Website Privacy Policy

General

Our privacy policy explains which personal data is processed when using our websites

and in what manner they are processed.

The controller responsible for the processing of your personal data within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) is

Echometer GmbH
Tondernstraße 1
48149 Münster
Email: info (at) echometer.de

We only process personal data if this is legally permissible. Personal data is only passed on to recipients that we explicitly identify in this privacy policy.

As soon as the purpose of processing no longer applies, personal data will be deleted or blocked for further use by technical and organizational measures. This also applies when a prescribed storage period expires, unless there is a need to continue storing the personal data for the conclusion or performance of a contract.

Unless we are legally obliged to retain it for a longer period or to disclose it to third parties (in particular law enforcement authorities), the decision as to which personal data is collected by us, how long it is stored, and to what extent you may have to disclose it, depends on which functions of our website or service are used in each individual case.

Links on our websites and services may lead to other websites and services that are not operated by us, but by third parties. Such links are either clearly marked by us or are recognizable by a change in the browser’s address bar.

We are not responsible for compliance with data protection regulations and the secure handling of personal data on these websites and services operated by third parties.

Definitions

These privacy policy provisions use the terms defined in the GDPR. You can find the definitions in the Definitions in Art. 4 GDPR below.

What data we collect

We collect various types of data during the use of our website and our service.

The first type consists of data that you provide to us directly and knowingly. This includes the information you enter when creating an account for the service (name, email address, and password), as well as data that you create while using the service, e.g. feedback, retrospective interactions, action items created, etc. This data belongs to you. By using our service, you grant us permission to store this data and process it within the scope of this privacy policy. You may withdraw this consent at any time, which may, however, reduce or even prevent the usability of our service.

The second type consists of data that we collect automatically while you use our website and services. This data is used only to operate and improve our service.

Data subject rights

In accordance with Chapter 3 of the European GDPR, the following “rights of the data subject” apply:

Data subjects have the right…

  • to information about data processing according to Art. 15 GDPR
  • for rectification of data pursuant to Art. 16 GDPR
  • to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority according to Art. 77 GDPR
  • to erasure (also known as the “right to be forgotten”) according to Art. 17 GDPR
  • to restriction of processing according to Art. 17 GDPR
  • to data portability according to Art. 20 GDPR
  • to object to processing, insofar as it is based on Art. 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR.

Our privacy policy may change. Updates will be made available directly on this page. In the event of material changes, we will also inform you on the sign-up screen or by email. If you do not agree to future changes to this privacy policy, you must stop using our services and delete your account. We are obliged to inform you about the rectification or erasure of personal data or the restriction of processing.

Use of cookies

Cookies are text files that are stored on or read from end devices by a website. They contain combinations of letters and numbers in order, for example, to recognize the data subject again when reconnecting to the website that set the cookie, to restore previous settings, to enable remaining logged in to a customer account, or to statistically analyze certain usage behavior.

We use cookies to:

  • Store preferences for our website
  • Store login status

Informational use

When you visit our website and use it for informational purposes only, personal data is automatically collected. This includes the following information: browser type and browser version, operating system used, address of the previously visited website, address of the end device used to access the website (IP address), and time of access to the website. This information is transmitted by the browser, provided that the browser does not suppress the transmission of this information through appropriate settings.

The processing of this personal data is carried out for the purposes of ensuring the functionality and optimization of the website, as well as ensuring the security of our information technology systems. This also constitutes our legitimate interest, which is why processing is permissible under Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

Contact options

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, security measures, or the exercise of data subject rights, you can reach us by email at info (at) echometer.de.

Contact form

If you contact us via the contact form, we process your name, your email address, and the content of your message in order to handle and respond to your inquiry. In addition, the form transmits technical context data, including the page accessed, the referrer, the time of the request, as well as browser, device, and session information.

We use Google Workspace (Gmail) for email communication and Notion for internal task and ticket management to handle your contact requests. The information provided is processed in both systems for this purpose. Further information on these processors can be found in the sections “Google Workspace (Gmail)” and “Notion”.

The processing serves to answer your inquiry, organize and track its handling, and protect against misuse of the contact form. If your inquiry relates to a contract or pre-contractual measures, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR is the legal basis. Otherwise, processing is carried out on the basis of our legitimate interests in efficient communication, handling inquiries, and the security of our systems pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

The personal data will be stored for as long as is necessary to process and respond to your inquiry. If the inquiry leads to the conclusion of a contract, further storage will take place insofar as this is necessary for the performance of pre-contractual measures or for the fulfillment of the contract. Statutory retention obligations remain unaffected.

Newsletter

You can subscribe to our newsletter on our website. For this purpose, we process your name, your email address, as well as details regarding your registration and confirmation status. The management of newsletter subscriptions is carried out using the software Listmonk, which we operate ourselves on our hosting infrastructure in the Open Telekom Cloud. Telekom is used as a hosting processor in this context.

