Data Protection Policy | HPS Consulting

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 this website. Personal data means any data by which you can be personally identified. For detailed information on the subject of data protection, please refer to our Privacy Policy set out below this text.

Data Collection on This Website

Who is responsible for data collection on this website?
Data processing on this website is carried out by the website operator. You can find the operator’s contact details in the section “Information on the Controller” in this Privacy Policy.

How do we collect your data?
On the one hand, your data is collected when you provide it to us. This may, for example, be data that you enter into a contact form.

Other data is collected automatically by our IT systems, either automatically or after your consent, when you visit the website. This primarily includes technical data (e.g. internet browser, operating system, or time of page access). Such data is collected automatically as soon as you enter this website.

What do we use your data for?
Some of the data is collected to ensure that the website is provided without errors. Other data may be used to analyse your user behaviour.

What rights do you have regarding your data?
You have the right at any time to obtain, free of charge, information about the origin, recipients and purpose of your stored personal data. You also have the right to request the rectification or erasure of such data. If you have given consent to data processing, you may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future. Furthermore, under certain circumstances, you have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

You may contact us at any time regarding this and any other questions on the subject of data protection.

Analytics Tools and Third-Party Tools

When visiting this website, your browsing behaviour may be statistically analysed. This is done primarily using so-called analytics programs.

Detailed information on these analytics programs can be found in the following Privacy Policy.

2. Hosting and Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

External Hosting

This website is hosted by an external service provider (host). The personal data collected on this website is stored on the host’s servers. This may include, in particular, IP addresses, contact requests, metadata and communication data, contract data, contact details, names, website access data, and other data generated via a website.

The host is used for the purpose of performing the contract with our prospective and existing customers (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and in the interest of a secure, fast and efficient provision of our online offering by a professional provider (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Our host will process your data only to the extent necessary to fulfil its service obligations and will follow our instructions with regard to such data.

We use the following host:

Hetzner Online GmbH
Industriestr. 25
91710 Gunzenhausen
Germany

Conclusion of a Data Processing Agreement
In order to ensure data protection-compliant processing, we have concluded a data processing agreement with our host.

3. General Information and Mandatory Information

Data Protection

The operators of these pages take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data confidentially and in accordance with the statutory data protection provisions and this Privacy Policy.

When you use this website, various personal data is collected. Personal data means data by which you can be personally identified. This Privacy Policy explains which data we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this is done.

Please note that data transmission over the internet (e.g. when communicating by email) may have security gaps. Complete protection of data against access by third parties is not possible.

Information on the Controller

The controller responsible for data processing on this website is:

HPS Steuerberatungsgesellschaft PartGmbB
Schillerstraße 16
32052 Herford
Germany

Phone: +49 5221 1053 0
Email: [info@hps-consulting.de](mailto:info@hps-consulting.de)

The controller is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data (e.g. names, email addresses, etc.).

Storage Period

Unless a more specific storage period is stated in this Privacy Policy, your personal data will remain with us until the purpose for data processing no longer applies. If you assert a legitimate request for erasure or revoke your consent to data processing, your data will be deleted unless we have other legally permissible grounds for storing your personal data (e.g. retention periods under tax or commercial law); in the latter case, deletion will take place once those grounds cease to apply.

Statutory Data Protection Officer

We have appointed a data protection officer for our company.

Viktor Berch
Certified Data Protection Officer (TÜV Nord)
c/o dcs digital consulting & solutions GmbH
Schillerstraße 16
D-32052 Herford

Phone: +49 5221 76369 0
Email: [datenschutz@hps-it.de](mailto:datenschutz@hps-it.de)

Information on Data Transfers to the United States and Other Third Countries

Our website includes, among other things, tools provided by companies based in the United States or other third countries that are not considered secure under data protection law. If these tools are active, your personal data may be transferred to and processed in such third countries. We would like to point out that no level of data protection comparable to that in the EU can be guaranteed in these countries. For example, US companies are obliged to disclose personal data to security authorities without you, as the data subject, being able to take legal action against this in court. It therefore cannot be ruled out that US authorities (e.g. intelligence agencies) process, analyse and permanently store your data located on US servers for surveillance purposes. We have no influence on these processing activities.

