Privacy Policy

An overview of data protection

General information

The following information will provide you with an easy to navigate overview of what will happen with your personal data when you visit our website. The term „personal data“ comprises all data that can be used to personally identify you. For detailed information about the subject matter of data protection, please consult our Data Protection Declaration, which we have included beneath this copy.

Data recording on our website

Who is the responsible party for the recording of data on this website (i.e. the „controller“)?

The data on this website is processed by the operator of the website, whose contact information is available under section „Information Required by Law“ on this website.

How do we record your data?

We collect your data as a result of your sharing of your data with us. This may, for instance be information you enter into our contact form.

Our IT systems automatically record other data when you visit our website. This data comprises primarily technical information (e.g. web browser, operating system or time the site was accessed). This information is recorded automatically when you access our website.

What are the purposes we use your data for?

A portion of the information is generated to guarantee the error free provision of the website. Other data may be used to analyse your user patterns.

What rights do you have as far as your information is concerned?

You have the right to receive information about the source, recipients and purposes of your archived personal data at any time without having to pay a fee for such disclosures. You also have the right to demand that your data are rectified, blocked or eradicated. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time under the address disclosed in section „Information Required by Law“ on this website if you have questions about this or any other data protection related issues. You also have the right to log a complaint with the competent supervising agency.

Moreover, under certain circumstances, you have the right to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data. For details, please consult the Data Protection Declaration under section „Right to Restriction of Data Processing.“

Analysis tools and tools provided by third parties

There is a possibility that your browsing patterns will be statistically analysed when your visit our website. Such analyses are performed primarily with cookies and with what we refer to as analysis programmes. As a rule, the analyses of your browsing patterns are conducted anonymously; i.e. the browsing patterns cannot be traced back to you.

You have the option to object to such analyses or you can prevent their performance by not using certain tools. For detailed information about the tools and about your options to object, please consult our Data Protection Declaration below.

General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website and its pages take the protection of your personal data very seriously. Hence, we handle your personal data as confidential information and in compliance with the statutory data protection regulations and this Data Protection Declaration.

Whenever you use this website, a variety of personal information will be collected. Personal data comprises data that can be used to personally identify you. This Data Protection Declaration explains which data we collect as well as the purposes we use this data for. It also explains how, and for which purpose the information is collected.

We herewith advise you that the transmission of data via the Internet (i.e. through e-mail communications) may be prone to security gaps. It is not possible to completely protect data against third party access.

Information about the responsible party (referred to as the “controller” in the GDPR)

The data processing controller on this website is:

HSS Tools GmbH
Phone: +49 421 / 3462021
E-Mail: info@hsstools.de

The controller is the natural person or legal entity that single-handedly or jointly with others makes decisions as to the purposes of and resources for the processing of personal data (e.g. names, e-mail addresses, etc.).

Revocation of your consent to the processing of data

A wide range of data processing transactions are possible only subject to your express consent. You can also revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. To do so, all you are required to do is sent us an informal notification via e-mail. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.

Right to object to the collection of data in special cases; right to object to direct advertising (Art. 21 GDPR)

In the event that data are processed on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. e or f GDPR, you have the right to at any time object to the processing of your personal data based on grounds arising from your unique situation. This also applies to any profiling based on these provisions. To determine the legal basis, on which any processing of data is based, please consult this Data Protection Declaration. If you log an objection, we will no longer process your affected personal data, unless we are in a position to present compelling protection worthy grounds for the processing of your data, that outweigh your interests, rights and freedoms or if the purpose of the processing is the claiming, exercising or defence of legal entitlements (objection pursuant to Art. 21 Sect. 1 GDPR).

If your personal data is being processed in order to engage in direct advertising, you have the right to at any time object to the processing of your affected personal data for the purposes of such advertising. This also applies to profiling to the extent that it is affiliated with such direct advertising. If you object, your personal data will subsequently no longer be used for direct advertising purposes (objection pursuant to Art. 21 Sect. 2 GDPR).

Right to log a complaint with the competent supervisory agency

In the event of violations of the GDPR, data subjects are entitled to log a complaint with a supervisory agency, in particular in the member state where they usually maintain their domicile, place of work or at the place where the alleged violation occurred. The right to log a complaint is in effect regardless of any other administrative or court proceedings available as legal recourses. A list of data protection officers and their contact details can be found at the following link: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Service/Anschriften/anschriften_table.html (Germany) and https://www.data-protection-authority.gv.at/ (Austria).