Registration takes place via a double opt-in procedure: After registering, you will receive an email with a confirmation link. You will only receive our newsletter after your confirmation.

The newsletter is sent on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR. You can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future, in particular via the unsubscribe link in every newsletter email. The lawfulness of the processing until the revocation remains unaffected.

Unsubscribing terminates the sending of the newsletter. Necessary unsubscribe and blocking notices are stored so that your decision is also taken into account for future mailings.

We use Resend for the technical dispatch of confirmation emails and newsletters. Further information on this can be found in the “Resend” section of this privacy policy.

Integrated Third-Party Providers

Cloudflare

We use Cloudflare Germany GmbH’s Content Delivery Network (CDN), Rosental 7, c/o Mindspace, 80331 Munich, Germany (Cloudflare), to increase the security and delivery speed of our website. This corresponds to our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR). A CDN is a network of servers distributed worldwide that is able to deliver content to website users in an optimized way. For this purpose, personal data may be processed in Cloudflare server log files.

Cloudflare has implemented compliance measures for international data transfers. These apply to all worldwide activities in which Cloudflare processes personal data of natural persons in the EU. These measures are based on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs). Further information on Cloudflare: EU Standard Contractual Clauses of Cloudflare

Hetzner

Our website is hosted in data centers of Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany. Further information about the company can be found in our legal notice.

Contact Data Protection Officer: [email protected]; Postal address: Hetzner Online GmbH, Data Protection, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen; Phone: +49 (0)9831 505216; Fax: +49 (0)3745 744472361.

Purposes of processing

Provision of the technical infrastructure and hosting of our website in German data centers.

The purposes described constitute a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Recipients / categories of recipients

Hetzner Online GmbH as hosting service provider.

Transfer to third countries

A transfer to third countries does not take place; processing occurs within Germany or the EU.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), is used on our website and in our service. The use includes the “Universal Analytics” operating mode. This makes it possible to assign data, sessions, and interactions across multiple devices to a pseudonymous user ID and thus analyze a user’s activities across devices.

Google Analytics uses so-called “cookies”, text files that are stored on your computer and that enable an analysis of your use of the website and our service. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website and the service is usually transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the USA. However, in the event that IP anonymization is activated, your IP address will first be truncated by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. We would like to point out that on this website and in our service, Google Analytics has been extended with IP anonymization to ensure anonymized collection of IP addresses (so-called IP masking). The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics is not merged with other Google data. Further information on terms of use and data protection can be found at Terms of Use of Google Analytics or at Google’s Privacy Policy.

As an extension of Google Analytics, this website also uses the Google Signals service. With Google Signals, cross-device reports on website usage can be created by Google. If you have activated “personalized ads” in your Google account, Google can analyze user behavior across devices, with the corresponding consent to the use of Google Analytics in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (see above). In this process, we do not receive any personal data from Google, but only statistics created on the basis of Google Signals. You have the option of deactivating the “personalized ads” function in the settings of your Google account and thus disabling cross-device analysis. See: Google’s settings for personalized ads

Further information can be found here: Information on Google Signals

Purposes of processing

On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website and the service, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide Echometer with other services relating to website usage, service usage, and internet usage.

The use of Google Analytics is for the purposes of economic optimization and a user-oriented design of our website. This constitutes a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR. In addition, we have concluded a data processing agreement with Google and fully implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities in the use of Google Analytics.

Recipients / categories of recipients

The recipient of the collected data is Google.

Transfer to third countries

The personal data are transferred to the USA under the EU-US Privacy Shield on the basis of the European Commission’s adequacy decision. You can view the certificate here retrieve it.

Duration of data storage

The data sent by us and linked with cookies, user identifiers (e.g. user ID) or advertising IDs are automatically deleted after 14 months. The deletion of data whose retention period has been reached takes place automatically once a month.

Data subject rights

You can prevent the effect of the use of Google Analytics at any time with future effect by preventing the storage of cookies through a corresponding setting in your browser software; however, please note that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of this website or the service to their full extent.

In addition, you can prevent the collection by Google of the data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website and the service (including your IP address) as well as the processing of this data by Google by using the Browser add-on download and install. Opt-out cookies prevent the future collection of your data when you visit our website. To prevent collection by Universal Analytics across different devices, you must perform the opt-out on all systems used.

Google Tag Manager

When you access our website, the Google Tag Manager is loaded as a service of Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”) for the management of website tags. The Tag Manager makes it easier for us to integrate and manage our tags. Tags are small code elements used, among other things, to measure traffic and visitor behavior, to track the impact of online advertising and social channels, to set up remarketing and audience targeting, and to test and optimize websites.

