form of making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction.

Restriction of processing
"Restriction of processing" means marking stored personal data with the aim of limiting its future processing.

Profiling
"Profiling" means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyze or predict aspects concerning that natural person's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements.

Pseudonymization
"Pseudonymization" means processing personal data in such a way that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organizational measures ensuring that the personal data is not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.

Filing system
"Filing system" means any structured collection of personal data accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralized, decentralized, or organized on a functional or geographical basis.

Controller
"Controller" means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body that alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of processing personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.

Processor
"Processor" means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body that processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

Recipient
"Recipient" means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body to which personal data is disclosed, whether or not a third party. However, public authorities that may receive personal data in the context of a particular inquiry under Union or Member State law are not regarded as recipients; the processing of such data by those public authorities is carried out in accordance with the applicable data protection rules according to the purposes of processing.

Third party
"Third party" means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body other than the data subject, the controller, the processor, and the persons authorized to process personal data under the direct authority of the controller or processor.

Consent
"Consent" of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which they, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signify agreement to the processing of personal data relating to them.

Lawfulness of processing

The processing of personal data is lawful only if there is a legal basis for the processing. Pursuant to Article 6(1)(a)-(f) GDPR, the legal basis for processing may in particular be:

1. The data subject has given consent to processing of personal data concerning them for one or more specific purposes;
2. processing is necessary for performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;
3. processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;
   processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;
4. processing is necessary for performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
5. processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject requiring protection of personal data, especially where the data subject is a child.

Information about the
collection of personal data

(1) Below, we provide information about the collection of personal data when using our website. Personal data includes, for example, name, address, email addresses, and user behavior.

(2) When you contact us by email, the data you provide (your email address and, where applicable, your name and telephone number) will be stored by us in order to answer your questions. We delete the data arising in this context once storage is no longer required, or restrict processing if statutory retention obligations exist.

Collection of personal data when visiting our website

When the website is used purely for informational purposes, meaning if you do not register or otherwise transmit information to us, we collect only the personal data that your browser transmits to our server. If you want to view our website, we collect the following data, which is technically necessary for us to display our website to you and to ensure stability and security (legal basis: Article 6(1) sentence 1(f) GDPR):

1. IP address
2. Date and time of the request
3. Time zone difference from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
4. Content of the request (specific page)
5. Access status / HTTP status code
6. Amount of data transferred in each case
7. Website from which the request originates
8. Browser
9. Operating system and its interface
10. Language and version of the browser software.

Use of cookies

(1) In addition to the data mentioned above, cookies are stored on your computer when you use our website. Cookies are small text files stored on your hard drive and assigned to the browser you use, through which certain information flows to the party setting the cookie. Cookies cannot execute programs or transmit viruses to your computer. They serve to make the internet offering as a whole more user-friendly and effective.

(2) This website uses the following types of cookies, the scope and function of which are explained below:

1. Transient
   cookies (see a.)
2. Persistent
   cookies (see b.).

1. Transient cookies are automatically deleted when you close the browser. These include session cookies in particular. They store a so-called session ID, which allows various requests from your browser to be assigned to the shared session. This allows your computer to be recognized when you return to our website. Session cookies are deleted when you log out or close the browser.
2. Persistent cookies are automatically deleted after a specified period, which may vary depending on the cookie. You can delete cookies at any time in your browser security settings.
3. You can configure your browser settings according to your wishes and, for example, reject third-party cookies or all cookies. So-called "third-party cookies" are cookies set by a third party, meaning not by the actual website you are currently visiting. Please note that disabling cookies may mean you cannot use all functions of this website.
4. The flash cookies used are not recorded by your browser, but by your flash plugin. We also use HTML5 storage objects that are stored on your device. These objects store the required data independently of the browser you use and do not have an automatic expiration date. If you do not want flash cookies to be processed, you must install a corresponding add-on, for example "Better Privacy" for Mozilla Firefox (https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/betterprivacy/) or the Adobe Flash killer cookie for Google Chrome. You can prevent the use of HTML5 storage objects by using private mode in your browser. We also recommend manually deleting your cookies and browser history regularly.

Additional functions and services on our website

(1) In addition to purely informational use of our website, we offer various services that you may use if interested. To do so, you usually need to provide additional personal data, which we use to provide the respective service and to which the aforementioned data processing principles apply.

(2) In some cases, we use external service providers to process your data. They have been carefully selected and commissioned by us, are bound by our instructions, and are regularly monitored.

(3) We may also pass your personal data on to third parties if participation in promotions, competitions, contract conclusions, or similar services are offered by us jointly with partners. You will receive further information when providing your personal data or below in the description of the offer.

(4) If our service providers or partners are based in a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we will inform you about the consequences of this circumstance in the description of the offer.

Newsletter

(1) With your consent, you can subscribe to our newsletter, through which we inform you about our current interesting offers. The advertised goods and services are named in the declaration of consent.