Right to data portability

You have the right to demand that we hand over any data we automatically process on the basis of your consent or in order to fulfil a contract be handed over to you or a third party in a commonly used, machine readable format. If you should demand the direct transfer of the data to another controller, this will be done only if it is technically feasible.

SSL and/or TLS encryption

For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as purchase orders or inquiries you submit to us as the website operator, this website uses either an SSL or a TLS encryption programme. You can recognise an encrypted connection by checking whether the address line of the browser switches from „http://“ to „https://“ and also by the appearance of the lock icon in the browser line.

If the SSL or TLS encryption is activated, data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

Encrypted payment transactions on this website

If you are under an obligation to share your payment information (e.g. account number if you give us the authority to debit your bank account) with us after you have entered into a fee-based contract with us, this information is required to process payments.

Payment transactions using common modes of paying (Visa/MasterCard, debit to your bank account) are processed exclusively via encrypted SSL or TLS connections. You can recognise an encrypted connection by checking whether the address line of the browser switches from „http://“ to „https://“ and also by the appearance of the lock icon in the browser line.

If the communication with us is encrypted, third parties will not be able to read the payment information you share with us.

Information about, blockage, rectification and eradication of data

Within the scope of the applicable statutory provisions, you have the right to at any time demand information about your archived personal data, their source and recipients as well as the purpose of the processing of your data. You may also have a right to have your data rectified, blocked or eradicated. If you have questions about this subject matter or any other questions about personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time at the address provided in section „Information Required by Law.“

Right to demand processing restrictions

You have the right to demand the imposition of restrictions as far as the processing of your personal data is concerned. To do so, you may contact us at any time at the address provided in section „Information Required by Law.“ The right to demand restriction of processing applies in the following cases:

• In the event that you should dispute the correctness of your data archived by us, we will usually need some time to verify this claim. During the time that this investigation is ongoing, you have the right to demand that we restrict the processing of your personal data.
• If the processing of your personal data was/is conducted in an unlawful manner, you have the option to demand the restriction of the processing of your data in lieu of demanding the eradication of this data.
• If we do not need your personal data any longer and you need it to exercise, defend or claim legal entitlements, you have the right to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data instead of its eradication.
• If you have raised an objection pursuant to Art. 21 Sect. 1 GDPR, your rights and our rights will have to be weighed against each other. As long as it has not been determined whose interests prevail, you have the right to demand a restriction of the processing of your personal data.

If you have restricted the processing of your personal data, these data – with the exception of their archiving – may be processed only subject to your consent or to claim, exercise or defend legal entitlements or to protect the rights of other natural persons or legal entities or for important public interest reasons cited by the European Union or a member state of the EU.

Rejection of unsolicited e-mails

We herewith object to the use of contact information published in conjunction with the mandatory information to be provided in section „Information Required by Law“ to send us promotional and information material that we have not expressly requested. The operators of this website and its pages reserve the express right to take legal action in the event of the unsolicited sending of promotional information, for instance via SPAM messages.

Recording of data on our website

Cookies

This website uses in particular cookies or other technologies that are absolutely necessary or such as functional cookies so that the accessed website and functions can be made available to you, Section 25 Paragraph 2 Number 2 of the Telecommunications Telemedia Data Protection Act (TDDDG ), Article 6 paragraph 1 subparagraph 1 letter f GDPR.

If you give your consent for optional services and non-essential cookies, the legal basis is Section 25 Paragraph 1 TDDDG, Article 6 Paragraph 1 Subparagraph 1 Letter a GDPR (consent). You can obtain further information about this and the cookies or services used at any time from the consent management tool used and revoke your consent at any time, freely and without disadvantage, with effect for the future. Please note, however, that our website does not always function as intended without the cookies used.

You can view the cookies used in our tool and edit and revoke any consent you may have, etc. there at any time. The revocation of consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out based on the consent before its revocation.

Server log files

The provider of this website and its pages automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files, which your browser communicates to us automatically. The information comprises:

• The type and version of browser used
• The used operating system
• Referrer URL
• The hostname of the accessing computer
• The time of the server inquiry
• The IP address

This data is not merged with other data sources. This data is recorded on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in the technically error free depiction and the optimization of the operator’s website. In order to achieve this, server log files must be recorded.

Contact form

If you send us inquiries using the contact form, your details from the inquiry form, including the contact details you provided there, will be stored by us in order to process the inquiry and in case of follow-up questions. The legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 subparagraph 1 letter b GDPR. We will not pass on this data without your consent. The data you enter in the contact form will remain with us until you request us to delete it, revoke your consent to storage or the purpose for data storage no longer applies (e.g. after your request has been processed). Mandatory legal provisions – in particular retention periods – remain unaffected.

