Imprint & Legal Notice

Provider Identification/Required Information According to § 5 TMG

bitside GmbH
Tunisstraße 19–23
50667 Cologne

Managing Directors: Stephan Herold, Jan Schalkamp
Email: hello@bitside.de
Phone: +49 221 98652000

Commercial Register: Local Court of Cologne
Registration Number: HRB 94099
VAT-ID (according to § 27a UStG (German VAT Act)): DE317575367

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy informs you about the type, scope, and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter referred to as "data") within our online offering and the associated websites, functions, and content, as well as external online presences, such as our social media profiles (hereinafter collectively referred to as "online offering"). Regarding the terms used, such as "processing" or "controller," we refer to the definitions in Article 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Types of Processed Data:

  • Inventory data (e.g., names, addresses).
  • Contact data (e.g., email, phone numbers).
  • Content data (e.g., text entries, photographs, videos).
  • Usage data (e.g., visited websites, interest in content, access times).
  • Meta/communication data (e.g., device information, IP addresses).

Categories of Data Subjects

  • Visitors and users of the online offering (hereinafter, we also refer to the data subjects collectively as "users").

Purpose of Processing

  • Provision of the online offering, its functions, and content.
  • Responding to contact requests and communicating with users.
  • Security measures.
  • Reach measurement/marketing

Definitions

"Personal data" refers to 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, particularly by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, online identifier (e.g., cookie), or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that natural person.

"Processing" refers to any operation or set of operations performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means. The term is broad and covers practically any handling of data.

"Controller" refers to the natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.

In accordance with Article 13 GDPR, we inform you of the legal basis of our data processing. If the legal basis is not mentioned in the privacy policy, the following applies: The legal basis for obtaining consent is Article 6(1)(a) and Article 7 GDPR; the legal basis for processing to fulfill our services and carry out contractual measures, as well as for responding to inquiries, is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR; the legal basis for processing to fulfill our legal obligations is Article 6(1)(c) GDPR; and the legal basis for processing to safeguard our legitimate interests is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. In cases where vital interests of the data subject or another natural person make processing of personal data necessary, Article 6(1)(d) GDPR serves as the legal basis.

Cooperation with Processors and Third Parties

If, in the course of our processing, we disclose data to other persons and companies (processors or third parties), transmit data to them, or otherwise grant them access to the data, this will only take place on the basis of a legal permission (e.g., if a transmission of the data to third parties, such as payment service providers, is necessary for the performance of the contract pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) GDPR), you have consented, a legal obligation provides for this, or on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g., when using agents, web hosts, etc.).

If we commission third parties to process data on the basis of a so-called "data processing agreement," this is done on the basis of Article 28 GDPR.

Transfers to Third Countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e., outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if this occurs in the context of using third-party services or disclosure, or transmission of data to third parties, this will only happen if it is to fulfill our (pre-)contractual obligations, on the basis of your consent, due to a legal obligation, or on the basis of our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we process or allow data to be processed in a third country only if the special conditions of Articles 44 et seq. GDPR are met. This means that the processing takes place, for example, on the basis of special guarantees, such as the officially recognized determination of an EU-equivalent level of data protection (e.g., for the USA through the "Privacy Shield") or compliance with officially recognized special contractual obligations (so-called "standard contractual clauses").

Rights of Data Subjects

You have the right to request confirmation as to whether relevant data is being processed and to information about this data as well as to further information and a copy of the data in accordance with Article 15 GDPR.

You have the right in accordance with Article 16 GDPR to request the completion of data concerning you or the rectification of incorrect data concerning you.

In accordance with Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to request that relevant data be deleted immediately, or alternatively, in accordance with Article 18 GDPR, to request a restriction of the processing of the data.

You have the right to request that the data concerning you that you have provided to us be received in accordance with Article 20 GDPR and to request its transmission to other controllers.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority in accordance with Article 77 GDPR.

You have the right to withdraw your consent in accordance with Article 7(3) GDPR with effect for the future.

Right to Object

You can object to the future processing of data concerning you in accordance with Article 21 GDPR at any time. The objection can particularly be made against processing for direct marketing purposes.

Cookies and Right to Object to Direct Marketing

"Cookies" are small files that are stored on users' computers. Various information can be stored within cookies. A cookie primarily serves to store information about a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after their visit within an online offering. Temporary cookies, or "session cookies" or "transient cookies," are cookies that are deleted after a user leaves an online offering and closes their browser. In such a cookie, for example, the content of a shopping cart in an online store or a login status can be stored. "Permanent" or "persistent" cookies are those that remain stored even after the browser is closed. For example, the login status can be stored if users visit after several days. Likewise, users' interests can be stored in such a cookie, which is used for reach measurement or marketing purposes. "Third-party cookies" are cookies that are offered by providers other than the controller who operates the online offering (otherwise, if it is only their cookies, they are referred to as "first-party cookies").

We may use temporary and permanent cookies and provide information about this in our privacy policy.

If users do not want cookies stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in their browser's system settings. Stored cookies can be deleted in the browser's system settings. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional restrictions of this online offering.

A general objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes can be made through a variety of services, especially in the case of tracking, via the U.S. site http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU site http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. Furthermore, the storage of cookies can be achieved by disabling them in the browser settings. Please note that not all functions of this online offering may then be usable.

