Data Protection Policy

We attach great importance to the protection of your personal data and adhere strictly to the applicable data protection regulations.

Your privacy is very important to us. Therefore, we collect and process personal data only within the framework of the legal regulations in order to guarantee you a safe use of our offers.

1. General information

The Austrian National Tourist Office (Österreich Werbung) is committed to protecting the privacy of all of its customers. Therefore, when processing personal data, we always comply with applicable data protection laws, and especially the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG) and the Austrian Telecommunications Act (TKG 2021). All employees of the Austrian National Tourist Office are required to comply with data confidentiality obligations in accordance with section 6 DSG.

2. Name and Contact Details

Responsible for data processing:

Austrian National Tourist Office
Vordere Zollamtsstraße 13, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43 1 588 66-0
Fax: +43 1 588 66-40
E-Mail: datenschutz@austria.info

3. Data Processing on our Websites

Personal data is collected when you visit our website. The collection of your visitor data serves the following specific purposes:

  • Analysing the use of our website for market research purposes

  • Matching website content to the interests of our visitors

  • Improving user-friendliness and ease of use

  • Remarketing of visitor inquiries to promote vacations in Austria

  • Addressing potential visitors interested in Austria with targeted advertising

When ordering brochures and information material and registering for the ÖW newsletter, we also store the data needed to process the order.

Your personal data is processed based on your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.

4. Storage of Address Data for Orders, Subscriptions and Newsletters

If you request brochures and information, your data will be stored so that we can process and fulfil your order. This data will be deleted once your order has been fulfilled.

You may also opt to receive future invitations and information from us. If you select this option, we store your data on an ongoing basis so that we can inform you about offers you may be interested in. You may also withdraw your consent to this at any time.

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we store your email address so that we can send you the newsletter. We will not use your email address for any other purpose or disclose it to third parties. You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time and we will delete your email address.

We will never use data collected as part of this process to create individual user profiles or to track user browsing behaviour. This data will only be used to fulfil your requests.

5. AI-Concierge (goodguys gmbh)

We use the AI concierge from Goodguys GmbH (Moeringgasse 20/1, door 2, 1150 Vienna) to provide a modern chat function. This is an artificial intelligence (AI) from Austria that finds answers to your questions from the content of our websites, together with publicly available content.

Personal data collected in the context of the chats is processed exclusively on the servers of the Austrian processor Goodguys GmbH. This data includes the user's IP address and a session ID to keep the chat history of different users separate. This data is deleted at the end of the chat session and can subsequently no longer be assigned to individual users. Inquiry content is stored in anonymous form and can be used by Österreich Werbung for function control and further development of the chat functions.

In order to formulate the AI concierge's answers, parts of the inquiries are also forwarded to Google and OpenAI servers. The data transmitted to these providers does not contain any parameters with which Google or OpenAI could identify individual persons. It is therefore anonymous data. Responses are assigned to users exclusively by the IT systems of Goodguys GmbH.

However, it is not possible by technical means to filter out content that allows identification based on the data entered by the user. Therefore, when using the chat, please ensure that you do not enter any personal details such as your name, e-mail address, telephone number etc. in the chat window.

Further information about AI-Concierge and Goodguys GmbH can be found in the Privacy policy of Goodguys GmbH.

6. Change Tourism Austria (cta)

Via the Change Tourism Austria website, Österreich Werbung provides tourism professionals with a joint platform for tourism and innovation. Full use of the service is only possible for registered users after completing a registration process. The legal basis for data processing is consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR).

IP addresses and associated technical data of visitors are logged as part of website use. This data is used exclusively to investigate attacks and technical problems and is deleted after 4 weeks.

If visitors give their separate consent, statistical data on their use of the platform is also collected using Google Analytics and used to optimize the offer and send relevant content. This consent can be revoked at any time by clicking on the cookie banner.

Registered users are notified of important processes or events by e-mail. These notifications are activated by default and can be deactivated via the user profile.

Information provided by users about themselves or their interests during registration is visible to all other registered users. The display of the contact e-mail address can be controlled by the user via the user profile.

Participation in the communication platform, including the storage period of own entries and contributions, is generally unlimited. The user can unsubscribe at any time by sending an e-mail to hello@changetourismaustria.com to request the deactivation or deletion of their user profile.

In the event of deactivation, content and contributions created by the user remain online. In the event of deletion, the user profile is initially deactivated, and after 30 days it is deleted, including the content created by the user. The deletion can be revoked by the user within this period.

7. Social Media

We do not have access to any personal data that the platform operator may collect about you via the social media channels of Austrian National Tourist Office. To exercise your rights as a data subject, please contact the respective social media platform directly, as only its operators have access to your data.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

The processing of data on our Facebook and Instagram pages is carried out on the basis of an Agreement on the joint processing of personal data with Meta Ireland with Meta Ireland. We receive statistical data (page insights) that we use to improve our offering. Only Meta has access to the data of individual users and can take measures in accordance with the GDPR, e.g. respond to requests for information or delete the data collected.

You can find further information at
https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy
https://help.instagram.com/155833707900388

YouTube

We also only receive statistical data from visitors to our YouTube channel, e.g. video views, "likes" or other interactions with our posts. We only use this data to analyze visitor behavior in order to improve our offering. Please contact the platform operator directly if you have any data protection concerns.

You can find further information at
https://www.youtube.com/intl/ALL_at/howyoutubeworks/user-settings/privacy

Pinterest

Austrian National Tourist Office uses the social network Pinterest to provide Austria posts and up-to-date information. Website visitor data (IP address, browser and operating system, usage data) is transmitted to Pinterest and cookies are also set. For visitors who are logged into Pinterest, this data is linked to their Pinterest account. The data collected is used by Österreich Werbung for marketing and target group-oriented advertising.

You can find more information about Pinterest at
https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy

8. IP Addresses

We store the IP addresses of all visitors to our website in order to prevent and track attacks and resolve technical problems. The logs generated are evaluated exclusively for these purposes and are only viewed if necessary. The IP addresses are not stored permanently, but are deleted after a maximum of 4 weeks.

9. Note on Data Transfer to the USA

We only use US companies as processors that comply with the EU-US data protection framework framework. In accordance with the European Commission's adequacy decision, these companies offer an adequate level of protection for the processing of personal data.

Further information, including data protection policies and authorized complaints offices of these companies, can be found in the List of certified companies maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

10. Cookies
11. Google services

Details on data collection and processing by Google can be found in the Google privacy policy. You can find additional information about your Google account and data protection for Google products at https://policies.google.com/?tid=312557673. You can find a way to specifically prevent Google from displaying personalized advertising at http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/html/opt-out.html.

Google Analytics

Österreich Werbung uses Google Analytics for web analyses, e.g. in the form of anonymized evaluations and graphics on page views and visits, as well as for remarketing, reports on impressions in the Google Display Network, integration of DoubleClick Campaign Manager and Google Analytics reports on performance according to demographic characteristics and interests. By using this analytics service, cookies are stored on your computer. The information generated, including the IP addresses of visitors, is transferred to a server in the USA and stored there. You can prevent the collection of data by Google by using the Google browser plugin to object.

Google Ads and Google Floodlights

Google Ads and Google Floodlights are online advertising and analysis services from Google that are used by Österreich Werbung for conversion tracking. The information obtained is based on your use of our website and is used to target our visitors on our advertising partners' websites with targeted advertising. These advertisements are displayed on the basis of cookies that are stored on your end device and are only displayed if you have given your consent.

Google reCAPTCHA

Google reCAPTCHA is used to check whether the data transmission to our website is made by a human or by automated programs. Google reCAPTCHA analyzes the behavior of the website visitor in order to make this distinction. The data collected, such as the IP address, browser information, operating system, location and usage data, is forwarded to Google and analyzed there. The IP address is not merged with other data from other Google services unless you are logged into your Google account while using reCAPTCHA.

12. Facebook Pixel and remarketing/retargeting

Österreich Werbung uses the Facebook Pixel from Facebook, Inc, 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ("Facebook"). This allows us to track the actions of visitors after they have been redirected to our website by clicking on a Facebook advertisement. This enables us to record the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes. We cannot view the personal data of individual users. However, the data collected is stored and processed by Facebook.

Facebook can link the data with your Facebook account data and uses it for its own advertising purposes in accordance with the Facebook Data Policy. Facebook Conversion Tracking also allows Facebook and its partners to show you ads inside and outside of Facebook. A cookie is stored on your computer for these purposes. Only users over the age of 13 may give their consent. If you are under the age of 13, please contact your parent or guardian.

Facebook remarketing tags are also integrated on our pages, which establish a direct connection between your browser and the Facebook server. This allows Facebook to associate your visit to our pages with your user account. We can use the information obtained in this way to display Facebook ads. We would like to point out that, as the provider of the pages, we have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or its use by Facebook. You can find further information on this in the Facebook privacy policy.

Please click here to revoke your consent: https://www.facebook.com/ads/website_custom_audiences

13. Adyoulike

Österreich Werbung uses the company Adyoulike to display target group-oriented advertising on its French-language websites. This may involve the use of cookies and an Adyoulike pixel.

You can find Adyoulike's privacy policy at https://www.adyoulike.com/pages/privacy_en.php.

On this page you will also find an option to object to the processing of your data by Adyoulike.

14. TVSquared

In the United Kingdom (UK), the TVSquared service is used on Austrian advertising websites to collect statistical data and display targeted advertising material via TV streaming services.
Further information and notes can be found at https://www.innovid.com/privacy-policy.

15. Sojern

Österreich Werbung uses the services of the US marketing provider Sojern to advertise Austrian hotels in English-speaking countries and to promote direct bookings through targeted online marketing. Various cookies are set and data is collected from interested parties in order to display target group-oriented advertising.

Further information can be found at https://www.sojern.com/privacy/privacy-center.

16. Podcast Hosting Service Podigee

We use the podcast hosting service Podigee from the provider Podigee GmbH, Schlesische Straße 20, 10997 Berlin, Germany. The podcasts are loaded by Podigee or transmitted via Podigee.
Podigee is used on the basis of an order processing agreement concluded in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR. The processing of the data resulting from the use of the services is based on our legitimate interests, i.e. interest in the secure and efficient provision, analysis and optimization of our podcast offer in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR. Podigee processes IP addresses and device information to enable podcast downloads/playbacks and to determine statistical data, such as the number of downloads. This data is anonymized before being stored in Podigee's database.

Further information and objection options can be found in the Podigee privacy policy.

17. Transfers to Third Parties and Processors

We do not process your personal data without your consent. Transfers to third parties only take place with your consent and insofar as this is necessary to fulfill your wishes and requirements. Excluded from this are transfers that are necessary for the security of our websites, e.g. to defend against hacker attacks.

The transfer of data to processors (service providers) only takes place to companies that offer sufficient guarantees for the lawful and secure use of data. Agreements have been concluded with all processors in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR to ensure that all data protection and data security requirements are met.

18. Duration of Data Storage

Data that we process on the basis of your consent will remain stored until you withdraw your consent. Cookies remain stored until the end of their respective lifespan, unless you delete them beforehand. Otherwise, we will retain your personal data in accordance with the applicable statutory periods. If we have to retain data in order to protect ourselves against any legal claims, it will be stored for the duration of the statutory limitation periods (usually three years).

19. Rights of Data Subjects

You can withdraw your consent at any time. Please use the technical options provided for this purpose. You can also contact us at the addresses listed under point 2.

At the addresses given above, you can at any time

  • Request information about the personal data stored about you,

  • request the correction, deletion or restriction of the processing of the stored data

  • assert your right to data portability in accordance with the provisions of data protection law.

You have the right to object to the processing of your data at any time if it is used for the purpose of direct advertising. If we process your data on the basis of our overriding legitimate interests, you can object to the processing on grounds relating to your particular situation.

You also have the option of lodging a complaint with a data protection authority. In Austria, the competent authority is the Austrian Data Protection Authority, Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna, Austria.

Status: January 2024

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