Revocation of Your Consent to Data Processing

Many data processing operations are only possible with your express consent. You may revoke any consent already given at any time. The lawfulness of the data processing carried out before the revocation remains unaffected by the revocation.

Right to Object to Data Collection in Special Cases and to Direct Marketing (Art. 21 GDPR)

IF DATA PROCESSING IS BASED ON ART. 6(1)(E) OR (F) GDPR, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT AT ANY TIME TO OBJECT, ON GROUNDS RELATING TO YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA; THIS ALSO APPLIES TO ANY PROFILING BASED ON THOSE PROVISIONS. THE RESPECTIVE LEGAL BASIS ON WHICH ANY PROCESSING IS BASED CAN BE FOUND IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU OBJECT, WE WILL NO LONGER PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA CONCERNED UNLESS WE CAN DEMONSTRATE COMPELLING LEGITIMATE GROUNDS FOR THE PROCESSING WHICH OVERRIDE YOUR INTERESTS, RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS, OR THE PROCESSING SERVES THE ESTABLISHMENT, EXERCISE OR DEFENCE OF LEGAL CLAIMS (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21(1) GDPR).

IF YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS PROCESSED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DIRECT MARKETING, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT AT ANY TIME TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA FOR THE PURPOSE OF 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 THEREAFTER NO LONGER BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DIRECT MARKETING (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21(2) GDPR).

Right to Lodge a Complaint with the Competent Supervisory Authority

In the event of infringements of the GDPR, data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of their habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement. The right to lodge a complaint is without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy.

Right to Data Portability

You have the right to receive the data that we process automatically on the basis of your consent or in performance of a contract, in a commonly used, machine-readable format, either for yourself or for transmission to a third party. If you request the direct transfer of the data to another controller, this will only take place insofar as it is technically feasible.

SSL and/or TLS Encryption

For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as orders or inquiries that you send to us as the website operator, this website uses SSL and/or TLS encryption. You can recognise an encrypted connection by the fact that the browser’s address line changes from “http://” to “https://” and by the lock symbol in your browser line.

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

Information, Erasure and Rectification

Within the framework of the applicable statutory provisions, you have the right at any time to obtain, free of charge, information about your stored personal data, its origin and recipients, and the purpose of the data processing and, where applicable, a right to rectification or erasure of such data. You may contact us at any time regarding this and any other questions on the subject of personal data.

Right to Restriction of Processing

You have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data. You may contact us at any time for this purpose. The right to restriction of processing exists in the following cases:

If you contest the accuracy of your personal data stored by us, we will generally need time to verify this. For the duration of the verification, you have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data.
If the processing of your personal data was/is unlawful, you may request restriction of data processing instead of erasure.
If we no longer need your personal data, but you require it for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, you have the right to request restriction of the processing of your personal data instead of erasure.
If you have lodged an objection pursuant to Art. 21(1) GDPR, a balancing of your interests and ours must be carried out. As long as it has not yet been determined whose interests prevail, you have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data.

Where you have restricted the processing of your personal data, such data may – apart from being stored – only be processed with your consent or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or for reasons of important public interest of the European Union or of a Member State.

Objection to Promotional Emails

The use of contact data published within the scope of the legal notice obligation for the sending of advertising and information material not expressly requested is hereby objected to. The operators of the pages expressly reserve the right to take legal action in the event of the unsolicited sending of promotional information, for example by spam emails.

4. Data Collection on This Website

Cookies

Our websites use so-called “cookies.” Cookies are small text files and do not cause any damage to your end device. They are stored either temporarily for the duration of a session (session cookies) or permanently (permanent cookies) on your end device. Session cookies are automatically deleted after the end of your visit. Permanent cookies remain stored on your end device until you delete them yourself or until they are automatically deleted by your web browser.

In some cases, cookies from third-party companies may also be stored on your end device when you enter our site (third-party cookies). These enable us or you to use certain services of the third-party company (e.g. cookies for processing payment services).

