CONTROLLER
AHW Hunold & Partner mbB Steuerberater Wirtschaftsprüfer Rechtsanwälte
Wankelstraße 9
50996 Cologne
represented by its managing directors
Heinz-Günther Hunold
Oliver Weber
Michael Becker
Klaus Esch
Andreas Amelung
Christoph Felten
Kai-Jens Egerlandt
Sebastian Löhr
Willi Mezger
+49 2236 398 20
info(at)ahw-steuerberater.de
DATA PROTECTION OFFICER
Kompass Datenschutz GmbH, Fischenicher Str. 10, 50354 Hürth
besold (at) kompass-datenschutz.de
+49 1575 262 3224
PURPOSE OF PROCESSING
The Telemedia Act (TMG) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) require us to inform you about the collection, transmission, storage, and processing of your data. When you visit our website at https://www.ahw-unternehmerkanzlei.de, we are required to collect certain personal data in order to display information on our company, team, and services.
PERSONAL DATA
According to Article 4(1) of the GDPR, “‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (…); 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 factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;”
TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT, PROCESS OR USE
We do not collect, process, or use any personal data from you when you solely use our website for informational purposes. However, in certain cases we will require personal data in order to provide specific services. Please learn more about this in the following privacy policy:
DATA COLLECTION FOR TECHNICAL REASONS
Each time you visit our website, we automatically collect data that your browser sends to our server. This includes the following information:
The type and version of your browser
Your operating system
The URL you entered
The date and time you accessed the website
Your IP address (see below)
We are not able to assign this data to you individually and we do not merge it with other data sources. The data is stored for a maximum of seven days.
IP ADDRESSES
Note: We do not store complete IP addresses on this website.
The web server’s access logs record every visit to the website. They contain the following data: IP address, directory protection user, date, time, pages accessed, logs, status code, data volume, referrer, user agent and accessed hostname.
IP addresses are stored in anonymized form. For this purpose, only one digit is removed, i.e., 127.0.0.1 is changed to 127.0.0.*. IPv6 addresses are also anonymized. The anonymized IP addresses are stored for 60 days. Information about the directory protection user is anonymized after one day. Error logs that record erroneous page calls are deleted after seven days. These logs contain error messages, the accessing IP address, and, depending on the type of error, the accessed website.
Accesses via FTP are logged with anonymized information on the username and IP address and stored for 60 days.
This data is collected on the legal basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our “interest” as per Article 6(1)(f) is the operation of this website and the implementation of the security objectives of confidentiality, integrity, and data availability. This includes, for example, taking action under criminal or civil law to prosecute attacks on our infrastructure.
CONTACT FORM
Our website includes a contact form that can be used to request information about our products or contact us. In addition to the information you voluntarily disclose and the content of your message, we require the following information from you:
Company name
Surname, first name
Street, house number, zip code and city/town
Email address
Phone number
We require this information to process your inquiry, address you properly, and respond to your message. We store inquiries we receive via the contact form in our document management system (DMS). We check the DMS regularly to review whether data requires deletion. Once data is no longer required within the context of an existing or prospective client relationship, or the client’s legitimate interests prevail, we shall delete the respective data, subject to statutory record-keeping requirements. This data is collected on the legal basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our “interest” as per Article 6(1)(f) GDPR is to communicate with existing and prospective clients.
CONTACT BY EMAIL
If you contact us by email, we require your data. We shall solely collect, process, or use your data to the extent and for the period necessary to provide you with our services. We shall delete your data once we have provided you with our services unless we are legally obliged to continue storing your data. Please note our specific instructions if you apply to us by email or send us information in order to establish a business relationship.
DATA PROCESSING FOR APPLICATION PURPOSES
You can apply to jobs on our website. Our experts are on hand for support. Please feel free to send them your application documents. We will review your documents and get in touch with you. If your profile does not meet our requirements, we will block access to your data and delete it after a maximum of five months.
DATA PROCESSING FOR ESTABLISHING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
If you contact us to establish a business relationship (e.g., summary of your circumstance, a specific question, forwarding of documents), your email will be stored in our system. The duration for which we are permitted to use your email and any attachments depends on the individual requirements.
DATA PROCESSING FOR SOLICITING CLIENTS
If you contact us to solicit clients (e.g., summary of your circumstance, a specific question, forwarding of documents), your email will be stored in our system. The duration for which we are permitted to use your email and any attachments depends on the pertinent professional regulations. Please consult with the professional consultant (tax consultant, accountant, or lawyer) responsible for your matter for more information in this regard.
