Data protection information for the website

In the following, we would like to inform you (pursuant to Art. 12 et seq. DSGVO) which personal data (hereinafter also referred to as "data") we collect in the course of providing the website, its contents and functions and for which purposes we process this data.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROCESSING OF YOUR DATA?

Dohse Aquaristik GmbH & Co. KG
Otto-Hahn-Str. 9
53501 Grafschaft - Gelsdorf
Germany

Authorised representative: Axel Pinders
E-mail address: info@dohse-aquaristik.de

For further information on the company, as well as other contact options, please refer to our imprint: https://www.dohse-aquaristik.de/impressum

WHAT DATA OF YOURS DO WE PROCESS?

We process different types of data as part of our website:
- Inventory/master data (e.g. name, address)
- Content data (e.g. messages sent, text input)
- Contact data (e.g. e-mail address, telephone number)
- Communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses)
- Usage data (e.g. sub-pages visited, search terms, areas of interest, access duration/times)

We process this data from different categories of data subjects:
- Interested parties and users (e.g. visitors to the website)
- Employees (e.g. salaried employees, job applicants)
- Business partners (e.g. interested parties, customers, suppliers)
- Communication partners

WHY AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE DO WE PROCESS THIS DATA?

Through our website, we have the opportunity to provide visitors with information about our company, products and services. This provision of information is based on legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO).

If we receive data from you, we will only process this data for the purposes for which we received or collected it.

Data processing for other purposes can only be considered if the necessary legal requirements pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 4 DSGVO exist. In this case, we will of course comply with any information obligations pursuant to Art. 13 (3) DSGVO and Art. 14 (4) DSGVO.

We process this data for the following purposes:
- Provision of the website, its functions and contents
- Replying to enquiries and communication
- Security measures
- Reach measurement, marketing and direct marketing
- Fulfilment of (pre-)contractual obligations, performance and service

A SPECIAL NOTE: PROVISION OF THE WEBSITE AND WEB HOSTING

We use a web hosting service provider to provide our online service securely and efficiently. We rely on its infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space, databases and technical maintenance and security services.

By simply using our website, a number of data are automatically collected by the systems as part of the web hosting. This data is technically necessary to ensure the stability and security of the systems. The processing is carried out on the legal basis of legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO).
This data (in the context of access/log files) may include: IP address, date/time of the request, content of the requested page, transmitted content, transmitted data volume, referring website, browser, operating system, language, etc. This collected data is automatically deleted or anonymised after one week.

In order to further protect the user's data, we use additional security measures such as IP address truncation or SSL encryption of the website.

Using web hosting providers:
Host Europe
Provider: Host Europe GmbH, Hansestrasse 111, 51149 Köln, Germany
Website: https://www.hosteurope.de
Privacy statement: https://www.hosteurope.de/AGB/Datenschutzerklaerung/

A SPECIAL NOTE: COOKIES

Cookies are small text files that are automatically stored on your computer by your browser. They make it possible to analyse your use of the website, but also to allocate the content you have requested.

There are two different types of cookies.
Temporary cookies (e.g. session cookies) are automatically deleted by your browser as soon as you have left the website or, depending on the settings, when you have closed your browser. These cookies are necessary for the proper use of the website.

Permanent cookies remain active in the memory until you actively log out or a predefined duration has been exceeded. You can also actively delete these cookies at any time in the security settings of your browser. These cookies can store the interests of users or be used for reach measurement or marketing purposes.

Furthermore, there are essential cookies, which are necessary for the operation of the website's functionality.

This website only uses temporary cookies that are necessary for the operation of the website. As these are essential for the use of the online offer, their processing is based on the legal basis of legitimate interest (Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO).

A SPECIAL NOTE: NEWSLETTER

We send out a newsletter at regular intervals to keep our subscribers up to date on news and new products and services.

Subscription to our newsletter is generally carried out using the so-called double opt-in procedure. After you have registered for the newsletter with your e-mail address in the corresponding form on our website, you will receive an e-mail with a confirmation link. When you confirm your subscription to the newsletter by clicking on the link, the registration process is complete. In order to document the legal requirements of proof of this double opt-in (in German: twice consent), our newsletter service provider logs your IP address and the time of consent. For the purpose of permanent objection to receiving the newsletter, your e-mail address is stored in a blacklist. The logging of the proper course of the subscription/unsubscription process takes place on the legal basis of legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO).

The sending of the newsletter is again based on the legal basis of consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). This consent can be revoked at any time. To do so, simply click on the corresponding unsubscribe link in the footer of each newsletter or contact us by e-mail at Sending the newsletter is again based on the legal basis of consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). This consent can be revoked at any time. To do so, simply click on the corresponding unsubscribe link in the footer of each newsletter or contact us by e-mail at info@dohse-aquaristik.de - we will then be happy to help you further.

We can also analyse the success of our newsletter campaign through our newsletter service provider. Newsletters contain so-called web beacons - very small transparent images that are loaded from the newsletter provider's server when the newsletter is viewed and thus indicate that the email has been opened. When this web beacon is called up, technical information and information about your browser and computer system, as well as its IP address and the time of the call-up, are collected. Furthermore, we collect information about which links were clicked. This information can be assigned to the user for technical reasons, but it is not our aim to track the user. We only want to use the analysis to make our content better and more interesting for you.

Using newsletter providers:
Newsletter2go
Provider:Sendinblue GmbH,Köpenicker Straße 126,10179 Berlin
Website: https://de.sendinblue.com/
Privacy Statement: https://de.sendinblue.com/legal/privacypolicy/

A SPECIAL NOTE: CONTACT FORM

If you wish to send us an enquiry via the contact form, the data you provide (including your e-mail address, your name and your request) will be stored and transmitted to us. This processing of your request is based on the legal basis of the fulfilment of pre-contractual measures (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO) and furthermore on the legitimate interest in answering your request (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO).

We will not pass on the data received from you to third parties without your prior consent. We delete the data accruing in this context after storage is no longer necessary (e.g. when the enquiry has been completed), or restrict processing if there are legal obligations to retain data.

We will not pass on the data received from you to third parties without your prior consent.

A SPECIAL NOTE: CHAT ASSISTANT “DR. DOHSY”

On our website you can ask our AI-based chat assistant “Dr. Dohsy” questions about our products. Using it is voluntary. The chat only becomes active when you open the chat window.

What data is processed: We process the text you enter in the chat. Before your message is sent, the website automatically removes e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and bank account numbers (IBAN). Names or addresses cannot always be detected reliably. Please therefore do not enter any personal details in the chat. For personal matters (e.g. complaints), please contact our customer service directly.

AI service: To answer your question, our server sends it together with matching product information to an AI service, which writes the answer. Neither your IP address nor cookies or other identifiers are transmitted to the AI service. The answers are generated automatically and may contain errors.

Anonymised chat log: To detect wrong answers and improve the assistant, we store the chat histories in anonymised form for 30 days: your question (after the automatic removal of the details named above), the answer, time, language and technical counters. We do not store an IP address, cookies or a user ID. Each conversation only receives a random number that has no connection to you. After 30 days, the entries are deleted automatically.

Protection against misuse: To prevent overload and misuse of the chat, the number of requests per connection is limited. For this purpose, your IP address is kept in encrypted form (as a non-reversible hash value) in our server's temporary cache for at most 24 hours and is not stored in a database or in logs.

Storage in your browser: The chat does not set any cookies. Only after you have sent your first message is the conversation stored in your browser's session storage (sessionStorage), so that it is kept when you move between our pages. This storage is deleted as soon as you close the browser window or tab, or immediately via the “New conversation” button.

Legal basis: The processing is based on our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) in answering your product questions quickly, improving the assistant and protecting it against misuse. Storage in your browser's session storage is strictly necessary for the chat you have requested (Section 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG).

AI service used:
Claude
Provider: Anthropic, PBC, 548 Market Street, PMB 90375, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA
Website: https://www.anthropic.com
Privacy policy: https://www.anthropic.com/legal/privacy
Basis for transfer to a third country: Standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR)
The provider does not use the transmitted content to train AI models.

A SPECIAL NOTE: EMBEDDED FUNCTIONS AND CONTENT

We always strive to make the content of our website interesting and useful for you. To this end, we integrate functional and content elements from other providers ("third-party providers"). These may be maps, fonts, videos, graphics or other interactive content.

The integration of such content requires that the third-party provider receives your IP address. Without this, the third-party provider cannot display/transmit the content to you. When you call up the content, the respective provider may set cookies in order to evaluate visitor traffic on the pages you visit. Furthermore, data such as location data, duration of visit, referring pages, information on the operating system and browser may be processed.

We use the content of these third-party providers based on the legal basis of legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO).

Installed providers:
Google Maps
Anbieter: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland
Mutterunternehmen: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
Webseite: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform
Datenschutzerklärung: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Widerspruch (Opt-Out): https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de
Einstellungen für die Darstellung von Werbeeinblendungen: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

YouTube-Videos
Anbieter: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland
Mutterunternehmen: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
Webseite: https://www.youtube.com
Datenschutzerklärung: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Widersprüche (Opt-Out): https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de
Einstellungen für die Darstellung von Werbeeinblendungen: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

ON WHAT LEGAL BASIS IS THE DATA PROCESSED?

The legal basis for the processing of personal data is in principle – unless there are specific legal provisions – Art. 6 DSGVO. In particular, the following possibilities come into consideration:

- Data processing on the basis of a balance of interests (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO)

If personal data is processed on the basis of your consent, you have the right to revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future.

If we process data on the basis of a balance of interests, you as the data subject have the right to object to the processing of the personal data, taking into account the provisions of Art. 21 of the GDPR.

HOW LONG IS THE DATA STORED?

We process the data as long as it is necessary for the respective purpose.

If there are legal obligations to retain data – e.g. in commercial law or tax law – the personal data in question will be stored for the duration of the retention obligation. After expiry of the retention obligation, an assessment is made as to whether there is a further need for processing. If there is no longer a need, the data will be deleted.

At the end of a calendar year, we generally check the data with regard to the need for further processing. Due to the volume of data, this review is carried out with regard to specific types of data or purposes of processing. You may at any time (see "Your rights as a data subject") request information about the data we have stored about you and, if it is not necessary, also request the deletion of the data or the restriction of processing.

TO WHICH RECIPIENTS IS THE DATA PASSED ON?

In principle, your personal data will only be passed on to third parties if this is necessary for the performance of the contract with you, if the transfer is permissible on the basis of a balance of interests within the meaning of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f DSGVO, if we are legally obliged to pass on the data or if you have given your consent in this respect. In the run-up to a possible transfer of your data, we ensure that the protection of your data is also guaranteed for the third party.

WHERE IS YOUR DATA PROCESSED?

Unless otherwise stated in the individual functions, your personal data is processed by us in data centres in the Federal Republic of Germany, the European Union or the European Economic Area.

We have no influence on where your data is processed by the newsletter or provider of embedded content. For further details, please consult their data protection notices.

Requests to our chat assistant are transmitted to the AI service Anthropic in the USA to be answered (see “Chat assistant”).

YOUR RIGHTS AS A “DATA SUBJECT”

You have the right to obtain information about the personal data we process about you.

If you wish to obtain information about your personal data, please contact us.

If you make a request for information that is not in writing, please understand that we may require you to provide evidence that you are the person you claim to be.

When requesting information, we would like to point out that we do not have access to the metadata that is or was processed by the newsletter service provider or the provider of embedded content. Therefore, we cannot provide you with any information on this. Only the respective provider itself has access to the data stored about its users in order to provide information and only this provider has access to take appropriate measures if necessary. However, if you need help, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You also have a right to rectification or erasure or to restriction of processing, insofar as you are entitled to this by law.

Furthermore, you have the right to object to processing within the scope of the law. The same applies to the right to data portability.

In particular, you have the right to object to the processing of your data in connection with direct marketing in accordance with Art. 21 (1) and (2) of the GDPR, if this is carried out on the basis of a balance of interests.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority about our processing of your personal data. You can find an overview of the data protection commissioners of the countries, as well as their contact details, at the following link: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html

HOW TO CONTACT OUR DATA PROTECTION OFFICER

We have appointed a data protection officer for our company
You can contact this officer as follows:

Dohse Aquaristik GmbH & Co. KG
- Data Protection Officer -
Otto-Hahn-Str. 9
53501 Grafschaft - Gelsdorf
Germany
E-mail: datenschutz@dohse-aquaristik.de

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We make every effort to update this privacy statement regularly and to keep it up to date. It is therefore possible that the contents of this declaration may change. Please inform yourself regularly about the current status of our data protection information.

In the event that we process your data on the basis of consent, we will automatically inform you of any changes to our data protection statement.

Date: 29 October 2026