Cookies have various functions. Numerous cookies are technically necessary, since certain website functions would not work without them (e.g. the shopping cart function or the display of videos). Other cookies are used to evaluate user behaviour or to display advertising.

Cookies that are necessary for carrying out the electronic communication process (necessary cookies) or for providing certain functions you have requested (functional cookies, e.g. for the shopping cart function) or for optimising the website (e.g. cookies for measuring the web audience) are stored on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, unless another legal basis is specified. The website operator has a legitimate interest in storing cookies for the technically error-free and optimised provision of its services. Where consent to the storage of cookies has been requested, the relevant cookies are stored exclusively on the basis of that consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR); consent may be revoked at any time.

You can configure your browser so that you are informed about the setting of cookies and allow cookies only in individual cases, exclude the acceptance of cookies for certain cases or in general, and activate automatic deletion of cookies when closing the browser. Deactivating cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Where cookies are used by third-party companies or for analytics purposes, we will inform you separately of this within the scope of this Privacy Policy and, where applicable, request your consent.

Cookie Consent with Borlabs Cookie

Our website uses the cookie consent technology of Borlabs Cookie to obtain your consent to the storage of certain cookies in your browser and to document this in a data protection-compliant manner. The provider of this technology is Borlabs – Benjamin A. Bornschein, Rübenkamp 32, 22305 Hamburg (hereinafter “Borlabs”).

When you enter our website, a Borlabs cookie is stored in your browser in which the consents you have given or the revocation of such consents are stored. This data is not passed on to the provider of Borlabs Cookie.

The collected data is stored until you request us to delete it, delete the Borlabs cookie yourself, or the purpose for data storage no longer applies. Mandatory statutory retention periods remain unaffected. Details on data processing by Borlabs Cookie can be found at [https://de.borlabs.io/kb/welche-daten-speichert-borlabs-cookie/](https://de.borlabs.io/kb/welche-daten-speichert-borlabs-cookie/).

The use of the Borlabs cookie consent technology takes place in order to obtain the legally required consents for the use of cookies. The legal basis for this is Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR.

Server Log Files

The provider of the pages automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files which your browser automatically transmits to us. These are:

Browser type and browser version
Operating system used
Referrer URL
Hostname of the accessing computer
Time of the server request
IP address
This data is not merged with other data sources.

This data is collected on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the technically error-free presentation and optimisation of its website – for this purpose, the server log files must be collected.

Contact Form

If you send us inquiries via contact form, your details from the inquiry form, including the contact data you provide there, will be stored by us for the purpose of processing the inquiry and in the event of follow-up questions. We do not pass on this data without your consent.

This data is processed on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR if your inquiry is related to the performance of a contract or is necessary for carrying out pre-contractual measures. In all other cases, processing is based on our legitimate interest in the effective handling of the inquiries addressed to us (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) or on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), if this has been requested.

The data you enter into the contact form remains with us until you request its deletion, revoke your consent to storage, or the purpose for data storage no longer applies. Mandatory statutory provisions – in particular retention periods – remain unaffected.

Inquiry by Email, Telephone or Fax

If you contact us by email, telephone or fax, your inquiry, including all personal data resulting from it (name, inquiry), will be stored and processed by us for the purpose of handling your request. We do not pass on this data without your consent.

The data sent by you to us via contact inquiries remains with us until you request its deletion, revoke your consent to storage, or the purpose for data storage no longer applies. Mandatory statutory provisions – in particular statutory retention periods – remain unaffected.

5. Analytics Tools and Advertising

Google Tag Manager

We use Google Tag Manager. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

The Google Tag Manager is a tool that allows us to integrate tracking or statistical tools and other technologies into our website. The Google Tag Manager itself does not create user profiles, store cookies or perform any independent analyses. It serves solely to manage and deploy the tools integrated through it. However, the Google Tag Manager does collect your IP address, which may also be transferred to Google’s parent company in the United States.

The use of the Google Tag Manager is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the fast and uncomplicated integration and management of various tools on its website. Where corresponding consent has been requested, processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; consent may be revoked at any time.