USE OF DATA FOR JOURNALISTIC/EDITORIAL PURPOSES
Our website features certain editorial content for the public image of our firm. For example, our editors create reports on tax and commercial law. In this context, we may use your data for the specified journalistic and editorial purposes. If this adversely affects your legitimate interests, you can request information on the personal data we have stored. Please send your request to info@ahw-steuerberater.de. We may refuse to provide information after considering your legitimate interests:
– if notifying you would affect our journalistic work by searching the information stored;
– if the data could be used to identify persons involved in the preparation, production or distribution, or the sender, or the person in charge of contributions, documents, and communications for the editorial component.
RECIPIENTS OR CATEGORIES OF RECIPIENTS
All data collected via our website remains exclusively within our company on our servers. The content of emails can only be viewed by our employees and is treated as strictly confidential. We will only pass on data that we have logged during your visit to our website to third parties if required to do so by law or by court order, or if we need the logged data to take action under criminal or civil law to prosecute attacks on our infrastructure.
LEGAL BASIS
We make every effort to solely process your data with your consent. However, in certain cases, we may have legitimate interests in processing your data as per Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, e.g., to establish business relationships, to contact you without your consent, or to assert or defend against civil law claims arising from contractual and legal obligations. We process and store data to fulfill our legal obligations under a contract, e.g., to observe any retention periods required under tax and commercial law (Article 6 (1)(c)). Personal data shall be collected if the provision thereof is prescribed by law or contract or is required to conclude a contract.
TRANSFER OF PERSONAL DATA TO THIRD COUNTRIES
The controller is entitled to transfer your data to a third country (e.g., the USA) in accordance with the EU Commission’s adequacy decision (EU-US Privacy Shield). Your data will be transferred to the companies listed below and processed for the following purposes:
COLLECTION AND USE OF DATA BY GOOGLE MAPS
This website uses the Google Maps API to visually display geographic information, i.e., to plan journeys and routes, and enable you to view our location. For this purpose, we use Google Maps provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). If you access Google Maps on our website, Google will collect, process, and use data on the use of Google Maps components. Please read Google’s privacy policy to learn more about how Google uses data. We use Google Maps to display our online services and make it easy to find the locations we mention on the website. This constitutes a legitimate interest as per Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
COLLECTION AND USE OF DATA BY GOOGLE FONTS
This website incorporates Google Fonts to ensure online legibility. This constitutes a legitimate interest as per Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. For this purpose, we use Google Fonts provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). When you visit our website, your browser sends your IP address to Google. Please read Google’s privacy policy to learn more about how Google collects and uses your data, and your rights and options in this regard: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/. This data is collected on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our “interest” as per Article 6(1)(f) is the operation of this website.
USE OF AJAX/GOOGLE APIS/JQUERY
This website incorporates libraries to make it more user-friendly. For this purpose, ‘jQuery’ is uploaded to our website. jQuery is a service provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). When you visit our website, your browser sends your IP address to Google. Please read Google’s privacy policy to learn more about how Google collects and uses your data, and your rights and options in this regard: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/. This data is collected on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our “interest” as per Article 6(1)(f) is the operation of this website.
CLOUDFLARE
This website is provided by the technology partner Cloudflare Inc., 101 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. The CloudFlare, Inc. worldwide network filters all the traffic through this website. It caches data and logs access, often using the closest data center. Cloudflare also operates data centers located outside the European Union. According to Cloudflare, cached data is generally deleted within four hours but no later than three days. For more information, see Cloudflare’s privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/privacypolicy/. This data is collected on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our “interest” as per Article 6(1)(f) is the operation of this website.
FAST.FONT.NET
This website uses web fonts to display fonts uniformly. These fonts are provided by Monotype GmbH, Werner-Reimers-Str. 2, 61352 Bad Homburg (fonts.com or fast.fonts.net). When you access a website, your browser loads the required web fonts into your browser cache to display texts and fonts correctly. To do so, the browser you are using must connect to the fonts.com servers. fonts.com is consequently informed that our website has been accessed via your IP address. For more information about these web fonts, see: https://www.fonts.com/info/legal, Fonts.com’s privacy policy: https://www.fonts.com/info/legal/privacy, and Monotype’s privacy policy: https://www.monotype.com/legal/privacy-policy.
We use Fonts.com web fonts to present our online services uniformly and appealingly. This constitutes a legitimate interest as per Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
CONSENT FOR MAILCHIMP NEWSLETTER
We previously used Mailchimp for our newsletter service, which also involved the use of your data. We continue to use Mailchimp today for technical reasons. If you subscribe to our newsletter, your email address will be sent to Mailchimp. You will then receive an email from Mailchimp asking you to confirm your subscription. If you do not wish to receive advertising, please use the unsubscribe link in the advertising message or send us a message to the email address stated in the legal notice. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. We do not match the data collected this way with data that other components of our website may collect. Mailchimp is a service provided by The Rocket Science Group, LLC, 512 Means Street, Suite 404, Atlanta, GA 30318, USA.
