This Cookie Policy applies to the various Internet offers operated by DocCheck Community GmbH. Cookies are sometimes used in the public and non-public areas of these websites. In these cases, cookies are used to store information on your end device via your web browser, either long-term (permanent cookies) or temporarily (temporary cookies). You can disable the storing of all cookies mentioned below or let yourself be notified in case a cookie is stored via your browser settings. How this is done is described in the documentation of the respective browser. If you accept cookies to a limited extent only or not at all, there may be functional restrictions in the context of the use of the websites or individual services.
1. Cookies set by DocCheck
Cookies from DocCheck are utilized to better use and display DocCheck services or to identify you after logging into the non-public area of the website so that you do not always have to log in again while using this area. They also prevent data loss from form entries or in the shopping cart when you switch between different DocCheck services. The data processing in this regard, including the use of this type of cookie, is therefore carried out based on art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR as we have a legitimate interest to establish an appropriate level of security for the usage of our services and to allow you a comfortable use of these services.
In addition, we use various cookies with anonymous information about region, country, language, profession, area of expertise, field of activity and, if necessary, other features in order to be able to display advertisements in the context of medical information offers on DocCheck and other websites in accordance with German law (Heilmittelwerbegesetz) and adapt them to your personal interests. This information is encrypted and pseudonymized so that third parties are unable to assign the information to a specific person. DocCheck does not create individual user profiles with this data.
Another cookie is set by DocCheck to prevent ads from being shown to you more than once. DocCheck does not use these cookies to analyze your usage behavior on various websites in the sense of profiling. The relevant data processing, including the use of this type of cookie, is therefore carried out and based on art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR as we have a legitimate interest to be able to display targeted advertising to finance our services.
DocCheck also sets a session cookie for the use of Flexa. Flexa is a chat bot that works with the help of generative artificial intelligence. In order to be able to answer your questions to Flexa, DocCheck sets a session cookie that saves your questions and entries within a conversation with Flexa in order to be able to refer to the conversation history. The use of this cookie is necessary in order to be able to offer you Flexa as a service and is therefore based on Art. 6 (1) letter b) GDPR.
DocCheck also sets a cookie for the use of the "healthy ID" of antwerpes healthy media GmbH, Vogelsanger Str. 66, 50823 Cologne. This cookie enables us to analyse the target groups of our advertising measures more precisely. The healthy ID is stored as a cookie and contains your profession, your specialist group and your field of activity in encrypted form which are transmitted to antwerpes healthy media GmbH. Your identity or your user data at DocCheck are not stored in this cookie. If you do not agree to the processing of anonymised data in connection with the healthy ID, you have the option of preventing the analysis by the healthy ID and the storage of the cookie by making the appropriate setting. Please make the appropriate selection in your user account under the heading "healthy ID". The processing of your data in connection with the "healthy ID" function is therefore based on your consent pursuant to Art. 6 (1) a) GDPR.
2. Cookies set by advertising networks
On the DocCheck websites, cookies are set by various third-party providers who place advertisements (display ads) on the DocCheck website. These third-party cookies are generated by plugins or technologies from the relevant providers. Personal data such as IP addresses, browser features, operating system, referrer, events and the date as well as the time of access to the DocCheck website may be logged. The third party providers with whom DocCheck cooperates are also subject to the requirements of the GDPR. DocCheck obtains written confirmation from these providers that all data will be processed in accordance with these rules. The processing of this data, including the use of cookies, is also in our legitimate interest within the meaning of art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR for advertising purposes.
3. Cookies set by Google Analytics
For the purpose of customizing and the continuous optimization of our pages, we use Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google Inc. (https://www.google.de/intl/de/about/) (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; hereinafter "Google"). As far as your habitual residence is based in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, the responsible company for your data is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland). Google Ireland Limited is an affiliated company of Google, which is responsible for the processing of your personal data and observance with applicable privacy law.
In this context, pseudonymized user profiles are created and cookies are used. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website such as:
are transferred to a Google server in the US and stored there. However, within member states of the European Union or for other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, if IP anonymization is activated on this website, the IP address will be shortened by Google beforehand. Only in exceptional cases will the IP address be sent in full form to a Google server in the US and abbreviated there.
DocCheck has limited the storage period offered by Google to the minimum of 14 months. The information is used to evaluate the usage of the website, to compile reports on the website activities and to provide further services associated with the usage of the website and the Internet in general for the purposes of market research and tailor-made website design. This information may also be transferred to third parties if this is required by law or if third parties process this data on behalf of the company. Under no circumstances will your IP address be merged with other Google data. The IP addresses are anonymized so that an assignment is not possible (IP masking).
You may refuse the installation of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; however, we point out that in this case, not all features of this website may be fully functional.
You can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) and the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing a browser add-on (see link).
As an alternative to the browser add-on, especially for browsers on mobile devices, you can prevent the data collection of Google Analytics by setting an opt-out cookie that prevents future collection of your data when you visit this website. The opt-out cookie is only valid in this browser and only for our website and is stored on your device. If you delete the cookies in this browser, you must set the opt-out cookie again.
For more information about Google Analytics related privacy, please visit the Google Analytics Help Center.
The use of Google Analytics and the related data processing includes the use of cookies based on art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR as we have a legitimate interest in being able to display targeted advertising to finance our services.
4. Cookies set by Facebook
Our website uses, based on our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization, and economical operation of our online content according to art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR) so-called social plug-ins ("plug-ins") provided by the social network facebook.com which are integrated into our website in form of "embed" or "iFrame". Facebook.com is a internet service operated by Meta Platforms Inc, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. In the EU, this service is in turn operated by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland, hereinafter both referred to as "Meta".
The plug-ins can display interaction elements or content (e.g. videos, graphics or text contributions) and are recognisable by one of the Facebook logos (a white "f" on a blue background, the terms "like" or "thumbs up" sign) or are marked with the addition "Facebook Social plug-in". The list and the look of these plug-ins can be viewed here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/.
If you visit a page that contains such a Plug-in, your browser will connect directly to the servers of Meta and its servers will provide the actual content of the Facebook Plug-Ins, which will be embedded in our website by your specific device. Thereby Meta can create pseudonymous user profiles from the processed data. We therefore have no control over the scope of the data collected by Meta through this plugin and inform you according to our present state of knowledge.
Through the integration of the plug-ins, Meta receives the information that a user accessed the respective page of our online presence. If you are logged into Facebook, Meta can associate your access to our website with your Facebook account. If you then interact with the Plug-Ins by clicking on the "Like" button or by posting a comment, your browser will send the relevant information directly to Meta and save it there. However, even if you are not a member of Facebook, Meta may still find out your IP address and will subsequently store it. According to Meta, only anonymized IP addresses are stored in Germany.
For the purpose and scope of data collection and the further processing and use of data by the providers as well as your rights in this respect and settings options for protecting your privacy, please visit the privacy policies of Facebook.
If you are a member of Facebook and want to prevent Meta collecting data about you and linking this with your account, you must log out of Facebook before visiting our website and delete your cookies. Additional settings and contradictions to use data for advertisement purposes, are possible in the profile settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads or via the US-American page http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or via the European page http://www.youronlinechoices.com/.
The settings are platform-independent, meaning they are applied to all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.
5. Cookies set by Instagram
In our website, we integrate functions and content of the service Instagram, offered by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland, a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, hereinafter referred to as "Instagram". This may include, for example, images, videos or texts and buttons with which you can announce your liking, subscribe to the authors of the content or subscribe to our posts.
Some of the user data is processed on Meta servers in the USA. The data transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission and we have also concluded a contract for commissioned processing with Meta, which ensures that the processing of personal data is subject to a level of security that corresponds to that of the GDPR.
The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in improving the quality of our website.
If you visit a page of our website in which a function or content of Instagram is embedded, a connection to the servers of Instagram in the USA is established to display the function or content. For technical reasons, it is necessary for Instagram to process your IP address. In addition, the date and time of your visit to our website will also be recorded.
If you are logged in to Instagram at the same time as you visit one of our websites that embeds a function or content from Instagram, Instagram may assign the information collected in this way to your personal user account there. If you want to prevent this, you must either log out of Instagram before visiting our website or configure your Instagram user account accordingly.
Further information about the collection and use of data as well as your rights and protection options in this regard can be found in
Instagram's privacy policy.
6. Cookies set by YouTube
Our website uses cookies of YouTube per "embed" or "iFrame". This ist a video-sharing website provided by YouTube LLC., 901 Cherry Ave., 94066 San Bruno, CA, USA, hereinafter "YouTube".
YouTube is an affiliate of Google LLC., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland.
We use YouTube in privacy-enhanced mode to show you videos. The use of YouTube and the related data processing includes the use of cookies based on art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR as we have a legitimate interest in improving the quality of our website. According to YouTube, the "Extended data protection mode" function means that the data specified below will only be transmitted to the YouTube server if you actually start a video.
Without this "Extended Privacy Policy", a connection to the YouTube server in the USA will be established as soon as you access one of our Internet pages on which a YouTube video is embedded.
This connection is required in order to be able to display the respective video on our website within your browser. YouTube will record and process at a minimum your IP address, the date and time the video was displayed, as well as the website you visited. In addition, a connection to the Google advertising network "DoubleClick" is established.
If you are logged into YouTube when you access our site, YouTube will assign the connection information to your YouTube account. If you want to prevent YouTube collecting data about you and linking this with your account, you must log out of YouTube before visiting our website and delete your cookies or change the designated settings on your YouTube user account.
For the purpose of functionality and analysis of usage behavior, YouTube permanently stores cookies on your device via your browser. If you do not agree to this processing, you have the option of preventing the installation of cookies by making the appropriate settings in your browser.
Further information about data processing and data collection by YouTube as well as your rights in this regard can be found in Google's privacy policy.
7. Cookies set by EasyZoom
We use EasyZoom, provided by Smart In Media GmbH (Dürener Straße 276, 50935 Cologne, Germany) to enable the display of medical images like histological findings and high-resolution scans in our websites. The use of EasyZoom and the related data processing includes the use of cookies based on art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR as we have a legitimate interest in improving the quality of our website.
Additional information about terms of use and data protection you find here: https://easyzoom.com/info/privacy.
8. Cookies set by EasyRadiology
In order to be able to display medical content such as radiological images on our pages, we use EasyRadiology, a product of easyRadiology AG (Gleueler Straße 249, 50935 Cologne, Germany). The processing of this data, including the use of cookies, is also carried out in our legitimate economic interest within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 letter f) GDPR in order to improve the quality of our website.
You can find more information on the terms of use and data protection in the EasyRadiology data protection information.
9. Cookies set by Embedly
On some of our websites we integrate the platform Embedly provided by A Medium Corporation (799 Market St., 5th Floor San Francisco, CA 94103, USA) to embed elements of social networks and other websites to our internet services.
There is the possibility that all third parties listed here also serve cookies through our site.
Embed.ly's terms and conditions and privacy statement apply for the gathering, processing and use of your personal data. For further questions, you can also contact the Data Protection Officer from Embedly: privacy@embed.ly.
You can prevent the collection and processing of your data at any time by either disable the execution of script codes in your browser or install a script block in your browser.
The processing of this data, including the use of cookies, is also in our legitimate interest within the meaning of art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR for advertising purposes.
10. Cookies set by Sketchfab
Our website uses plugins for the integration of 3D models from Sketchfab, Inc. (HQ, 1123 Broadway Ste. 501 (25th St), New York City, NY 10010 USA), hereinafter "Sketchfab".
When you visit one of our pages equipped with a Sketchfab plugin, a connection to Sketchfab's servers is established. This tells the Sketchfab server which of our pages you have visited.
If you are logged into your Sketchfab account, you enable Sketchfab to assign your surfing behaviour directly to your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your Sketchfab account and deleting your cookies.
Some of the user data is processed on Sketchfab servers in the USA. The data transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission and we have also concluded a contract for commissioned processing with Sketchfab, which ensures that the processing of personal data is subject to a level of security that corresponds to that of the GDPR.
Sketchfab is used in the legitimate interest of an attractive presentation of our online offers. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 letter f) GDPR.
Further information on the handling of user data can be found in the Sketchfab privacy policy.
11. Cookies set by SoundCloud
Audio files are embedded on our website using the SoundCloud service. The provider is SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG, Rheinsberger Str. 76/77, 10115 Berlin, Germany, hereinafter referred to as "SoundCloud".
To play audio content, we use technically necessary cookies from SoundCloud via iFrame on individual websites. This establishes a connection between your browser and the SoundCloud server and SoundCloud thereby receives the information that you have visited our site with your IP address. If you click the "Share" button while logged into your SoundCloud user account, you can link and/or share the content of our pages with your SoundCloud profile. This allows SoundCloud to associate your visit to our pages with your user account. We would like to point out that we, as the provider of the pages, have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or its use by SoundCloud.
If you do not want SoundCloud to associate your visit to our pages with your SoundCloud user account, please log out of your SoundCloud user account before activating the content of the SoundCloud plugin.
SoundCloud is used in the interest of an appealing presentation of our online offers. This represents a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 letter f) GDPR You cannot use the function without providing the data.
Further information on the handling of user data can be found in the SoundCloud privacy policy.
12. Cookies set by Google Ads Conversion Tracking
We use the online advertising programme "Google Ads" on our website and in this context conversion tracking (visit action evaluation). Google Conversion Tracking is an analysis service provided by Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; "Google"). With Google Ads conversion tracking, the process is as follows: A user clicks the ad; in doing so, Google Ads places a cookie on the computer. This cookie has a standard duration of 30 days, but can be shortened to up to one day (recommended minimum seven days) or extended to 6 months, depending on the browser. If a user converts within this term, the conversion is always attributed to Google Ads - regardless of whether the final source through which the user ultimately comes is Google Ads or not.
The use of cookies or comparable technologies takes place on the basis of § 15 para. 3 p. 1 TMG. The processing of your personal data is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR for our overriding legitimate interest in targeting site visitors with interest-based advertising. You have the right to object to this processing of your personal data at any time for reasons arising from your particular situation.
You can deactivate personalised advertising for you in the Google advertising settings. You can find instructions on how to do this at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=de. Alternatively, you can prevent the use of cookies by third parties by visiting the opt-out page of the Network Advertising Initiative at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=de and following the further opt-out information provided there. You will then not be included in the conversion tracking statistics. You can find more information and Google's privacy policy at: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/
13. Cookies set by Trinket
On our website, we use the internet service Trinket to display and process applications, queries and medical calculations. Trinket is a service operated by Forkable, Inc, Trinket, 502 Adams St, Raleigh, NC, 27605-1202 USA, hereinafter referred to as "Trinket". The applications developed by us with Trinket are integrated into our website via iFrame. Some of the user data is processed on Trinket servers in the USA. The data transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission and we have also concluded a contract for commissioned processing with Trinket, which ensures that the processing of personal data is subject to a level of security that corresponds to that of the GDPR.
Trinket is used in the legitimate interest of an attractive presentation of our online offers. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 letter f) GDPR.
Further information on the collection and use of data as well as your rights and protection options in this regard can be found in the Trinket data protection information.
14. Cookies set by Twitter
We use the plugin of the social network Twitter on our website. Twitter is an internet service of Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland, which is a subsidiary of Twitter Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA, both hereinafter referred to as "Twitter". Some of the user data is processed on Twitter servers in the USA. The data transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission and we have also concluded a contract for commissioned processing with Twitter, which ensures that the processing of personal data is subject to a level of security that corresponds to that of the GDPR.
Twitter is used in the legitimate interest of an appealing presentation of our online offers. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 letter f) GDPR.
Further information on the collection and use of data as well as your rights and protection options in this regard can be found in Twitter's data protection information.
15. Cookies set by Typeform
We use the Typeform service of TYPEFORM S.L., Carrer Bac de Roda, 163, 08018 Barcelona (Spain) ("Typeform") on our website for the purpose of processing user information in online contact forms. In this process, personal data provided by the user is stored and processed. The processing of the data takes place on servers of Amazon Web Services, Inc., 410 Terry Avenue, North Seattle, WA 98109, USA. Their main servers are located in Virginia, USA and the backup servers in Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
We have concluded a commissioned processing contract with Typeform for the aforementioned purposes in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR and the security of the transfer is also secured via standard contractual clauses, which ensure that the processing of personal data is subject to a level of security that corresponds to that of the GDPR
The legal basis for this data processing is our legitimate interest in the targeted and individually adapted presentation of forms and surveys on specific topics and questions, i.e. Art. 6 para. 1 letter f) GDPR. In addition, data processing in the case of your enquiry via the contact form may serve to fulfil a contract and is therefore based on Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR.
Further information can be found in Typeform's privacy policy.
Last change: 07/2023