On our website we use Google Maps from the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). With Google Maps we can show you locations better and thus adapt our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data is transferred to Google and stored on Google’s servers. Here we would like to go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can prevent this.
What is Google Maps?
Google Maps is an Internet map service from Google Inc. that allows you to search online for exact locations of cities, places of interest, accommodations or businesses using a PC, tablet or app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, additional information about the company is displayed next to the location. To show how to get there, map sections of a location can be embedded into a website using HTML code. Google Maps shows the surface of the earth as a street map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to the Street View images and the high quality satellite images, very accurate representations are possible.
Why do we use Google Maps on our website?
All our efforts on this site are aimed at providing you with a useful and meaningful time on our website. Through the integration of Google Maps, we can provide you with the most important information about various locations. You can see at a glance where we have our headquarters. The directions always show you the best or fastest way to reach us. You can call up the directions for routes by car, public transport, on foot or by bicycle. For us, providing Google Maps is part of our customer service.
Which data is stored by Google Maps?
In order for Google Maps to offer its service in its entirety, the company must collect and store data about you. This includes the search terms entered, your IP address and also the latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the start address entered will also be saved. However, this data storage happens on the websites of Google Maps. We can only inform you about it, but we cannot influence it. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behaviour. Google uses this data primarily to optimise its own services and to provide individual, personalised advertising for you.
The following cookie is set in your browser due to the integration of Google Maps:
Name: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ221120704-5
Purpose: NID is used by Google to match ads to your Google search. Google uses the cookie to “remember” your most commonly entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you can always get customized ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiration date: after 6 months
Comment: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the stored data. Especially when using cookies, changes can never be excluded. In order to identify the cookie NID, a separate test page was created where only Google Maps was integrated.
How long and where is the data stored?
The Google servers are located in data centers around the world. However, most servers are located in America. For this reason, your data is also increasingly stored in the USA. Here you can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de
Google distributes the data on different data carriers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data center also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with the Google hardware or a natural disaster paralyses the servers, the data is still protected.
Some data is stored by Google for a specified period of time. For other data, Google only offers the option to delete it manually. In addition, the company also anonymizes information (such as advertising data) in server logs by deleting part of the IP address and cookie information after 9 and 18 months, respectively.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
With the automatic deletion of location and activity data introduced in 2019, location and web/app activity information is stored for either 3 or 18 months, depending on your decision, and then deleted. You can also manually delete this data from your history at any time using your Google Account. If you want to completely prevent your location tracking, you’ll need to pause web and app activity in Google Account. Click ‘Data and personalization’ and then click the ‘Activity setting’ option. Here you can turn the activity on or off.
You can also disable, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on the browser you use, this always works slightly differently. Manage cookies in your browser.
If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. This way you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not.
Google is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information on this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI.
If you want to learn more about Google’s data processing, we recommend that you read the company’s own privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.
Source: Created with the imprint generator, translated by DeepL.