The Google Tag Manager tool, which implements the tags, is a cookie-less domain and does not itself collect any personal data. Google Tag Manager triggers other tags, which in turn may collect data under certain circumstances. However, Google Tag Manager does not access this data. If deactivation has been carried out at domain or cookie level, it remains in effect for all tracking tags implemented with Google Tag Manager.

The use of Google Tag Manager is for the purpose of managing website tags and measuring application inquiries as well as contact inquiries. This constitutes a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR. Data transfer to the USA takes place in accordance with Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1250 (EU-U.S. Privacy Shield).

Further information on Google Tag Manager can be found at Frequently asked questions about Google Tag Manager. More information can be found in the Google’s Privacy Policy.

HubSpot

We use the inbound marketing tool “HubSpot” on our website, provided by HubSpot Inc., 25 First Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge, MA 02141 United States. HubSpot is a web-based all-in-one marketing software used to implement and manage inbound marketing. It helps us arouse your interest in our products. A personal contact within HubSpot is created as soon as an anonymous website visitor fills out a HubSpot form. At that moment, a contact is created based on your email address.

Purposes of processing

The use of HubSpot is for the purposes of personalizing advertising outreach and for market research purposes.

The purposes described constitute a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Recipients / categories of recipients

The recipient of the data collected is HubSpot.

Transfer to third countries

The personal data are transferred to the USA under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. You can access the certificate here . In addition, we have concluded a data processing agreement with HubSpot and implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities when using HubSpot.

Further information can be found in the HubSpot’s Privacy Policy.

Facebook Ads – Custom Audiences

We use the remarketing function “Custom Audiences” of Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”). With Custom Audiences, we can target users of our website with advertising by serving them personalized and interest-based Facebook ads (Information on Facebook ads) when they visit the social network Facebook.

We use Facebook Custom Audiences in the “Facebook Custom Audiences from Website” variant (Facebook Pixel). An invisible pixel is integrated on our website. If a potential customer views certain products on our website, this invisible pixel forwards the data to Facebook. The next time the potential customer logs in to Facebook, they receive targeted advertising for the product they previously viewed but may not have purchased, thanks to the integration of the pixel.

The processing of this personal data is carried out for the purposes of optimizing our offerings and personalized advertising. These also constitute our legitimate interests, which is why the processing is permissible under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The data transfer to the USA is carried out in accordance with Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1250 (EU-U.S. Privacy Shield). If you do not want Facebook to directly assign the collected information to your Facebook user account, you can deactivate the remarketing function “Custom Audiences” in the settings of your Facebook user account. To do so, you must be logged in to Facebook.

More detailed information on the collection and use of data by Facebook, your rights in this regard, and options for protecting your privacy can be found in the Facebook’s Privacy Policy.

LinkedIn Insight Tag

We use a service (“LinkedIn Conversion Tracking”) on our website provided by LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland (“LinkedIn”). For this purpose, the LinkedIn “Insight Tag” is used to support the service.

With LinkedIn Conversion Tracking, we can measure the effectiveness of our advertising. Each time one of our pages containing LinkedIn functions is accessed, a connection is established to LinkedIn’s servers. LinkedIn is informed that you have visited our website. At the same time, LinkedIn may place cookies on your device or read them, provided you have not prohibited the use of cookies in your browser. With the help of the LinkedIn Insight Tag, we can in particular analyze the success of our campaigns within LinkedIn or determine target audiences for these campaigns based on users’ interactions with our online offering. If you are registered with LinkedIn, LinkedIn is able to assign your interaction with our online offering to your user account.

The LinkedIn Insight Tag enables the collection of data about visits by members to our website, including referrer URL, IP address, device and browser characteristics, time, and page views. This data is deleted within seven days.

LinkedIn does not pass the personal data on to us, but only provides aggregated reports on the website audience and ad performance.

The data processing serves to display personalized advertising and allows us to evaluate the use of our website. This is a legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

You can prevent cookies from being stored and read by making the appropriate settings in your browser software. You can also prevent LinkedIn from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website, as well as from processing this data, by setting an opt-out cookie that prevents future collection of your data when you visit this website. To do so, click this link: Opt-out for LinkedIn retargeting

Further information on this can be found in the LinkedIn’s Privacy Policy.

PostHog

We use the product analytics tool “PostHog” in our app, which is provided by:

PostHog Inc, 2261 Market Street #4008, San Francisco, CA 94114

Data Protection Officer: Charles Cook (VP Operations), [email protected]

PostHog is a product development and analytics platform that makes it possible to roll out new features sequentially as part of release management, ensure their stability, and analyze their usage. To analyze usage behavior, so-called session replays are created without tracking users’ inputs. In addition, data is processed for support and analytics purposes.

Purposes of processing

The use of PostHog is for the purpose of improving the website and analyzing website usage.

