Cookies, web beacons and similar technologies ('Cookie Notice')
You can use the Privacy Settings to determine whether you consent to the use of cookies and similar technologies for analysis and advertising purposes.
Our Cookie Notice details all relevant information regarding the use of cookies, web beacons and similar technologies in connection to mobile.de's websites, applications, services, products and tools (hereinafter: 'Services') and your choice options in this regard. This Cookie Notice shall be read in conjunction with our User Privacy Notice and the information regarding cookies and similar technologies which the User Privacy Notice contains. This Cookie Notice is applicable regardless of how you access and make use of our Services including the access via mobile devices and app.
This Cookie Notice is effective from 1. June 2023.
Information regarding the technologies we use
When you use our Services, we and authorised third-party providers make use of cookies and similar technologies. We make use of cookies and similar technologies which will not be saved on your device or which will only be saved on your device for as long as your browser is active (e.g. session cookies). Furthermore, we make use of cookies and similar technologies which will be saved on your device for a longer period (e.g. persistent cookies). Where possible, we take appropriate security measures to prevent unauthorised access to our cookies and similar technologies.
The cookies and similar technologies used by us have various functions:• They can be (technically) necessary for the provision of our Services
• They help us to enhance our Services (e.g. monitoring of error messages and loading times)
• They help us to improve your user experience (e.g. by saving the font size and data entered into webforms)
• They enable us to show you more relevant adsWhat are cookies, web beacons and similar technologies?
Cookies
Cookies are small text files (typically made up of letters and numbers) which are placed in the memory of your browser or device when you make use of our Services, in particular when you visit our website or when you open a message. Cookies allow for a recognition of a specific device or browser. There are different types of cookies:
• Session cookies (also called session-based cookies) expire at the end of your session (e.g. when closing your browser window) and enable the entity using them to track your activities during this one session
• Persistent cookies remain stored on your device between sessions and enable us, for example, to track your settings or activities on several websites
• First-party cookies are set by the provider whose online service you are using (e.g. the operator of the website you are visiting)
• Third-party cookies are set by a provider other than the provider whose online service you are using (e.g. the operator of a website other than the one you are visiting)Web-Beacons
Web beacons (also known as pixel tags or clear GIFs) are small graphic images that are used in connection with the provision of our services and which typically work in conjunction with cookies to track the use of an online service by its users. For example, when we send you emails, web beacons allow us to track if you opened the emails and clicked links to measure campaign performance and improve features.
Similar technologies
Similar technologies are technologies which enable the entity using it to track your user behaviour. This can be done by local shared objects or local storage, such as flash cookies, HTML 5 cookies and other web application software methods, all of which store information in your browser or device. Additionally, there are other technologies that function without local storage in your end device and instead make use of, inter alia, browser functions. In this context, a 'fingerprint' of your system is created that serves as a unique identifier.
In our apps we also use so-called Software Development Kits (SDKs), which are provided by third parties. SDKs are software tools or libraries which we integrate into our apps and which, among other things, enable tracking and analysis of user behaviour. Lastly, we also share data about your usage behavior with third parties by transmitting this data from server to server.
These technologies may function across all your browsers and in some cases are not fully managed by your browser but may need to be managed directly from your installed applications or your device. We sometimes use the terms cookies and similar technologies interchangeably.
Why do we use these technologies?
Some of our Services can only be offered using cookies, web beacons and similar technologies. In general, these technologies enable us to track your user behaviour and identify you - even across devices. You can find more information about the personal data that we collect using cookies and similar technologies in our User Privacy Notice and in our Privacy Settings.
The cookies, web beacons and similar technologies used in connection with our Services serve the following functions:Technologies which are operationally necessary
We use cookies, web beacons and similar technologies that are necessary for the operation of our Services. This includes technologies that allow you access to our sites, services, applications and tools or guarantee the security of our Services.
Technologies which are performance-related
We use cookies, web beacons or other similar technologies to assess the performance of our Services. This happens, inter alia, to analyse how visitors use our services, how users use our messaging tools, if and how items and links are viewed or how to improve our services.