(2) We use the so-called double opt-in procedure for newsletter registration. This means that after you register, we send an email to the email address provided asking you to confirm that you wish to receive the newsletter. If you do not confirm your registration within 24 hours, your information will be blocked and automatically deleted after one month. In addition, we store the IP addresses used and the times of registration and confirmation. The purpose of this procedure is to prove your registration and, if necessary, clarify possible misuse of your personal data.

(3) The only mandatory information for receiving the newsletter is your email address. Providing further, separately marked data is voluntary and is used to address you personally. After your confirmation, we store your email address for the purpose of sending the newsletter. The legal basis is Article 6(1) sentence 1(a) GDPR.

(4) You can withdraw your consent to receive the newsletter and unsubscribe at any time. You can withdraw consent by clicking the link provided in every newsletter email, by emailing kontakt@adspecialist.de, or by sending a message to the contact details given in the legal notice.

(5) We inform you that we evaluate your user behavior when sending the newsletter. For this evaluation, the emails sent contain so-called web beacons or tracking pixels, which are one-pixel image files stored on our website. For the evaluations, we link the data named in Section 3 and the web beacons with your email address and an individual ID. The data is collected exclusively in pseudonymized form, so the IDs are not linked to your other personal data and direct personal identification is excluded. You can object to this tracking at any time by clicking the separate link provided in every email or by informing us through another contact channel. The information is stored as long as you are subscribed to the newsletter. After unsubscribing, we store the data purely statistically and anonymously.

Children

Our offer is generally intended for adults. Persons under 18 should not transmit personal data to us without the consent of their parents or legal guardians.

Rights of the data subject

(1) Withdrawal of consent
Where the processing of personal data is based on consent that has been given, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

You can contact us at any time to exercise the right of withdrawal.

(2) Right to confirmation
You have the right to obtain confirmation from the controller as to whether we process personal data concerning you. You may request confirmation at any time using the contact details above.

(3) Right of access
If personal data is processed, you may request information about this personal data and the following information at any time:

1. the purposes of processing;
2. the categories of personal data being processed;
3. the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal data has been or will be disclosed, in particular recipients in third countries or international organizations;
4. where possible, the planned period for which the personal data will be stored, or, if this is not possible, the criteria used to determine that period;
5. the existence of a right to rectification or erasure of personal data concerning you, or to restriction of processing by the controller, or a right to object to such processing;
6. the existence of a right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority;
7. where the personal data is not collected from the data subject, any available information as to its source;
8. the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling pursuant to Article 22(1) and (4) GDPR and, at least in those cases, meaningful information about the logic involved as well as the significance and intended consequences of such processing for the data subject.

If personal data is transferred to a third country or to an international organization, you have the right to be informed about the appropriate safeguards pursuant to Article 46 GDPR in connection with the transfer. We provide a copy of the personal data undergoing processing. For any additional copies you request, we may charge a reasonable fee based on administrative costs. If you submit the request electronically, the information must be provided in a commonly used electronic format unless the request states otherwise. The right to receive a copy pursuant to paragraph 3 must not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

(4) Right to rectification
You have the right to obtain from us without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. Taking into account the purposes of processing, you have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.

(5) Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
You have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning you without undue delay, and we are obligated to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies:

1. The personal data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or otherwise processed.
2. The data subject withdraws consent on which the processing was based pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) or Article 9(2)(a) GDPR, and there is no other legal basis for the processing.
3. The data subject objects to processing pursuant to Article 21(1) GDPR and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or the data subject objects to processing pursuant to Article 21(2) GDPR.
4. The personal data has been unlawfully processed.
5. Erasure of the personal data is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation under Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject.
6. The personal data has been collected in relation to information society services offered pursuant to Article 8(1) GDPR.

Where the controller has made the personal data public and is obligated pursuant to paragraph 1 to erase it, the controller, taking account of available technology and implementation costs, takes reasonable measures, including technical measures, to inform controllers processing the personal data that a data subject has requested erasure by such controllers of any links to, or copies or replications of, that personal data.

The right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") does not apply to the extent that processing is necessary:

1. for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information;
2. for compliance with a legal obligation requiring processing under Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject, or for performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
3. for reasons of public interest in the area of public health pursuant to Article 9(2)(h) and (i) and Article 9(3) GDPR;
4. for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes, or statistical purposes pursuant to Article 89(1) GDPR, insofar as the right referred to in paragraph 1 is likely to render impossible or seriously impair achievement of the objectives of that processing; or
5. for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

(6) Right to restriction of processing
You have the right to obtain from us restriction of processing of your personal data where one of the following conditions applies:

1. the accuracy of the personal data is contested by the data subject, for a period enabling the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data,
2. the processing is unlawful and the data subject opposes erasure of the personal data and requests restriction of its use instead;
3. the controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of processing, but the data subject requires it for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims; or
4. the data subject has objected to processing pursuant to Article 21(1) GDPR, pending verification whether the legitimate grounds of the controller override those of the data subject.

Where processing has been restricted under the above conditions, such personal data will, apart from storage, be processed only with the data subject's consent or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims, for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person, or for reasons of important public interest of the Union or of a Member State.