The purposes described constitute a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Recipients / categories of recipients

The recipient of the collected data is PostHog Inc., whereby Echometer uses EU hosting exclusively.

Transfer to third countries

No transfer to third countries takes place.

Resend

For the technical delivery of confirmation emails and newsletters, we use Resend, a service provided by Plus Five Five, Inc., 2261 Market Street #5039, San Francisco, CA 94114, USA.

Purposes of processing

Resend processes, in particular, recipient addresses, email content, and technical delivery information for sending our confirmation emails and newsletters.

Newsletter delivery is based on your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. Resend is used as a processor pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR.

Recipients / categories of recipients

The recipient of the personal data required for delivery is Plus Five Five, Inc. (Resend) as a processor.

Transfer to third countries

In doing so, personal data is transferred to the USA. The transfer is safeguarded by the EU Standard Contractual Clauses contained in the data processing agreement.

Further information can be found in the Resend privacy policy and in the Resend data processing agreement.

Google Workspace (Gmail)

For receiving, storing, and responding to contact inquiries by email, we use Gmail as part of Google Workspace. The provider is Google Cloud EMEA Limited, 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Purposes and data processed

Google processes, in particular, names, email addresses, message content, any attachments sent, as well as technical communication and delivery information for providing our email communication. This also includes inquiries that you submit via our contact form.

The legal bases for handling your request are described in the section “Contact form”. Google is used as a processor pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR for processing communication content.

Transfer to third countries

When providing Google Workspace, processing may take place outside the European Economic Area, in particular in the USA. For transfers not covered by an adequacy decision, Google’s data processing terms provide, in particular, EU Standard Contractual Clauses as appropriate safeguards.

Further information can be found in the Data processing terms for Google Workspace and the Privacy and security information for Google Workspace.

Notion

For internal task and ticket management when handling contact inquiries, we use Notion, a service provided by Notion Labs, Inc., 685 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA.

Purposes and data processed

In Notion, we process contact data, the content of your inquiry, as well as information about the processing status and further communication in order to internally assign, document, and track inquiries. This also includes inquiries that you submit via our contact form.

The legal bases for processing your request are described in the section “Contact form”. Notion is used as a processor for this data pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR.

Transfer to third countries

When using Notion, personal data may be processed outside the European Economic Area, in particular in the USA. For transfers that are not covered by an adequacy decision, Notion’s data processing agreement contains, in particular, EU Standard Contractual Clauses as appropriate safeguards.

Further information can be found in the privacy policy of Notion and in the data processing agreement of Notion.

Microsoft Clarity

This website uses Clarity. The provider is Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited, One Microsoft Place, South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland, Documentation of Microsoft Clarity (hereinafter “Clarity”).

Clarity is a tool for analyzing user behavior on this website. In particular, Clarity records mouse movements and creates a graphical representation of which parts of the website users scroll to most frequently (heatmaps). Clarity can also record sessions, allowing us to view site usage in the form of videos. In addition, we receive information about general user behavior within our website.

Clarity uses technologies that enable recognition of the user for the purpose of analyzing user behavior (e.g., cookies or the use of device fingerprinting). Your personal data is stored on Microsoft’s servers (Microsoft Azure Cloud Service) in the USA.

Purposes of processing

Analysis of user behavior on our website (heatmaps, session recordings) to improve usability and user experience.

Where consent has been obtained, the use of the above-mentioned service is based exclusively on Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 TDDDG. Consent can be withdrawn at any time. Where no consent has been obtained, the use of this service is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; the website operator has a legitimate interest in effective user analysis.

Recipients / categories of recipients

Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited as the provider of the service; storage is carried out via the Microsoft Azure Cloud Service.

Transfer to third countries

Your personal data is stored on Microsoft servers in the USA.

Further information

Further details on Clarity’s privacy policy can be found here: Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Clarity.

Google reCAPTCHA

We use “Google reCAPTCHA” for our contact form. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, with Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, as a subprocessors.

With reCAPTCHA, we check whether data entered in the contact form (e.g. in text fields) is made by a natural person. To do this, the service automatically analyzes various pieces of information (e.g. IP address, time spent on page, mouse movements) as soon as the contact form is opened, and transmits this data to Google.

Purposes of processing

Protection of the contact form against abusive, automated use (bots/spam) and ensuring the availability of our systems.

Legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Recipients / categories of recipients

Google Ireland Limited as the provider; Google LLC (USA) as subprocessors.

Transfer to third countries

Personal data may be transferred to the USA; Google relies on EU Standard Contractual Clauses for this purpose.

Duration of data storage

Google stores the data collected through reCAPTCHA in accordance with its own deletion periods. Further information can be found in the Google’s Privacy Policy as well as in the Google’s Terms of Use.