Technologies which are functionality-related
We use cookies, web beacons or other similar technologies that allow us to offer you enhanced functionality when accessing or using our Services. These technologies may, inter alia, identify you when you sign in to our Services or they may store your settings or the items viewed, so that we can enhance the presentation of content within our Services and facilitate it (e.g. the 'staying logged in’ functionality).
Technologies which are advertising- or targeting-related
We and service providers selected by us use cookies, web beacons or other similar technologies to deliver content tailored to your interests, including advertisements, in connection with the provision of our Services or within third-party online services (retargeting, remarketing). This includes using technologies to determine how relevant the advertisements and contents are for you, which ads have already been shown to you, how often they have been shown, when and where they have been shown and if you have reacted by carrying out an activity – such as clicking on an ad or purchasing an item. For this purpose, data will be combined with data already collected regarding your interests.
Inter alia, we collect data regarding your device (e.g. the operating system and its version) to provide a uniform service on all your devices.
We also transmit the data we collect to third parties via server to server so that they can be processed for the above purposes. These third parties are both advertisers and intermediaries. You can find more information on this in our Privacy Settings under "Providing User Segment Data".
Which service providers do we cooperate with?
Regarding the usage of cookies, web beacons and similar technologies, we cooperate with authorised service providers. This includes, inter alia, ad networks and ad exchanges, which enable us to show you advertisements.
Authorised service providers are entitled to place web beacons and similar technologies within our online services and to place cookies on your device, as far as this is permissible according to applicable law. In this context, data for the identification of your device will be tracked, for example the IP address, the device ID or the advertising ID (IDFA - ID for Advertising or Google Advertising ID).
This enables the service providers to help us deliver content and more relevant advertisements, and to produce anonymous metrics and analytics, including conversion statistics. The processing of personal data by external service providers is subject to data protection and confidentiality agreements with us and applicable data protection laws. With regard to data processing by service providers, please check the privacy notices of the respective third-party providers.
Service providers that we cooperate with include:
• Facebook: We use the Facebook pixel in the basic version to display personalised advertising from mobile.de and third parties for you on Facebook platforms. For this purpose, we transmit information about your user activities on mobile.de and certain other personal information such as your cookie ID to Facebook via the Facebook pixel.
For the collection and transfer of the data to Facebook we are jointly responsible with Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Meta Platforms Ireland").
The information required under Article 13(1)(a) and (b) of the GDPR, as well as further information on how Meta Platforms Ireland processes personal data, including the legal basis on which Meta Platforms Ireland relies and how data subjects can exercise their rights against Meta Platforms Ireland, can be found in Meta Platforms Ireland's Privacy Notice.
With respect to our joint responsibilities with Meta Platforms Ireland, we have entered into a specific contractual addendum with Meta Platforms Ireland to define the respective responsibilities for fulfilling the obligations under the GDPR with respect to joint processing.
Under this agreement, mobile.de is required to provide the above information and Meta Platforms Ireland is responsible for enabling the rights of data subjects under Articles 15-20 of the GDPR with respect to personal data stored by Meta Platforms Ireland following the joint processing.
• Google: Provision of advertising services via the advertising and marketing platforms of Google, e.g. Google Analytics, Google Adsense (Google Privacy Policy; integration of tools and scripts into our website and app (Google Tag Manager).
• LiveRamp: If you enter your email address on our website (to register, subscribe to a newsletter, contact a dealer or similar), we may pass on personal or other data that we collect from you, such as your email address (in hashed, pseudonymized form), your IP address or information about your browser or operating system to our partner LiveRamp, Inc. and its group companies (LiveRamp, Inc., 225 Bush Street, 17th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA). LiveRamp's privacy policy and how to opt-out can be found here. LiveRamp uses this information to create an online identification code that can be used to recognize you on the devices you use. The code does not contain any of your directly identifying personal data and is not used by LiveRamp to directly re-identify. We place the code in our cookie or use a LiveRamp cookie for this purpose and have it used for online and cross-platform advertising. It may be shared with our advertising partners and other third-party advertising providers around the world to enable interest-based content or targeted advertising across your online experience (e.g., web, email, connected devices, apps, etc.). These third parties may, in turn, use the code to link demographic or interest-based information that you have provided during interactions with them. You have the right to decide about our use of LiveRamp cookies and our sharing of this information with LiveRamp for the purposes described above.
• emetriq: We enable emetriq GmbH (‘emetriq’) to match pseudonymous user identifiers. Directly personal data (such as name or email address) is not disclosed at any time. emetriq uses this data to identify similar users ("lookalikes") from its own database and to enable third parties to target both our users and its own database for advertising purposes. We are jointly responsible with emetriq for the collection of user data via our Services. In this regard, we have concluded an agreement with emetriq pursuant to Art. 26 GDPR. We will gladly provide further information on this agreement upon request.
• Virtual Minds: We enable Virtual Minds GmbH (‘Virtual Minds’) to collect pseudonymous user data via our Services and to enable third parties to compare the pseudonymous user IDs with their own data files in order to be able to address the users with personalised advertising in this way. Directly personal data (such as name or email address) are not disclosed at any time. We are jointly responsible with Virtual Minds for the collection of user data via our Services. In this respect, we have concluded an agreement with Virtual Minds in accordance with Art. 26 GDPR. We will gladly provide further information on this agreement upon request.
In addition, we cooperate with the other service providers listed in our Privacy Settings and this Cookie Notice for the purposes described in each case.
With the exception of the use of such technologies by our service providers, we do not allow any third-party content (such as item listings, communication between users, classified listings, comments etc.) that use cookies, web beacons or similar technologies to process your personal data for their own purposes in connection with the provision of our services.
More information about these and other service providers and their privacy policies can be found in the Privacy Settings.
Google Analytics (for Firebase)
We use Google Analytics (website) and Google Analytics for Firebase (app), an analytics service provided by Google Ireland Ltd ('Google'), to help us continually improve our website and app. Google Analytics uses cookies that are stored on your computer and enable the analysis of your use of our website. The information generated by the cookies about your use of our online services (including your IP address) is sent to a Google server in Europe (or in a member state of the Agreement on the European Economic Area) to anonymise the IP address so that it cannot be traced back to a specific person. Only after the IP address has been anonymised is the shortened IP address transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. Google will use this information on our behalf for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity and providing us with other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Your IP address will not be merged with other Google data.
We also use Google Analytics reports
- to provide anonymous information about demographic characteristics (e.g. age and gender) and interests of our website visitors; and
- to evaluate the success of our advertising on other websites (e.g. number of impressions, clicks on ads), which we receive via third-party cookies and process in Google Analytics. The third-party providers have obtained this information via interest-based advertising. We also use this information for targeting and retargeting purposes in order to provide or have third-party providers provide (in connection with the use of third-party cookies) content tailored to your interests, including advertisements, on our and other websites.
For the above purposes, we use the feature Google Signals. If you use our services, are logged into your Google account and have consented to personalised advertising via your Google account, your data will be processed by Google to provide us with aggregated data about the demographic characteristics and interests of our users (e.g., gender, age and products in which users are interested). We use this data to better understand our users.
In addition, the feature Google Signals allows us to serve personalised advertising to our users and to measure the success of this advertising (conversion tracking).We would like to point out that the code "gat._anonymizeIp();" has been added to Google Analytics on our website in order to ensure anonymised collection of IP addresses (so-called IP masking).
Google reCAPTCHA: Prevention of automated access
We make use of Google reCAPTCHA ('reCAPTCHA') within the provision of our Services. reCAPTCHA is used to check and prevent interactions through automated access, for example through so-called bots (computer programs that perform tasks automatically and independently). reCAPTCHA is used in particular to check whether data input in connection with our Services (e.g. in a contact form) is carried out by a human or by an automated program. For this purpose, reCAPTCHA analyses the behaviour of the user on the basis of various characteristics. This analysis automatically begins as soon as the user connects with the online service, e.g. visits the website. For the purposes of this analysis, reCAPTCHA evaluates various pieces of information (e.g. IP address, duration of the user's visit to the online service or the user's mouse movements). The data collected during the analysis is forwarded to Google. The analyses by reCAPTCHA are carried out entirely in the background.
Data processing is carried out for the purposes of providing sufficient data security. We have a legitimate interest in protecting our websites, services, applications, tools or news functions from abusive or unwanted, automated spying and access, as well as from SPAM, and to enable you to use our website safely.
Please find details regarding Google reCAPTCHA here and in Google's Privacy Policy.
INFOnline Reach Measurement
Our website employs a measurement method by Media-Micro-Census GmbH ("MMC") to determine statistical parameters (Page Impression, Visit, technical client) regarding the usage of our services. The aim of usage measurement is to statistically determine the number of visits to our website, the number of website visitors, and their browsing behavior - based on a uniform standard procedure - in order to obtain market-wide comparable values.
Further information can be found in the data protection declaration regarding the use of the MMC measurement method.
Optimizely
We also use Optimizely, a web analytics service provided by Optimizely, Inc. ("Optimizely"). Optimizely uses cookies (see explanation above) that enable an analysis of your use of our website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website is usually transferred to an Optimizely server in the USA and stored there. Before Optimizely saves your IP address, it is first made anonymous, so that the transmitted data cannot be linked to you. Optimizely will use this information on our behalf to evaluate your use of our website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to website usage. This includes, in particular, "A/B tests", which help to identify which versions of our websites are more appealing to users.
Further information about Optimizely's data privacy policy can be found at https://www.optimizely.com/privacy
Tool for user analysis
We also use our own user analysis tool in order to recognise our users' preferences when they visit and use our websites, services, applications and tools and to collect statistical data (e.g. with respect to the number of visitors and website accesses or the interaction with our services such as use of the contact function in the ads or clicks on banner ads). This way, we can adjust the content of our websites, services, applications and tools more specifically to your needs and preferences and thus improve our services for you. We collect the data relating to use in pseudonymised form. When you are logged in to your mobile.de user account, the analysis can take place across different end devices.
Your Choices
You can decide to what extent we may use cookies and similar technologies within the provision of our Services. Your choice options will depend on the purposes for which we use these technologies.
Technologies which are operationally necessary
If you wish to deactivate the use of any cookies – including cookies that are operationally necessary – that we use within the provision of our Services, you may do so by using the settings in your browser or device, if this is supported by your browser or device. The settings must be made separately for each browser you use.
Please note that you may not be able to use certain mobile.de Services or functions when you deactivate cookies and similar technologies. You may also need to enter your password more frequently during your browser sessions.
Technologies which are related to performance, function or personalisation
In addition, you can specifically decide via the Privacy Settings whether we and third parties may use cookies and similar technologies to offer you advanced features, show you personalised ads, personalise content, analyse your usage behaviour, create segments with your pseudonymized user data and enable third parties to match their data with these segments. In the Privacy Settings, you can withdraw your consent regarding cookies and related data processing at any time, as well as object to data processing based on legitimate interest using similar technologies at any time (as shown in detail in the Privacy Settings.
If you choose not to have your personal data processed by us for advertising purposes using cookies (and similar technologies), this does not necessarily mean that no advertisements will be shown to you. It simply means that these advertisements will not be personalised for you by means of cookies, web beacons or similar technologies. As a result, you will no longer receive personalised advertising in the future, but your data may still be collected as described in our User Privacy Notice.
You can also deactivate the use of any third-party cookies – e.g. by online ad networks – within our Services by using the settings in your browser or the device settings in your device, if this is supported by your browser or device.
You can also find additional information on advertising-related third-party cookies and similar technologies and how to prevent their use on the following websites:
• http://www.youronlinechoices.eu