To assert the right to restriction of processing, the data subject may contact us at any time using the contact details provided above.

(7) Right to data portability
You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and you have the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to whom the personal data was provided, where:

1. processing is based on consent pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) or Article 9(2)(a), or on a contract pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) GDPR, and
2. processing is carried out by automated means.

In exercising the right to data portability pursuant to paragraph 1, you have the right to have the personal data transmitted directly from one controller to another, where technically feasible. Exercising the right to data portability does not affect the right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"). This right does not apply to processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

(8) Right to object
You have the right, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to object at any time to processing of personal data concerning you based on Article 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR; this also applies to profiling based on those provisions. The controller will no longer process the personal data unless the controller demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override the interests, rights, and freedoms of the data subject, or the processing serves the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

Where personal data is processed for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to processing of personal data concerning you for such marketing; this also applies to profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing. If you object to processing for direct marketing purposes, the personal data will no longer be processed for those purposes.

In connection with the use of information society services, and notwithstanding Directive 2002/58/EC, you may exercise your right to object by automated means using technical specifications.

You have the right, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to object to processing of personal data concerning you for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes pursuant to Article 89(1), unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.

You may exercise the right to object at any time by contacting the respective controller.

(9) Automated individual decision-making, including profiling
You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you. This does not apply if the decision:

1. is necessary for entering into or performance of a contract between the data subject and the controller,
2. is authorized by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject and that law contains suitable measures to safeguard the rights and freedoms and legitimate interests of the data subject, or
3. is based on the data subject's explicit consent.

The controller takes appropriate measures to safeguard the rights and freedoms and legitimate interests of the data subject, including at least the right to obtain human intervention on the part of the controller, to express their point of view, and to contest the decision.

The data subject may exercise this right at any time by contacting the respective controller.

(10) Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement, if the data subject considers that the processing of personal data concerning them infringes this Regulation.

(11) Right to an effective judicial remedy
Without prejudice to any available administrative or non-judicial remedy, including the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority pursuant to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to an effective judicial remedy if you consider that your rights under this Regulation have been infringed as a result of processing of your personal data that does not comply with this Regulation.

Use of Google Analytics

(1) This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses so-called "cookies", text files stored on your computer that enable analysis of your use of the website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transferred to and stored on a Google server in the United States. However, if IP anonymization is activated on this website, your IP address will first be shortened by Google within Member States of the European Union or in other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transferred to a Google server in the United States and shortened there. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, compile reports on website activity, and provide the website operator with other services relating to website and internet use.

(2) The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics is not merged with other Google data.

You have the option to deactivate analysis of your user behavior for this website.
Deactivate Google Analytics

(3) You can prevent cookies from being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser software; however, we point out that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of this website in full. You can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address), and from processing this data, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.

(4) This website uses Google Analytics with the extension "_anonymizeIp()". As a result, IP addresses are processed further only in shortened form, excluding personal identification. Where data collected about you has a personal reference, that reference is therefore immediately excluded and the personal data is deleted without delay.

(5) We use Google Analytics to analyze and regularly improve the use of our website. The statistics obtained allow us to improve our offering and make it more interesting for you as a user. For exceptional cases in which personal data is transferred to the United States, Google has submitted to the EU-US Privacy Shield, https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework. The legal basis for using Google Analytics is Article 6(1) sentence 1(f) GDPR.

(6) Third-party provider information: Google Dublin, Google Ireland Ltd., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, Fax: +353 (1) 436 1001. Terms of use:

http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html, privacy overview: http://www.google.com/intl/de/analytics/learn/privacy.html, and privacy policy: http://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy. (7) This website also uses Google Analytics for cross-device analysis of visitor flows, carried out via a user ID. You can deactivate cross-device analysis of your use in your customer account under "My data", "personal data".

Use of CleanTalk

This website uses anti-spam plugins from CleanTalk. The provider is CleanTalk Inc., 711 S Carson Street, suite 4, Carson City, NV, 89701, USA (hereinafter "CleanTalk").

CleanTalk is used to protect our website from spam activities (for example, preventing unwanted advertising, unwanted messages, or comments). For this purpose, CleanTalk collects various personal data such as IP address, email address, nickname of the message sender, information about JavaScript technology in the sender's browser, and the entered texts.

This information is transferred to and stored on a CleanTalk server in the EU.

For security reasons and to protect against spam, your data is processed in the CleanTalk cloud service and stored in log files for a maximum of 31 days. After this period expires, this data is completely deleted.

CleanTalk is used on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its website from spam activities as effectively as possible. If corresponding consent has been requested, processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and Section 25(1) TDDDG, insofar as consent includes the storage of cookies or access to information on the user's terminal device within the meaning of the TDDDG. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.

Data transfer to the United States is based on the European Commission's standard contractual clauses. Details can be found here:
https://cleantalk.org/publicoffer#privacy.

Data processing agreement

We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) for use of the service named above. This is a contract required by data protection law that ensures that the provider processes the personal data of our website visitors only according to our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR.