Personal data (usually referred to just as "data" below) will only be processed by us to the extent necessary and for the purpose of providing a functional and user-friendly website, including its contents, and the services offered there.

Per Art. 4 No. 1 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, i.e. the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the "GDPR"), "processing" refers to any operation or set of operations such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation, alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, or otherwise making available, alignment, or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction performed on personal data, whether by automated means or not.

The following privacy policy is intended to inform you in particular about the type, scope, purpose, duration, and legal basis for the processing of such data either under our own control or in conjunction with others. We also inform you below about the third-party components we use to optimize our website and improve the user experience which may result in said third parties also processing data they collect and control.

Our privacy policy is structured as follows:

I. Information about us as controllers of your data

II. The rights of users and data subjects

III. Information about the data processing

I. Information about us as controllers of your data

The party responsible for this website (the "controller") for purposes of data protection law is:

Quality First Software GmbH
Bürgermeister-Graf-Ring 10
82538 GERETSRIED
GERMANY

Phone: +49 8171 38648-0
Fax: +49 8171 38648-16
Mail: qfs@remove-this.qfs.de

The controller's data protection officer is:

mgm technology partners
Hartwig Schneider
Taunusstr.23 
D-80807 Munich
GERMANY
E-Mail: hartwig.schneider(at)mgm-tp.com

II. The rights of users and data subjects

With regard to the data processing to be described in more detail below, users and data subjects have the right

  • to confirmation of whether data concerning them is being processed, information about the data being processed, further information about the nature of the data processing, and copies of the data (cf. also Art. 15 GDPR);
  • to correct or complete incorrect or incomplete data (cf. also Art. 16 GDPR);
  • to the immediate deletion of data concerning them (cf. also Art. 17 DSGVO), or, alternatively, if further processing is necessary as stipulated in Art. 17 Para. 3 GDPR, to restrict said processing per Art. 18 GDPR;
  • to receive copies of the data concerning them and/or provided by them and to have the same transmitted to other providers/controllers (cf. also Art. 20 GDPR);
  • to file complaints with the supervisory authority if they believe that data concerning them is being processed by the controller in breach of data protection provisions (see also Art. 77 GDPR).

In addition, the controller is obliged to inform all recipients to whom it discloses data of any such corrections, deletions, or restrictions placed on processing the same per Art. 16, 17 Para. 1, 18 GDPR. However, this obligation does not apply if such notification is impossible or involves a disproportionate effort. Nevertheless, users have a right to information about these recipients.

Likewise, under Art. 21 GDPR, users and data subjects have the right to object ("Optout")to the controller's future processing of their data pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. In particular, an objection to data processing for the purpose of direct advertising is permissible.

III. Information about the data processing

Your data processed when using our website will be deleted or blocked as soon as the purpose for its storage ceases to apply, provided the deletion of the same is not in breach of any statutory storage obligations or unless otherwise stipulated below.

Server Data

For technical reasons, the following data sent by your internet browser to us or to our server provider will be collected, especially to ensure a secure and stable website: These server log files record the type and version of your browser, operating system, the website from which you came (referrer URL), the webpages on our site visited, the date and time of your visit, the IP address from which you visited our site, as well as the transferred amount of data and the requesting provider.

The data thus collected will be temporarily stored, but not in association with any other of your data.

The basis for this storage is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the improvement, stability, functionality, and security of our website.

The data will be deleted within no more than seven days, unless continued storage is required for evidentiary purposes. In which case, all or part of the data will be excluded from deletion until the investigation of the relevant incident is finally resolved.

Cookies

a) Functional cookies

We use so-called cookies on our website. Cookies are small text files or other storage technologies that are installed on your terminal by the Internet browser you use and stored there. These cookies are used to process certain information concerning you on individual scale, for example information about your browser or location, or your IP-address.

This processing of information makes our website more user-friendly, more effective and more secure because it enables us to display the website in different languages, for example, or to provide a shopping basket function.

The legal basis for this type of processing is Article 6(1) point b) of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), provided that this cookie-data is processed for the purpose of initiating or executing a contract.

If the processing does not serve the purpose of contract initiation or contract execution, our legitimate interest then lies in the improvement of the functionality of our website. In this case, the legal basis is Article 6(1) point f) of the GDPR.

These session cookies are deleted when you close your Internet browser.

 

NameProviderLifetimeType
cookie_consentMatomo12 monthsHTTP
distribution_http2push-SessionHTTP

www.matomo.org

 

b) Performance and statistics cookies

If necessary, our website also uses cookies which are meant for advertising and analysis purposes or for the functionality of our website.

More details on this, and particularly on the purposes and legal bases of the processing with such third-party-cookies, are highlighted here below.

 

NameProviderLifetimeTypeDescription
_pk_idMatomo12 monthsHTTP

This cookie contains a unique, pseudonymized visitor ID internal to Matomo for recognizing returning visitors.

_pk_refMatomo6 monthsHTTP

This cookie is used to track from which website the anonymized user proceeded to our website.

_pk_sesMatomo1 dayHTTP

The Matomo session cookie is used to track the visitor's page requests during the session.

_pk_testcookieMatomoSessionHTTP

This cookie is created and should be then directly deleted (used to check whether the visitor’s browser supports cookies).

_pk_cvarMatomo30 MinHTTP

Short lived cookies used to temporarily store data for the visit.

_pk_hsrMatomo30 MinHTTP

Short lived cookies used to temporarily store data for the visit.

www.matomo.org

You can change or revoke your consent any time via the cookie banner on our website.

c) Possibility of deletion

You can prevent or restrict the installation of cookies by adjusting the settings of your Internet browser. You can also delete cookies already stored on your device any time. The necessary steps and measures to take in this regard, however, depend on the particular Internet browser you use. Therefore, in case of any questions, please use the ‘Help’ function or the documentation of your Internet browser, or consult the browser manufacturer or their support desk.

Should you prevent or restrict the installation of cookies, this may, however, make it impossible for you to fully use all of the functions of our website.

Matomo

Our website uses Matomo (formerly: “PIWIK”). This is an Open-Source-Software which enables us to analyse the use of our website. In this process we analyse your IP-address, the web page(s) of our website visited by you, the webpage from which you were directed to our website (Referrer URL), the duration of your stay on our website, as well as the frequency of access of any of our web pages.

To collect this data, Matomo will store a cookie on your device via your Internet browser. See ‘Cookies’.

We use Matomo to analyse user behaviour on our website, provided you have given us your consent to that effect by agreeing to the use of the relevant Matomo cookies (Performance and statistics cookies) via ourcookie banner. The legal basis for the processing of your personal data for this particular purpose is Article 6(1) point a) of the GDPR.

You can revoke your consent to the use of the relevant cookies any time with future effect in accordance with Article 7(3) of the GDPR. To do this, you simply need to inform us of your revocation by editing your consent in thecookie banneraccordingly.

We have taken steps to ensure adequate protection of your data as much as possible. We use Matomo with the anonymisation function "Automatically Anonymise Visitor IPs". This anonymisation function shortens your IP-address by two bytes so that it becomes impossible to assign this IP-address to you or to the Internet connection you are using.

Links to social media via graphics or a text link

We also advertise our presence on the social media networks listed below on our website. The integration takes place via an interlinked graphic of the respective network. By using this interlinked graphic we avoid cases where accessing a given website containing social media adverts leads to automatic establishment of a connection with the respective server of the social media network so as to display a graphic of the respective network itself. Only after clicking on the relevant graphic will the user be redirected to the online service of the respective social media network.

After redirection of the user, information about the user is collected by the respective network. We cannot rule out the fact that some processing of the data collected in this way may take place in the USA.

Initially this involves data like the IP-address, the date, time and the website visited. If, during this process, the user is logged on to his user account on the respective social network, the network operator may, if necessary, assign the information collected during this particular visit by the user to the user’s personal account. If the user interacts with other users via the “Share" button of the respective network the collected information can be stored in the user’s personal account and may in some cases be published. If the user wants to prevent the direct assignment of the collected information to his user account, he must log off before clicking on the graphic. In addition, the user has the possibility of configuring the respective user account accordingly.

The following social media networks are integrated in our website through links:

Facebook

Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2 Irland, subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.

Privacy policy of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php

Privacy policy of Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/155833707900388

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland, a subsidiary of LinkedIn Corporation, 1000 W. Maude Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94085 USA.

Privacy policy: www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

Xing

XING AG, Dammtorstraße 29-32, 20354 Hamburg, Germany.

Privacy policy: https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung

Twitter

Twitter International Unlimited Company, Attn: Data Protection Officer
One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07 IRLAND.

Privacy policy: https://twitter.com/privacy

YouTube/YouTube contents (external media)

We use the platform YouTube.com to submit our own videos and make them publicly accessible. It is a video portal of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, in the following referred to as "YouTube". Google provides further information on the collection and use of data as well as your rights and protection options in this regard in the data protection notices available at https://policies.google.com/privacy. Information on how to adjust individual data protection settings is available at https://www.youtube.com/intl/ALL_de/howyoutubeworks/user-settings/privacy/.

We have integrated YouTube videos into our online offering that are stored on http://www.youtube.com and can be played directly from our website. These are all integrated in "extended data protection mode", which means that no data about you as a user is transmitted to YouTube if you do not play the videos. The use of a two-click solution prevents a connection from being automatically established to the respective server of the third-party provider when you access our website in order to display the external content. You therefore decide for yourself whether the provider collects information about you. Only when you play the videos, the data mentioned in the next paragraph will be transmitted. We have no influence over this data transmission.

By visiting the website, YouTube receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding subpage of our website. This connection is necessary in order to be able to display the respective video on our website via your Internet browser. In the course of this, YouTube will at least record and process your IP address, the date and time as well as the website you visited. If you are logged in to Google/YouTube at the same time, Google/YouTube will assign the connection information to your Google/YouTube account. If you wish to prevent this, you must either log out of Google/YouTube before visiting our website or make the appropriate settings in your Google/YouTube user account. Google/YouTube stores your data as usage profiles and uses them for the purposes of advertising, market research and/or demand-oriented design of its website. Such an evaluation is carried out in particular (even for users who are not logged in) to provide needs-based advertising and to inform other users of the social network about your activities on our website. You have a right to object to the creation of these user profiles, but you must contact YouTube to exercise it.

Recipients of the data are/could be

  • Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
  • Alphabet Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Insofar as data is processed outside the EU/EEA and there is no level of data protection corresponding to the European standard, Google/YouTube uses EU standard contractual clauses to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the EEA to so-called third countries. These are based on the Commission Decision of February 5, 2010 on standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors in third countries under Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and remain a permissible legal mechanism for the transfer of data under the GDPR. A transfer of data to the USA and access by US authorities to the data stored by Google/YouTube cannot be ruled out. The transfer of personal data to the USA may be associated with various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing with regard to the adequacy of the level of protection, as the USA is currently considered a third country from a data protection perspective. You do not have the same rights there as within the EU/EEA. If applicable, you are not entitled to legal remedies against access by authorities.

Further information on this is provided by Google: https://policies.google.com/privacy/frameworks

 

Comment function for blog contributions

We have given you the opportunity to publish comments on blog contributions on our website. If you take up this offer, we shall process and publish your contribution, the date and time of submission and, if necessary, also the pseudonym you used.

The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1) point a) of the GDPR. You can revoke your consent any time with future effect in accordance with Article 7(3) of the GDPR. To do this, you simply need to inform us of your revocation.

The e-mail address you submitted to us is exclusively for the purpose of forwarding to you any complaints concerning your comments in the blog and to request you to respond to those complaints.

In addition, we also process your IP and e-mail address. We process your IP-address because we have a legitimate interest in taking or pushing for further action if your contribution infringes the rights of third parties and/or is otherwise illegal.

In this case, the legal basis is Article 6(1) point f) of the GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the need to possibly provide legal defence.

The data will be erased as soon as it is no longer required for the fulfilment of the intended purpose of its collection. Such is the case, for example, if the respective conversation with you concerning complaints about your comments has been concluded and there are no more issues surrounding any of your comments. Your personal data will be deleted within 7 days in accordance with an objection or revocation issued by you. The deletion of this data will not, however, take place if there is justification or an obligation on our part to continue storing the data based on other legal grounds than your consent or despite your objection.

Follow-up comments

If you make posts on our website, we also offer you the opportunity to subscribe to any subsequent follow-up comments made by third parties. In order to be able to inform you about these follow-up comments, we will need to process your email address.

The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a) GDPR. You may revoke your prior consent to this subscription under Art. 7 Para. 3 GDPR with future effect. All you have to do is inform us that you are revoking your consent or click on the unsubscribe link contained in each email.

Online job applications / publication of job advertisements

We offer you the opportunity to apply for jobs with our company via our website. In the case of these digital applications, we collect your application data electronically in order to process your application.

The legal basis for this processing is § 26 Para. 1 S. 1 BDSG in conjunction with Art. 88 Para. 1 GDPR.

If you are hired as a result of the application process, we will store the data you provide during the application process in your personnel file for the purpose of the usual organizational and administrative process, naturally in compliance with further legal obligations.

The legal basis for this processing is § 26 Para. 1 S. 1 BDSG in conjunction with Art. 88 Para. 1 GDPR.

If we do not hire you, we will automatically delete the data submitted to us two months after the final decision is made. We will not delete the data, however, if we must store the data for legal reasons such as evidence of equal treatment of applicants, until any legal action is concluded, or four months.

In this case, the legal basis is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR and § 24 Para. 1 No. 2 BDSG. Our legitimate interest lies in any legal defense we may have to mount .

