Data protection

Privacy statement

1. Data protection at a glance

General information

The following information provides a simple overview of what happens to your personal data when you visit our website. Personal data are any data that can be used to identify you personally. Refer to our privacy policy, which is listed below this text, for detailed information on the topic of data protection.

Data collection on our website

Who is responsible for data collection on this website?

Data processing on this website is carried out by the website operator. Refer to the legal notice on this website for their contact details.

How do we collect your data?

Your data are collected, firstly, when you provide them to us. This may e.g. be data that you enter in a contact form.

Other data are collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website. Above all, this involves technical data (e.g. internet browser, operating system or time at which the page is called up). These data are collected automatically as soon as you access our website.

What do we use your data for?

Some of the data are collected to ensure the error-free provision of the website. Other data can be used to analyse your user behaviour.

Which rights do you have with respect to your data?

You have the right to obtain free information about the origin, recipient and purpose of your stored personal data at any time. You also have the right to demand the rectification, blocking or erasure of these data. You can contact us at any time at the address provided in the legal notice if you have any further questions on this or the issue of data protection. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

You additionally have the right to demand that processing of your personal data be restricted under certain circumstances. See 'Right to restriction of processing' in the privacy policy for details.

Analysis tools and third-party tools

Your surfing behaviour can be statistically evaluated when you visit our website. Above all, this is carried out using cookies and what are called analysis programs. Your surfing behaviour is usually analysed anonymously; your surfing behaviour cannot be traced back to you. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools. Detailed information on this can be found in the following privacy policy.

You can object to this analysis. We will inform you about your objection options in this privacy policy.

2. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We handle your personal data confidentially and according to the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.

Various items of personal data are collected when you use this website. Personal data are data that can be used to identify you personally. This privacy policy explains which data we collect and what we use them for. It also explains how, and the purpose for which, this is done.

We would like to point out that transmitting data on the internet (e.g. when communicating by e-mail) can reveal security gaps. The absolute protection of data against access by third parties cannot be guaranteed.

Information about the responsible body

The body responsible for data processing on this website is:

Paul Gröne GmbH
Alter Mühlenweg 3
D-49413 Dinklage

Telephone: +49 4443 3347
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The responsible body is the natural or legal person who decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (e.g. names, e-mail addresses, etc.) alone or together with others.

Revocation of your consent to data processing

Numerous data processing processes are only possible with your express consent. You can revoke the consent that you have already given at any time. Sending an informal e-mail to us is sufficient to do this. This revocation has no bearing on the legality of the data processing carried out up to revocation.

Right to object to data collection in special cases and to direct marketing (Art. 21 GDPR)

If data processing is carried out on the basis of Art. 6(1)(e) or (f) of the GDPR, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation; this also applies to profiling based on these provisions. Refer to this privacy policy for the respective legal basis on which processing is based. If you object, we will no longer process the personal data concerning you unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms or this processing is used for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (objection in accordance with Art. 21(1) GDPR).

If your personal data are processed for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you for such marketing; this also applies to profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing. If you object, your personal data will subsequently no longer be used for direct marketing (objection in accordance with Art. 21(2) GDPR).

Right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority

In the event of violations of the GDPR, data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, particularly in the Member State of their habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged violation. The right to lodge a complaint exists without prejudice to other administrative or judicial remedies.

Right to data portability

You have the right to have data that we process automatically on the basis of your consent or in fulfilment of a contract provided to you or to a third party in a commonly used, machine-readable format. If you demand that the data be transmitted directly to another controller, this will only be carried out if it is technically feasible.

SSL or TLS encryption

This website uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as e.g. orders or enquiries that you send to us as the website operator. You can recognise an encrypted connection due to the fact that the browser address line changes from 'http://' to 'https://' and by the lock symbol in your browser line.

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

Information, blocking, erasure and rectification

In the context of the applicable statutory provisions, you have the right to obtain information free of charge at any time about your stored personal data, their origin and recipients, the purpose of data processing and, if necessary, the right to the rectification, blocking or erasure of these data. You can contact us at any time at the address provided in the legal notice if you have any further questions on this or the issue of personal data.

Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to demand that processing of your personal data be restricted. To do this, you can contact us at any time at the address provided in the legal notice. The right to the restriction of processing applies in the following cases:

If you contest the accuracy of your personal data that we have stored, we usually need time to verify this. You have the right to demand that processing of your personal data be restricted for the duration of this verification.
If the processing of your personal data has been/is being carried out unlawfully, you can request the restriction of data processing instead of erasure.
If we no longer require your personal data, but you need them for the exercise, defence or assertion of legal claims, you have the right to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data instead of their erasure.
If you have lodged an objection in accordance with Art. 21(1) GDPR, your interests and ours must be considered. Until it has been determined whose interests prevail, you have the right to demand the restriction of processing of your personal data.

If you have restricted the processing of your personal data, these data – with the exception of their storage – may only be processed with your consent or for the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims, for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or due to reasons of an important public interest of the European Union or of a Member State.

Objection to advertising e-mails

We hereby object to the use of contact details published in the context of the legal notice obligation for the purpose of sending unrequested advertising and information material. The operators of this website expressly reserve the right to take legal action in the event of receiving unrequested advertising information in the form of spam e-mails, for instance.

3. Data collection on our website

Cookies

Some of our web pages use what are called cookies. Cookies do not cause any damage on your computer and do not contain viruses. Cookies are used to make our offering more user-friendly, effective and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.

The majority of the cookies that we use are what are called 'session cookies'. They are automatically deleted at the end of your visit. Other cookies remain stored on your device until you delete them. These cookies enable us to recognise your browser when you next visit.

You can set your browser so that you are informed about the setting of cookies and only permit cookies in individual cases, rule out the acceptance of cookies in specific cases or in general, and activate the automatic deletion of cookies on closing your browser. Deactivating cookies can limit the functionality of this website.

Cookies that are required to carry out the electronic communication process or to provide specific functions that you have requested (e.g. shopping basket function) are stored on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in storing cookies for the technically error-free and optimised provision of its services. If other cookies (e.g. cookies for analysing your surfing behaviour) are stored, these are handled separately in this privacy policy.

Server log files

The provider of the website automatically collects and stores information in what are called server log files, which your browser automatically transmits to us. The following data are collected:

Browser type and browser version
Operating system used
Referrer URL
Host name of the accessing computer
Time of the server request
IP address

These data are not merged with other data sources.

These data are collected on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the technically error-free visualisation and the optimisation of its website, for which purpose the server log files have to be collected.

Contact form

If you send us enquiries using the contact form, your data from the enquiry form, including the contact details you provided there, will be stored by us for the purpose of processing the enquiry and in case of follow-up questions. We do not pass these data on without your consent.

The data entered in the contact form are therefore processed exclusively on the basis of your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can revoke this consent at any time. Sending an informal e-mail to us is sufficient to do this. This revocation has no bearing on the legality of the data processing processes carried out up to revocation.

The data that you have entered in the contact form will remain with us until you request us to erase them, revoke your consent to their storage, or the purpose for data storage no longer applies (e.g. after your enquiry has been processed). This has no bearing on mandatory statutory provisions – especially retention periods.

Enquiries by e-mail, telephone or fax

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

These data are processed on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR, insofar as your enquiry is related to the fulfilment of a contract or is necessary for the execution of pre-contractual measures. In all other cases, processing is based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) and / or on our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), as we have a legitimate interest in the effective processing of the enquiries sent to us.

The data that you have transferred to us via contact enquiries will remain with us until you request us to erase them, revoke your consent to their storage, or the purpose for data storage no longer applies (e.g. after your enquiry has been processed). This has no bearing on mandatory statutory provisions – especially statutory retention periods.

4. Analysis tools and advertising

Google Analytics

This website uses functions provided by the web analysis service Google Analytics. The provider is Google Ireland Limited ('Google'), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google Analytics uses what are called 'cookies'. These are text files that are stored on your computer and enable the analysis of your website use. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

The storage of Google Analytics cookies and the use of this analysis tool are based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analysing user behaviour in order to optimise both its web offering and its advertising.

IP anonymisation

We have activated the IP anonymisation function on this website. As a result of this, your IP address will be shortened by Google within Member States of the European Union or in other signatory states to the Treaty on the European Economic Area before being transmitted to the USA. The full IP address will only be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there in exceptional cases. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activities and to provide other services related to website usage and internet usage to the website operator. The IP address transmitted by your browser in the context of Google Analytics will not be merged with other data by Google.

Browser plug-in

You can prevent the storage of cookies by adjusting your browser software accordingly; in this case, however, we would like to point out that you might not be able to use all of the functions of this website in full. You can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website (incl. your IP address) and from processing these data by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en-GB.

Objection to data collection

You can prevent Google Analytics from collecting your data by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie is set to prevent your data from being collected when you visit this website in the future: Deactivate Google Analytics.

More information on how Google Analytics handles user data can be found in Google's privacy policy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en&sjid=5942709731416568754-EU.

Contract processing

We have concluded a contract processing agreement with Google and implement the stringent specifications of the German data protection authorities in full when using Google Analytics.

Google Analytics demographic characteristics

This website uses the Google Analytics 'demographic characteristics' function. This enables reports containing information about the age, gender and interests of website visitors to be generated. These data originate from interest-based advertising by Google and from visitor data from third-party providers. These data cannot be attributed to any specific person. You can deactivate this function at any time via the advertising settings in your Google account or generally prohibit the collection of your data by Google Analytics as described in the point entitled 'Objection to data collection'.

Storage duration

Data stored by Google at user and event level that are linked to cookies, user IDs or advertising IDs (e.g. DoubleClick cookies, Android advertising ID) are anonymised or erased after 14 months. See the following link for details: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196?hl=en&sjid=5942709731416568754-EU

Matomo (formerly Piwik)

This website uses the open source web analysis service Matomo. Matomo uses what are called 'cookies'. These are text files that are stored on your computer and enable the analysis of your website use. For this purpose, the information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is stored on our server. Your IP address is anonymised prior to storage.

Matomo cookies remain stored on your device until you delete them.

The storage of Matomo cookies and the use of this analysis tool are based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the anonymised analysis of user behaviour in order to optimise both its web offering and its advertising.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is not passed on to third parties. You can prevent the storage of cookies by adjusting your browser software accordingly; in this case, however, we would like to point out that you might not be able to use all of the functions of this website in full.

If you do not agree to the storage and use of your data, you can deactivate their storage and use here. In this case, an opt-out cookie will be stored in your browser to prevent Matomo from storing usage data. If you delete your cookies, this will also result in the deletion of the Matomo opt-out cookie. The opt-out must be reactivated when you visit our website again.

Google Analytics Remarketing

Our websites use the functions of Google Analytics Remarketing in combination with the cross-device functions of Google AdWords and Google DoubleClick. The provider is Google Ireland Limited ('Google'), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

This function enables the advertising target groups created with Google Analytics Remarketing to be linked to the cross-device functions of Google AdWords and Google DoubleClick. This allows interest-based, personalised advertising messages that have been customised for you based on your previous usage and surfing behaviour on one device (e.g. a mobile phone) to also be displayed on another of your devices (e.g. a tablet or PC).

If you have given your corresponding consent, Google will link your web and app browser history to your Google account for this purpose. This enables the same personalised advertising messages to be displayed on every device on which you log in with your Google account.

To support this function, Google Analytics collects Google-authenticated user IDs, which are temporarily linked to our Google Analytics data in order to define and create target groups for cross-device advertising.

You can permanently disable cross-device remarketing/targeting by disabling personalised advertising in your Google account; to do so, follow this link: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/.