Deletion of Data

The data processed by us will be deleted or restricted in processing in accordance with Articles 17 and 18 GDPR. Unless expressly stated in this privacy policy, the data stored by us will be deleted as soon as they are no longer necessary for their intended purpose, and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory retention obligations. If the data are not deleted because they are required for other and legally permissible purposes, their processing will be restricted. This means that the data will be blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for commercial or tax law reasons.

In accordance with legal requirements in Germany, the retention period is particularly 6 years pursuant to § 257(1) HGB (German Commercial Code) (commercial books, inventories, opening balance sheets, annual financial statements, commercial letters, accounting documents, etc.) and 10 years pursuant to § 147(1) AO (German Fiscal Code) (books, records, management reports, accounting documents, commercial and business letters, documents relevant for taxation, etc.).

In accordance with legal requirements in Austria, the retention period is particularly 7 years pursuant to § 132(1) BAO (Austrian Federal Tax Code) (accounting records, receipts/invoices, accounts, vouchers, business papers, statements of income and expenses, etc.), 22 years in connection with real estate, and 10 years for documents related to electronically provided services, telecommunications, broadcasting, and television services provided to non-entrepreneurs in EU member states and for which the Mini-One-Stop-Shop (MOSS) is used.

Hosting

The hosting services we use serve to provide the following services: infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space, and database services, security services, as well as technical maintenance services, which we use for the purpose of operating this online offering.

Here, we, or our hosting provider, process inventory data, contact data, content data, contract data, usage data, meta and communication data of customers, interested parties, and visitors of this online offering based on our legitimate interests in an efficient and secure provision of this online offering in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) GDPR in conjunction with Article 28 GDPR (conclusion of a data processing agreement).

Collection of Access Data and Log Files

We, or our hosting provider, collect data on the basis of our legitimate interests as defined in Article 6(1)(f) GDPR about each access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes the name of the accessed website, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address, and the requesting provider.

Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g., to investigate misuse or fraud) for a maximum of 7 days and then deleted. Data whose further retention is required for evidentiary purposes is excluded from deletion until the respective incident is finally clarified.

Contacting Us

When contacting us (e.g., via contact form, email, phone, or social media), the user's details are processed to handle the contact request and its processing in accordance with Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. The user's details may be stored in a Customer Relationship Management System ("CRM System") or comparable request organization.

We delete the requests if they are no longer necessary. We review the necessity every two years; furthermore, the statutory archiving obligations apply.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC ("Google"), based on our legitimate interests (i.e., interest in the analysis, optimization, and economic operation of our online offering as defined in Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about the use of the online offering by users is generally transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.

Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thereby offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).

Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate the use of our online offering by users, to compile reports on the activities within this online offering, and to provide us with further services associated with the use of this online offering and the Internet. In this process, pseudonymous user profiles may be created from the processed data.

We only use Google Analytics with IP anonymization activated. This means that the user's IP address is truncated by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the United States and truncated there.

The IP address transmitted by the user's browser will not be merged with other data held by Google. Users can prevent the storage of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings in their browser software; users can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the online offering by Google, as well as the processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available under the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

Further information on data usage by Google, settings, and objection options can be found on Google's websites: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/partners ("Data usage by Google when you use our partners' websites or apps"), http://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads ("Data usage for advertising purposes"), http://www.google.de/settings/ads ("Manage information Google uses to show you ads").

Use of SalesViewer® Technology

Data for marketing, market research, and optimization purposes is collected and stored on this website using SalesViewer® technology from SalesViewer® GmbH, based on the legitimate interests of the website operator (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).

A javascript-based code is used to collect and use company-related data. The data collected with this technology is encrypted using a non-reversible hashing function (so-called hashing). The data is immediately pseudonymized and not used to personally identify the visitor of this website.

The data stored within the scope of SalesViewer® will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for its intended purpose and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory retention obligations.

Data collection and storage can be objected to at any time with effect for the future by clicking on this link https://www.salesviewer.com/opt-out to prevent the collection of data by SalesViewer® within this website in the future. An opt-out cookie for this website will be placed on your device. If you delete your cookies in this browser, you must click this link again.

Online Presence in Social Media

We maintain online presences within social networks and platforms to communicate with customers, interested parties, and users active there and to inform them about our services. When calling up the respective networks and platforms, the business terms and the data processing guidelines of their respective operators apply.

Unless otherwise stated in our privacy policy, we process the data of users if they communicate with us within the social networks and platforms, e.g., write posts on our online presences or send us messages.

Integration of Third-Party Services and Content

We use within our online offering, based on our legitimate interests (i.e., interest in the analysis, optimization, and economic operation of our online offering as defined in Article 6(1)(f) GDPR), content or service offerings from third-party providers to incorporate their content and services, such as videos or fonts (collectively referred to as "content").

This always requires that the third-party providers of this content perceive the user's IP address since they cannot send the content to their browser without the IP address. The IP address is therefore required for the display of this content. We endeavor to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address solely for the delivery of the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also referred to as "web beacons") for statistical or marketing purposes. Through the "pixel tags," information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website can be evaluated. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user's device and may include technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, visit time, and other details about the use of our online offering, as well as being linked with such information from other sources.

Created with the Privacy Policy Generator by RA Dr. Thomas Schwenke.