If you expressly consent to a longer storage of your data, e.g. for your inclusion in a database of applicants or interested parties, the data will be processed further on the basis of your consent. The legal basis is then Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with future effect per Art. 7 Para. 3 GDPR with future effect.

Newsletter, release notes

If you subscribe to our free newsletter or release notes, the data requested from you for this purpose, that is your e-mail address as well as - optionally - your name and address will be transmitted to us. At the same time we shall store the IP-address of the Internet connection from which you accessed our website as well as the date and time of your subscription. As part of further subscription procedures, we will seek your consent to receive our newsletter; we will also describe the contents more precisely as well as draw your attention to this privacy policy. We will use the data collected in this process exclusively for distributing our newsletter - therefore the data will in particular not be passed on to third parties.

The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1) point a) of the GDPR.

You can revoke your consent to the distribution of our newsletter any time with future effect in accordance with Article 7(3) of the GDPR. To do this, you simply need to inform us of your revocation or click on the ‘Unsubscribe’ link contained in every newsletter.

Offer request form / Test licence request form

When requesting for a test licence and/or the preparation of an offer, we only collect and use your personal data insofar as this is required for the processing of your enquiries. The provision of this data is required so that we can provide you with the test licence and/or prepare an offer for you. If you do not provide the required data, no test licence may be issued or no contract may be concluded.

We secure our website and other systems through technical and organizational measures against loss, destruction, access, modification or distribution of your data by unauthorized persons. To prevent unauthorized access by third parties to your personal data, the ordering process is encrypted using SSL technology.

The legal basis for this type of processing is Article 6(1) point b) of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and it is necessary for the purpose of fullfilling a contract or pre-contractual measures with you.

We will not forward your data to third parties without your explicit consent. This only excludes our service partners which we require in order to handle the contractual relationship or service providers we use to process an order. Along with the recipients named in the clauses of this data protection declaration, these may be recipients in the following categories: Shipping providers, payment service providers, merchandise management service providers, service providers for order processing, web hosts, IT service providers and dropshipping dealers. We will comply strictly with legal requirements in every case. The scope of data transmission is restricted to a minimum.

Support form

QF-Test contains a ‘Help’ function which enables customers to send enquiries to the QF-Test support team directly from the software. If the customer invokes the relevant function from the “Help" menu, the customer’s default browser will be launched and this will in turn launch an encrypted web form from www.qfs.de. All information entered on that form is then sent as an e-mail to support@remove-this.qfs.de.

In addition to the server data, the following data is possibly also transmitted at the time of requesting the information, and this is meant to increase the quality of the technical support and to shorten the processing time:

  • QF-Test version used
  • Operating system used
  • Language version of QF-Test used
  • The name and company of the QF-Test licence used
  • Checksum of the QF-Test licence used

Alternatively, you can contact us using the e-mail address provided. In this case, the user’s personal data transmitted together with the e-mail is stored.

In this connection, no sharing of data with third parties takes place. The data is used exclusively for processing the e-mail conversation.

The legal basis for the processing of data transmitted in the process of sending an e-mail message to us is Article 6 (1) point f) of the GDPR. If the aim of the e-mail contact is to conclude a contract or if the e-mail is sent in connection with an existing contractual relationship, the supplementary legal basis for the processing shall be Article 6 (1) point b) of the GDPR.

The temporary storage of the IP-address by the system is necessary to enable the delivery of information about the latest QF-Test version to the user’s computer. For this to happen, the user’s IP-address must remain stored for the entire duration of the session.

The data will be erased as soon as it is no longer required for the fulfilment of the intended purpose of its collection. In the case of data collected for the provision of technical support, the data will be erased when the business relationship with the customer has ended. To be able to detect possible failure in web service as well as loopholes in security, the data is additionally stored on the web server for 42 days and thereafter automatically deleted.

Contact enquiries / Contact options

If you decide to contact us via the contact form or e-mail, the data you submit in that process will be used for processing your enquiry. Provision of this data is necessary for processing and responding to your enquiry - if you don’t provide this data, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry or we may at most respond with restrictions.

The legal basis for the processing of data transmitted in the process of sending an e-mail message to us is Article 6 (1) point f) of the GDPR. If the aim of the e-mail contact is to conclude a contract or if the e-mail is sent in connection with an existing contractual relationship, the supplementary legal basis for the processing shall be Article 6 (1) point b) of the GDPR.

Your data will be deleted provided that your enquiry has been definitively answered and that there are no legal retention requirements to the contrary, e.g. for any possible subsequent contract processing.