The data that was stored when you subscribed to the newsletter (email address, name, IP address, date and time of your subscription) will be transferred to The Rocket Science Group servers in the USA and stored there in compliance with the EU-US Privacy Shield. For more information about data protection, see Mailchimp’s privacy policy: http://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/.
This data is collected on the basis of Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. Our “processing” as per Article 6(1)(a) takes place on the basis of your consent.
ANALYTICAL TOOLS AND ADVERTISING
GOOGLE ANALYTICS
This website uses the web analytics service Google Analytics. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies. These are text files that are stored on your computer and allow your website usage to be analyzed. The information about your website usage generated by the cookie is usually transferred to a Google server located in the USA and stored there.
Google Analytics cookies are stored on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize its website and its advertising.
IP ANONYMIZATION
We have enabled IP anonymization on this website. This means that Google will shorten your IP address within the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area before transmission to the United States. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address sent to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. Google will use the collected information on behalf of the website operator to evaluate your website usage, compile reports on website activity, and provide the website operator with other services related to website and Internet usage. The IP address transmitted by your browser in the context of Google Analytics will not be merged with any other data held by Google.
BROWSER PLUGIN
You can prevent these cookies from being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the data generated by cookies about your website usage (incl. your IP address) from being passed to Google, and 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.
OBJECTING TO THE COLLECTION OF DATA
You can prevent the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will then be set to prevent your data from being collected on future visits to this site: Disable Google Analytics.
For more information about how Google Analytics handles user data, see Google’s privacy policy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.
COMMISSIONED DATA PROCESSING
We have concluded a Data Processing Agreement with Google and fully implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities for the use of Google Analytics.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS DEMOGRAPHICS DATA
This website uses the “demographics” feature of Google Analytics. This enables us to create reports that provide information about visitors’ age, gender, and interests. This data comes from personalized ads by Google and visitor data from third-party providers. It cannot be used to identify an individual. You can deactivate this feature at any time by adjusting the ads settings in your Google account or preventing the collection of your data by Google Analytics as explained under “Objecting to the collection of data.”
GOOGLE ADSENSE
This website uses Google AdSense, a tool for integrating advertisements. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”).
Google AdSense uses cookies, text files that are stored on your computer and that enable an analysis of website usage. Google AdSense also uses web beacons (invisible graphics). These web beacons allow information such as visitor traffic on these pages to be analyzed.
Information generated by cookies and web beacons about the use of this website (including your IP address) and delivery of advertising formats are transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Google may share this information with its affiliates. However, Google will not merge your IP address with other data stored about you.
AdSense cookies are stored on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize its website and its advertising.
You can prevent these cookies from being installed by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you agree to the processing of the data collected about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS REMARKETING
Our websites use Google Analytics Remarketing features in conjunction with the cross-device features of Google AdWords and Google DoubleClick. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”).
This feature allows Google Analytics Remarketing to link advertising targets with the cross-device capabilities of Google AdWords and Google DoubleClick. This way, interest-based, personalized ads that have been customized for you on one device (e.g., cell phone) based on your past usage and browsing habits can also be displayed on one of your other devices (e.g., tablet or PC).
With your permission, Google will link your web and app browsing history to your Google Account for this purpose. That way, the same personalized ads can be displayed on any device you sign into with your Google Account.
To support this feature, Google Analytics collects Google-authenticated user IDs that are temporarily linked to our Google Analytics data to help us define and create audiences for cross-device advertising.
You can opt out of cross-device remarketing/targeting permanently by deactivating personalized advertising in your Google Account, following this link: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/.
The data collected in your Google Account will only be aggregated with your consent, which you may grant or revoke from Google (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). For data collection operations not merged into your Google Account (e.g., because you do not have a Google Account or have objected to the merge), the collection of data is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing anonymous user behavior for promotional purposes.
For more detailed information and data protection provisions, see Google’s privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/.
GOOGLE ADWORDS AND GOOGLE CONVERSION TRACKING
This website uses Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising program provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”).
As part of Google AdWords, we use so-called conversion tracking. When you click on an ad provided by Google, a conversion tracking cookie is set. Cookies are small text files that your web browser stores on your computer. These cookies expire after 30 days and are not used for the personal identification of users. If the user visits certain pages of the website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and the website will be able to detect that the user clicked on the ad and was redirected to that page.