Request by e-mail, telephone or fax

If you contact us by e-mail, telephone or fax, your request, including all resulting personal data (name, request) will be stored and processed by us for the purpose of processing your request. We do not pass these data on without your consent.

The processing of these data is based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR, if your request is related to the execution of a contract or if it is necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures. In all other cases, the processing is based on your consent (Article 6 (1) a GDPR) and/or on our legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR), since we have a legitimate interest in the effective processing of requests addressed to us.

The data sent by you to us via contact requests remain with us until you request us to delete, revoke your consent to the storage or the purpose for the data storage lapses (e.g. after completion of your request). Mandatory statutory provisions - in particular statutory retention periods - remain unaffected.

Registration on this website

You have the option to register on our website to be able to use additional website functions. We shall use the data you enter only for the purpose of using the respective offer or service you have registered for. The required information we request at the time of registration must be entered in full. Otherwise we shall reject the registration. The legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 subparagraph 1 letter b GDPR.

To notify you of any important changes to the scope of our portfolio or in the event of technical modifications, we shall use the e-mail address provided during the registration process.

We shall process the data entered during the registration process on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You have the right to revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. To do so, all you are required to do is sent us an informal notification via e-mail. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.

The data recorded during the registration process shall be stored by us as long as you are registered on our website. Subsequently, such data shall be deleted. This shall be without prejudice to mandatory statutory retention obligations.

Processing of data (customer and contract data)

We collect, process and use personal data only to the extent necessary for the establishment, content organization or change of the legal relationship (data inventory). These actions are taken on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or pre-contractual actions. We collect, process and use personal data concerning the use of our website (usage data) only to the extent that this is necessary to make it possible for users to utilize the services and to bill for them.

The collected customer data shall be eradicated upon completion of the order or the termination of the business relationship. This shall be without prejudice to any statutory retention mandates.

Data transfer upon closing of contracts for online stores, retailers and the shipment of merchandise

We share personal data with third parties only if this is necessary in conjunction with the handling of the contract; for instance, with companies entrusted with the shipment of goods or the financial institution tasked with the processing of payments. Any further transfer of data shall not occur or shall only occur if you have expressly consented to the transfer. Any sharing of your data with third parties in the absence of your express consent, for instance for advertising purposes, shall not occur.

The basis for the processing of data is Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or for pre-contractual actions.

Data transfer upon closing of contracts for services and digital content

We share personal data with third parties only if this is necessary in conjunction with the handling of the contract; for instance, with the financial institution tasked with the processing of payments.

Any further transfer of data shall not occur or shall only occur if you have expressly consented to the transfer. Any sharing of your data with third parties in the absence of your express consent, for instance for advertising purposes, shall not occur.

The basis for the processing of data is Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or for pre-contractual actions.

Plugins und tools

Google Web Fonts (local embedding)

This website uses so-called Web Fonts provided by Google to ensure the uniform use of fonts on this site. These Google fonts are locally installed so that a connection to Google’s servers will not be established in conjunction with this application.

Google Maps

Via an API, this website uses the mapping service Google Maps. The provider is Google Ireland Limited („Google“), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

To enable the use of the Google Maps features, your IP address must be stored. As a rule, this information is transferred to one of Google’s servers in the United States, where it is archived. The operator of this website has no control over the data transfer.

The use of Google Maps is in the interest of an attractive presentation of our online offerings and to make it easy to find the places we indicate on the website. This represents a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR. Furthermore, the Google services are only actively loaded if you have previously given your consent, Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

For more information on the handling of user data, please review Google’s Data Privacy Declaration under: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

YouTube with expanded data protection integration

Our website uses plug-ins of the YouTube platform, which is being operated by Google Ireland Limited („Google“), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

We use YouTube in the expanded data protection mode. According to YouTube, this mode ensures that YouTube does not store any information about visitors to this website before they watch the video. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily mean that the sharing of data with YouTube partners can be ruled out as a result of the expanded data protection mode. For instance, regardless of whether you are watching a video, YouTube will always establish a connection with the Google DoubleClick network.

