1.       This Data Privacy Statement is to inform you about the nature, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data related to our online service and the related websites, features and contents (hereinafter collectively referred to as "online service" or "website"). Details of these processing activities can be found in section 2.

2.       Details of data processing for the purpose of carrying out our business processes are described in section 3.

3.       The online service is provided by VIER PFOTEN – Stiftung für Tierschutz (Schomburgstraße 120, 22767 Hamburg, Germany)– hereinafter referred to as "provider", "we" or "us" - who is also legally responsible under the data protection law.

4.       Our online service is hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH (Industriestraße 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany). The server location is Germany.

5.       You can reach out to our Data Protection Officer under the E-Mail address datenschutz@vier-pfoten.de.

6.       The term "user" encompasses all customers, interested people, employees and visitors of our online service.

We collect and process personal data based on the following legal grounds:

a.       Consent in accordance with Article 6 paragraph 1 (a) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Consent meaning any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of agreement, which could be in the form of a statement or any other unambiguous confirmatory act, given by the data’s subject consenting to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.

b.       Necessity for the performance of a contract or in order to take steps prior to entering into a contract according to Article 6 paragraph 1 (b) GDPR, meaning the data is required in order for us to fulfil our contractual obligations towards you or to prepare the conclusion of a contract with you.

c.       Processing to fulfil a legal obligation in accordance with Article 6 paragraph 1 (c) GDPR, meaning that e.g. the processing of data is required by law or other provisions.

d.       Processing in order to protect legitimate interests in accordance with Article 6 paragraph 1 (f) GDPR, meaning that the processing is necessary to protect legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party, unless such interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms which require the protection of personal data.

You have the following rights with regards to the processing of your data through us:

a.       The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in accordance with Article 13 paragraph 2 (d) GDPR and Article 14 paragraph 2 (e) GDPR.

b.       Right of access in accordance with Article 15 GDPR

c.       Right to rectification in accordance with Article 16 GDPR

d.       Right to erasure („right to be forgotten“) in accordance with Article 17 GDPR

e.       Right to restriction of processing in accordance with Article 18 GDPR

f.        Right to data portability in accordance with Article 20 GDPR

g.       Right to objection in accordance with Article 21 GDPR

Notice: Users may object to the processing of their personal data in accordance with legal allowances at any time with effect for the future. The objection may in particular be made against processing for the purposes of direct marketing.

Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you shall have the right to complain to a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your place of residence, employment or the place of the alleged infringement, if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates the GDPR.

The personal data of the data subject will be erased or blocked as soon as the purpose of the storage is inapplicable. Storage of data beyond that may occur if such storage is required by the European or national legislator in EU regulations, laws or other regulations to which the controller is subject. Blocking or erasure of data also takes place when a retention period mandated by the standards mentioned expires, unless the continued storage of data is required for the conclusion of a contract or the fulfilment of contractual obligations.

1.       We have implemented appropriate and state-of-the-art technical and organisational security measures (TOMs). Thus, the data that is processed by us is protected against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, destruction and unauthorized access.

2.       These security measures include in particular the encrypted transfer of data between your browser and our server.

1.       A transfer of personal data to third parties only occurs within the framework of legal requirements. We only disclose personal data of users to third parties, if this is required e.g. for billing purposes or other purposes, if the disclosure is necessary to ensure the fulfilment of contractual obligations towards the users.

2.       If we engage subcontractors for our online service, we have made appropriate contractual arrangements as well as adequate technical and organizational measures with these companies.

3.       If we use content, tools or other means from other companies (hereinafter collectively referred to as "third party providers") whose registered offices are located in a third country, it is assumed that a transfer of data to the home countries of these third party providers occurs. The transfer of personal data to third countries takes place exclusively only, if an adequate level of data protection, the user’s consent or another legal permission is present.

1.       When using our online-service, information may be transferred automatically from the browser of the user to us; this information includes the name of the accessed website, file, date and time of the access, amount of data transferred, notification about successful access, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.

2.       The processing of this information takes place based on legitimate interests in accordance with Article 6 paragraph 1 (f) GDPR (e.g. to optimize the online service) as well as to ensure the security of processing in accordance with Article 5 paragraph 1 (f) GDPR (e.g. for the defence and clarification purposes of cyberattacks)

3.       This information will be automatically deleted 30 days after the termination of the connection, unless any other retention periods require otherwise.

4.       The collection of the data and the storage of the data in log files is essential for the provision of the online service. Therefore users are not entitled to the options of erasure, objection or correction.

1.      We use various services of Google Ireland Limited ("Google"), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland on our website.

For more information on the individual concrete services of Google that we use on this website, please refer to the further privacy policy.

2.      Through the integration of Google services, Google may collect information (including personal data) and process it. It cannot be ruled out that Google also transmits the information to a server in a third country.

The transmission to the USA depends on the function in which personal data is transmitted. As the responsible party, we ourselves may transfer data to Google in the USA for further use.

Currently, there is no adequacy decision pursuant to Art. 45 GDPR. However, the transfer can be based on standard contractual clauses. Google has committed to comply with the standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to third countries (Standard Contractual Clauses - SCC).

More information about the Standard Contractual Clauses is available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection/standard-contractual-clauses-scc_en and at https://policies.google.com/privacy/frameworks?hl=en

3.      We ourselves cannot influence which data Google actually collects and processes. However, Google states that, in principle, the following information (including personal data) may be processed, among others:

·         Log data (in particular the IP address)

·         Location-related information

·         Unique application numbers

·         Cookies and similar technologies

Information on the types of cookies used by Google can be found at https://policies.google.com/technologies/types.

4.      If you are logged into your Google account, Google may add the processed information to your account depending on your account settings and treat it as personal data.

5.      Google states the following about this, among other things:

"If you are not signed into a Google Account, we store the data we collect with unique identifiers associated with the browser, app, or device you are using. This allows us to ensure, for example, that your language settings are maintained across all browser sessions.

If you are logged into a Google account, we also collect data that we store in your Google account and consider to be personal data." (https://privacy.google.com/take-control.html)

6.      You can prevent this data from being added directly by logging out of your Google account or also by making the appropriate account settings in your Google account. Furthermore, you can change your cookie settings (e.g. delete cookies, block cookies, etc.).

7.      You can find more detailed information in the privacy notices of Google, which you can access here: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

8.      You can find notes on Google's privacy settings at https://privacy.google.com/take-control.html.

1.      Doubleclick by Google is a service of Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (‘Google’).

2.      Doubleclick by Google uses cookies to serve ads relevant to you. Your browser is assigned a pseudonymous identification number (ID) to check which ads have been displayed in your browser and which ads have been called. The cookies do not contain any personal information. The use of DoubleClick cookies only allows Google and its partner websites to serve ads based on previous visits to our or other websites on the Internet. The information generated by the cookies is transmitted by Google to a server in the USA for analysis and stored there. Under no circumstances will Google match your data with other data collected by Google.

3.      The legal basis is your consent in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR. You consent to the processing of the data collected about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. 

4.      You can prevent the storage of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser software. Furthermore, you can prevent the collection of the data generated by the cookies and related to your use of the websites to Google as well as the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available under the following link under the item "Extension for DoubleClick deactivation".

5.      For more information about DoubleClick by Google and privacy, please visit: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads?hl=en

1.       We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service of Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House Barclays Dublin Ireland - hereinafter "Google"), on the basis of your consent for the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a. GDPR. Google uses cookies and other technologies. The information generated by the service about the use of the online offer by the users is transmitted to a Google server in the USA and processed there.

2.       Google acts on our behalf within the framework of order processing in accordance with Article 28 GDPR. We have concluded a data protection agreement with Google that contains the EU standard data protection clauses.

3.       We use Google Analytics with IP anonymization enabled.

4.       Google Analytics stores cookies in your web browser for a period of two years since your last visit. These cookies contain a randomly generated user ID that can be used to recognize you during future website visits. Users can prevent the storage of cookies by setting their browser software accordingly; users can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the online offer to Google, as well as the processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/¬dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

5.       The recorded data is stored together with the randomly generated user ID, which enables the evaluation of pseudonymous user profiles. This user-related data is automatically deleted after 26 months. Other data remains stored in aggregated form indefinitely.

6.       For more information on data usage by Google, settings and revocation options, please visit Google's websites:

https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites?hl=de ("Data use by Google when you use our partners' websites or apps").

https://policies.google.com/¬technologies/ads ("Data use for advertising purposes")

https://adssettings.google.com/¬authenticated ("Manage information Google uses to serve ads to you").

1.       We use the Google Tag Manager on our website. The Google Tag Manager is a service of Google Ireland Limited ("Google"), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

2.       Through the Google Tag Manager, we can integrate various codes and services on our website in an orderly and simplified manner. The Google Tag Manager implements the tags or "triggers" the embedded tags. When a tag is triggered, Google may process information (including personal data) and process it. In doing so, it cannot be ruled out that Google also transmits the information to a server in a third country.

3.       In particular, the following personal data is processed by the Google Tag Manager:

-          Online identifiers (including cookie identifiers).

-          IP address

4.       In addition, you can find more detailed information about the Google Tag Manager on the websites https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/tag-manager/use-policy/

as well as at

https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/index.html (section "Data we receive based on your use of our services").

5.       Furthermore, we have concluded an order processing contract with Google for the use of the Google Tag Manager (Art. 28 GDPR). Google processes the data on our behalf in order to trigger the stored tags and display the services on our website. Google may transfer this information to third parties if required by law or if third parties process this data on behalf of Google.

6.       If you have deactivated individual tracking services (e.g. by setting an opt-out cookie), the deactivation remains for all affected tracking tags that are integrated by the Google Tag Manager.