Each Google AdWords customer is assigned a different cookie. As a result, cookies cannot be tracked via the websites of AdWords customers. The information obtained using the conversion cookie is used to generate conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have opted for conversion tracking. Customers are provided with information on the total number of users who have clicked on their ad and were redirected to a page containing a conversion tracking tag. However, they do not receive information that allows users to be personally identified. If you do not wish to participate in tracking, you can opt out by disabling cookies for conversion tracking in the user settings of your web browser. In doing so, you will not be included in conversion tracking statistics.
Conversion cookies are stored on the legal basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize its website and its advertising.
For more information about Google AdWords and Google Conversion Tracking, see Google’s privacy policy: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/.
You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide whether to accept or reject a cookie on a case-by-case basis. Alternatively, you can set your browser to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions, always reject them, or automatically delete them when you close the browser. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of this website.
GOOGLE RECAPTCHA
We use “Google reCAPTCHA” (hereinafter referred to as “reCAPTCHA”) on our websites. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”).
reCAPTCHA is used to check whether the data entered on our website (e.g., in a contact form) has been entered by a human or an automated program. To this end, reCAPTCHA analyzes the behavior of website visitors based on various factors. This analysis starts automatically as soon as the website visitor accesses the website. To carry out the analysis, reCAPTCHA analyzes various data (for example, IP address, how long the visitor has been on the website, or mouse movements made by the user). The data collected during the analysis will be forwarded to Google.
reCAPTCHA analysis runs entirely in the background. Website visitors are not informed that a reCAPTCHA analysis is taking place.
This data processing takes place on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its website from abusive automated web crawling and spam.
For more information about Google reCAPTCHA and Google’s privacy policy, please visit the following links: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en and https://www.google.com/recaptcha/about/.
FACEBOOK PIXEL
Our website uses Facebook Pixel to measure the effectiveness of advertising by understanding website visitors’ actions. This service is provided by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”).
This enables to track the actions of website visitors who clicked on a Facebook ad and were redirected to the provider’s website. It also enables us to measure the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes and optimize future promotional activities.
The data collected in this way is anonymous, i.e., we cannot draw any conclusions about the user’s identity. However, Facebook stores and processes this data and may link this information to the respective user profile. Moreover, Facebook can use the data collected for its advertising purposes pursuant to Facebook’s data policy. This enables Facebook to place ads on Facebook pages and other sites outside of Facebook. As the website operator, we cannot influence this use of the data.
For more information about your privacy options, see Facebook’s privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.
You can also deactivate the “Custom Audiences” remarketing feature in the ad settings: https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. You must log in to Facebook to do this.
If you do not have a Facebook account, you can deactivate any interest-based advertising by Facebook on the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance website: https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices.
COOKIES
This website uses cookies. Cookies are small text files that are created by websites you visit and stored on your device. Cookies are not harmful and help to make your online experience easier. Our website uses the following cookies:
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SESSION COOKIES
Session cookies are primarily used for the current session to manage the privacy policy statement.
This data is collected on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR and Section 15 TMG. Our “interest” as per Article 6(1)(f) is the operation of these websites.
FACEBOOK FANPAGE
Please see our separate privacy notice for our Facebook page: https://www.ahw-unternehmerkanzlei.de/datenschutzhinweis-facebook/#.
YOUR RIGHTS
You have the right to request information on your personal data processed by the controller. You also have the right to have your data rectified, erased, or have processing thereof restricted. You are entitled to object to the processing of your data. The right to data portability is equally applicable. Please contact us using the contact information stated above to assert your rights. If we contact you on the basis of Article 6(1)(f), you shall be entitled to revoke your consent at any time without prejudice to the legality of processing carried out on the basis of your consent prior to the revocation thereof.
If you would like to lodge a complaint in relation to data processing on this website, please contact the relevant supervisory authority, e.g., the North Rhine-Westphalia State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
Kavalleriestr. 2-4
40213 Dusseldorf
Phone: +49 211 384 240
Fax: +49 211 384 10
Email: poststelle@ldi.nrw.de
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
Our website contains links to third-party websites. These providers are not affiliated with us. If you click on these links, we have no control over the data collection and usage practices of these providers. For more detailed information on data collection and use, please refer to each provider’s privacy policy. We assume no responsibility for the data collection and processing practices of third parties. However, where technically feasible, we do point out that you are accessing a third-party website. If this is not already clear from the corresponding text, we will label links to third-party websites with the note “external link.”
CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY
The legal framework applicable to us as a service provider is subject to changes and amendments. These changes and amendments require us to update this privacy policy occasionally. You can find the date of the last update at the beginning of this privacy policy (“Last updated: …”).