As soon as you start to play a YouTube video on our website, a connection to YouTube’s servers will be established. As a result, the YouTube server will be notified, which of our pages you have visited. If you are logged into your YouTube account while you visit our site, you enable YouTube to directly allocate your browsing patterns to your personal profile. You have the option to prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

Furthermore, after you have started to play a video, YouTube will be able to place various cookies on your device. With the assistance of these cookies, YouTube will be able to obtain information about our website visitor. Among other things, this information will be used to generate video statistics with the aim of improving the user friendliness of the site and to prevent attempts to commit fraud. These cookies will stay on your device until you delete them.

Under certain circumstances, additional data processing transactions may be triggered after you have started to play a YouTube video, which are beyond our control.

The use of YouTube is in the interest of an attractive presentation of our online offerings. This represents a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR. Furthermore, the Google services are only actively loaded if you have previously given your consent, Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR. If you have given your consent to the processing of personal data, you have the right of revocation, Article 7 GDPR, with effect for the future. The lawfulness of processing based on consent until its revocation remains unaffected.

For more information on how YouTube handles user data, please consult the YouTube Data Privacy Policy under: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

Use of EverCAPTCHA

To protect our contact form against unwanted use, we use the EverCAPTCHA service of our website creator and hoster United Media AG, Hansaallee 299, 40549 Düsseldorf. This service is provided by the sub-processor: wwwe GmbH, Hansaallee 299, 40549 Düsseldorf. EverCAPTCHA makes it possible to distinguish whether the data entered in the contact form was actually entered by a human or abusively automated by a machine, a so-called spambot.

For this purpose, various questions are asked when using our forms (e.g.: "Click on an X symbol", etc.). EverCAPTCHA saves all failed attempts by a user, an IP address via a session ID, which is stored in LocalStorage. The session ID is transmitted to the server via JavaScript with every request. If 30 incorrect entries are made, the user's IP address is permanently stored in a spam prevention database. Otherwise, the IP addresses will be deleted within 7 days. Data processing is carried out on the basis of Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f of the GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its web offerings from abusive automated spying and SPAM.

Custom Services

Job Applications

If you send us an application, we will process the personal data you provide there in order to process your application and to contact you. The personal data concerning you will not be passed on to third parties without your express consent, unless we are legally obliged to do so, you have requested this or the data transfer is necessary to initiate and implement a contractual relationship with you or the application process. The legal basis is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Subsection 1 Letter a, b GDPR, Article 88 Paragraph 1 GDPR, Section 26 Paragraph 1 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).

We delete applications no later than three months after completion of the application process. If the data may be required for legal prosecution after the application process has been completed, data processing can take place on the basis of the requirements of Article 6 GDPR, in particular to safeguard legitimate interests in accordance with Article 6 paragraph 1 subparagraph 1 letter f GDPR. Our legitimate interest then consists in the assertion or defense of claims.

If your application is successful, we will continue to process your personal data for the purposes of the employment relationship.

If you have expressly given your consent, you can revoke your declaration of consent at any time with effect for the future, so that we delete your data.

Scope and purpose of the collection of data

If you submit a job application to us, we will process any affiliated personal data (e.g. contact and communications data, application documents, notes taken during job interviews, etc.), if they are required to make a decision concerning the establishment or an employment relationship. The legal grounds for the aforementioned are § 26 New GDPR according to German Law (Negotiation of an Employment Relationship), Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR (General Contract Negotiations) and – provided you have given us your consent – Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR. You may revoke any consent given at any time. Within our company, your personal data will only be shared with individuals who are involved in the processing of your job application.

If your job application should result in your recruitment, the data you have submitted will be archived on the grounds of § 26 New GDPR and Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR for the purpose of implementing the employment relationship in our data processing system.

Data Archiving Period

Saved server log files and IP addresses are deleted after seven days at the latest.

Session cookies are automatically deleted after the session has ended. Other cookies are stored on your end device and you have control over the use and deletion of cookies, see above.

We process your data from your inquiries via e-mail or via the contact form until your inquiry has been fully processed and settled. After that, the information will be deleted. Please note, however, that due to a legal transaction with you, commercial and tax law storage obligations of at least six (§ 257 HGB) or ten (§ 147 AO) years may exist for certain data, which also apply to the content of contact requests and e-mails can, see above.

If you apply via e-mail, for example, we will delete your transmitted personal data and applications three months after the application process has been completed. If your application is successful, we will continue to process your personal data for the purposes of the employment relationship. If you have expressly given your consent, you can revoke your declaration of consent at any time with effect for the future, so that we delete your data, see above.

In addition, an annual check is carried out to determine whether data can be deleted. This is the case if the purpose of the processing and the requirements of the legal basis for the processing no longer apply and there is no legal obligation to store it.