The data collected in your Google account are summarised exclusively on the basis of your consent, which you can give to or revoke from Google (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). In data collection processes that are not merged in your Google account (e.g. because you do not have a Google account or have prohibited such merging), the collection of data is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The legitimate interest arises due to the fact that the website operator has an interest in the anonymised analysis of website visitors for advertising purposes.

Further information and the data protection provisions can be found in Google's privacy policy at: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads?hl=en-GB.

Google AdWords and Google conversion tracking

This website uses Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising program provided by Google Ireland Limited ('Google'), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

We use what is called conversion tracking in the context of Google AdWords. If you click on an advertisement placed by Google, a cookie for conversion tracking is set. Cookies are small text files that the internet browser stores on the user's computer. These cookies become invalid after 30 days and are not used to personally identify users. If the user visits certain pages of this website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and we can recognise that the user has clicked on the advertisement and been forwarded to this page.

Each Google AdWords customer is provided with a different cookie. The cookies cannot be tracked via the websites of AdWords customers. The information collected using the conversion cookie is used to create conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have elected to use conversion tracking. Customers find out about the total number of users who clicked on their advertisement and were forwarded to a page equipped with a conversion tracking tag. However, they are not provided with any information that can be used to personally identify users. If you do not want to take part in tracking, you can object to this use by easily deactivating the Google conversion tracking cookie via your internet browser's user settings. You are then not included in the conversion tracking statistics.

The storage of 'conversion cookies' and the use of this tracking tools are based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analysing user behaviour in order to optimise both its web offering and its advertising.

More information on Google AdWords and Google conversion tracking can be found in Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Facebook Pixel

Our website uses the visitor action pixel from Facebook, Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ('Facebook') to measure conversions.

This enables the behaviour of page visitors to be tracked after they have been forwarded to the provider's website by clicking on a Facebook advertisement. This allows the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements to be evaluated for statistical and market research purposes and future advertising measures to be optimised.

The collected data are anonymous to us as the operator of this website; we cannot draw any conclusions concerning the identity of the users. However, the data are stored and processed by Facebook, with the result that a connection to the respective user profile is possible and Facebook is able to use the data for its own advertising purposes according to the Facebook privacy policy. This enables Facebook to place advertisements on Facebook pages and outside of Facebook. This use of the data cannot be influenced by us as the website operator.

The use of Facebook Pixel is carried out on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in effective advertising measures including social media.

You can find further information on the protection of your private sphere in Facebook's privacy policy: https://en-gb.facebook.com/privacy/policy/?entry_point=data_policy_redirect&entry=0.

You can also deactivate the 'Custom Audiences' remarketing function in the advertising settings at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. To do this, you must be logged into Facebook.

If you do not have a Facebook account, you can disable usage-based advertising from Facebook on the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance website: https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices.

5. Plug-ins and tools

YouTube with extended data protection

Our website uses plug-ins from the YouTube website. The operator of the website is Google Ireland Limited ('Google'), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

We use YouTube in extended data protection mode. According to YouTube, this mode means that YouTube does not store any information about visitors to this website before they watch the video. Conversely, the extended data protection mode does not necessarily rule out data from being forwarded to YouTube partners. For instance, YouTube establishes a connection to the Google DoubleClick network regardless of whether you watch a video.

As soon as you start a YouTube video on our website, a connection to YouTube's servers is established. This informs the YouTube server which of our pages you have visited. If you are logged into your YouTube account, you enable YouTube to assign your surfing behaviour directly to your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out from your YouTube account.

After starting a video, YouTube can also store various cookies on your device. These cookies can enable YouTube to obtain information about visitors to our website. This information is used e.g. to collect video statistics, improve user friendliness and prevent fraud attempts. The cookies remain stored on your device until you delete them.

Further data processing processes, over which we have no influence, can be triggered after a YouTube video has been started.

YouTube is used in the interest of the appealing visualisation of our online offerings. This constitutes a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Further information about data protection at YouTube can be found in YouTube's privacy policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Google Fonts

This website uses what are called web fonts, which are provided by Google, in order to display fonts consistently. The Google Fonts are installed locally. No link to Google servers is established in this process.