7.       By integrating the Google Tag Manager, we pursue the purpose of being able to carry out a simplified and clear integration of various services. In addition, the integration of the Google Tag Manager optimizes the loading times of the various services.

8.       The legal basis for the processing of personal data described here as part of the measurement process is consent expressly granted by you in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

9.       The legal basis for the processing of those data that are processed in the context of obtaining consent is our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. We have a legitimate interest in being able to prove that you have given your consent to the measurement procedure (Art. 7 (1) GDPR).

1.       To display fonts consistently, our website uses Web Fonts which are provided by Google. Google Fonts is a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland ("Google"). In order to use these Web Fonts we also use Google APIs

2.       To display web fonts, the web browser you use must connect with a Google server. This informs Google that our website is being accessed via your IP address. The IP address from the browser of the device you are using to access our site is also stored by Google. If your browser does not support Web Fonts, your device will display the site using a standard font type. With each Google Font request, your IP address is automatically transferred to a Google server along with information such as your language preferences, display resolution, version and name of your browser. The usage data collected by Google enables them to determine the popularity of specific font types. Google publishes these findings on internal analytics sites (e.g. Google Analytics).

3.       For more information about Google Fonts, refer to https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and the Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

1.       We use Google's reCAPTCHA service, which protects our site from spam and misuse. The service prevents automated software (so-called bots) from executing abusive activities on our websites, which means that it is checked whether the entries made actually come from a human being. Google collects the following data:

·         Referrer (address of the page where the captcha is used)

·         IP address of the user

·         Google account (if the user is registered with Google, this is recognized and assigned)

·         The input behavior of the user (eg, input speed into the form fields, order of selection of the input fields by the user) is used to improve pattern recognition on Google.

·         Browser, browser size and resolution, browser plugins, date, language settings

·         Presentation instructions (CSS) and scripts (Javascript) of the website

·         Mouse and touch events within the page

2.       Google also reads cookies from other Google services, such as Gmail, Search, and Analytics. All data are encrypted and sent to Google. There is no reading or saving of personal data from the input fields of the respective form.

3.        For more information about Google's privacy policy, visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

4.       The processing of this information takes place based on legitimate interests in accordance with Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

1.       We use the Usercentrics Consent Management Platform as a consent management tool as part of the Analytics activities on our website. The Usercentrics Consent Management Platform collects log file and consent data using JavaScript. This JavaScript enables us to inform users about their consent to certain tags on our website and to obtain, manage and document this consent.

2.       We process the following data in the process:

·         Consent data or data of consent (anonymized log data (Consent ID, Processor ID, Controller ID), Consent Status, Timestamp).

·         Device data (e.g. shortened IP addresses (IP v4, IP v6), device information, timestamp)

·         User data (e.g. eMail, ID, browser information, SettingIDs, Changelog)

The ConsentID (contains the above data), the Consent status incl. timestamp are stored in the local memory of your browser and simultaneously on the cloud servers used. Further processing will only take place if you submit a request for information or revoke your consent. In this case, the relevant information is provided to us in a compact data format in an easily readable text form for the purpose of data exchange (JSON file).

3.       No user information is stored for the statistics of the use of the granted or not granted consent. Only the frequency and locations of clicks are stored.

4.       The personal data is stored on a Google Cloud server located in the EU (Brussels, Belgium or Frankfurt am Main, Germany).

5.       The purpose of the data processing is the analysis and management of the consents granted, in order to comply with our obligation of a GDPR-compliant consent management. The use of Usercentrics serves the purpose of proving granted and non-granted consents as well as their management.

6.       The legal basis for the management of your consents for the processing of your personal data is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the legally secure documentation and verifiability of consents, the control of marketing measures on the basis of the consent granted as well as the optimization of consent rates.

7.       The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required. The associated cookie has a term of 60 days. The revocation document of a previously granted consent is kept for a period of three years. The retention is based on the one hand on our accountability pursuant to Art. 5 para. (2) GDPR.

1.      While using some of our services, you will be automatically redirected to other websites.

2.      Please note that this privacy policy does not apply there. The privacy policy of the linked website may differ significantly from this one.

1.      When contacting us (via online form or e-mail), the data provided by the user will be processed exclusively for processing the inquiry and its handling.

2.      Any other use of the data will only take place based on the given consent from the user.

3.      The users' data will be stored in our Customer Relationship Management System (‘CRM System’) or a comparable software/database. The legal retention periods for business letters apply.

1.       Cookies are information transmitted by our web server or third-party web servers to the users' web browsers where they are stored for later retrieval. Cookies can be in the form of small files or any other types of information storage.

2.       In the case that users do not want that cookies are stored on their computer, they will be asked to disable the corresponding option in their browser's system settings. Saved cookies may be deleted in the system settings of the browser. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional impairments of this online service.

You can object to the use of cookies used on the legal basis of your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR here.