Privacy Policy

1. Controller

The controller within the meaning of the GDPR is:

Technische Antriebselemente GmbH
Lademannbogen 45, 22339 Hamburg
Phone: +49 [40] 5388921-0
Email: info@tea-hamburg.de

Managing Director: Mark P. Steffens

2. General Information on Data Processing

We process personal data of our users only to the extent necessary to provide a functional website and our content and services. Personal data is processed on a regular basis only with the user's consent, or in cases where obtaining prior consent is not possible for practical reasons and processing of the data is permitted by law.

Where we obtain the user's consent for processing of personal data, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR serves as the legal basis. For processing of personal data required for the performance of a contract, Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR serves as the legal basis. For processing operations required to safeguard our legitimate interests, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR serves as the legal basis.

3. Hosting and Server Log Files

This website is hosted by Host Europe GmbH, c/o Spaces, Gertrudenstraße 30-36, 50667 Cologne, Germany. Data processing takes place exclusively on servers located in Germany. Further information: https://www.hosteurope.de/AGB/

Our hosting provider automatically collects information in so-called server log files on each access to this website, which your browser automatically transmits. These are: browser type and version, operating system used, referrer URL, hostname of the accessing computer, time of the server request, and IP address.

This data is not merged with other data sources. The collection of this data is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the technically error-free display and optimization of its website — server log files must be collected for this purpose.

Server log files are automatically deleted after a maximum of 30 days.

4. SSL/TLS Encryption

This website uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons. You can recognize an encrypted connection by the fact that the browser's address bar switches from "http://" to "https://" and by the padlock symbol in your browser bar. When SSL or TLS encryption is active, the data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

5. Cookies and Consent Management (Usercentrics)

This website uses cookies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device. Some cookies are technically necessary for the operation of the website (legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); others are only set after your explicit consent (legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).

We use Usercentrics as a Consent Management Platform (CMP) to manage your cookie consent. When you first visit our website, a cookie banner is displayed through which you can grant or refuse consent to individual categories. Your settings are saved in a cookie so that the query does not need to be repeated on a return visit. You can revoke or adjust your consent at any time by accessing the cookie settings via the corresponding icon at the bottom of the screen.

Provider: Usercentrics GmbH, Sendlinger Straße 7, 80331 Munich. Further information: https://usercentrics.com/privacy-policy/

The use of Usercentrics is based on Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR in conjunction with Section 25(1) TDDDG, as we are legally obligated to obtain consent for the processing of certain data.

6. Google Tag Manager

This website uses the Google Tag Manager, a service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland ("Google"). Google Tag Manager is a solution that allows us to manage so-called website tags via an interface. The Tag Manager itself does not set cookies and does not collect personal data. It merely triggers other tags, which may in turn collect data. Google Tag Manager does not access this data.

The services integrated via the Tag Manager (see subsequent sections) are only activated after you have granted your consent via Usercentrics. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent).

7. Google Analytics 4

If you have given your consent, this website uses Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google Ireland Limited. Google Analytics 4 uses cookies and similar technologies that enable an analysis of your use of the website. The information generated is usually transmitted to a Google server and stored there.

IP anonymization: IP anonymization is activated by default in Google Analytics 4. Your IP address is shortened by Google within member states of the EU or the EEA before transmission. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there.

Purpose: On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide other services related to website usage to the website operator.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent via Usercentrics).

Retention period: Data sent by us and linked to cookies is automatically deleted after 14 months. Deletion of data whose retention period has been reached occurs automatically once a month.

Withdrawal: You can revoke your consent at any time via the cookie settings. In addition, you can prevent Google Analytics from collecting data by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

For more information on Google's privacy practices: https://policies.google.com/privacy

8. Google Ads Conversion Tracking

If you have given your consent, this website uses Google Ads Conversion Tracking, a service provided by Google Ireland Limited. When you click on an ad served by Google, a cookie for conversion tracking is placed on your computer. These cookies have a limited validity and are used to attribute certain actions (e.g., contact requests) to the advertisement that led to the visit; personal data (e.g., a click identifier) may be processed in this context.

Via this cookie, Google can recognize that a user has clicked on an ad and subsequently performed a defined action on our website. We do not receive any information that allows users to be personally identified. If you do not wish to participate in tracking, you can revoke your consent at any time via the cookie settings.

Enhanced Conversions

Where you have consented, we use the Google Ads "Enhanced Conversions" feature. When you submit our contact or quote form, the contact details you provide there — your email address and, if provided, your first and last name and phone number — are already encrypted (hashed) in your browser using the irreversible SHA-256 procedure and transmitted to Google solely in this pseudonymized form. Google matches these hash values against signed-in Google accounts in order to attribute the ad through which you reached us to the conversion (your request). No plain-text data is transmitted to Google for this purpose.

The purpose of this processing is the reliable and more privacy-friendly measurement of the success of our advertising campaigns. Transmission only takes place if you have previously consented to the "Marketing" category; without consent, no data is transmitted. You can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future via the cookie settings. The lawfulness of processing carried out until revocation remains unaffected.

The recipient is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; a transfer to Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, cannot be excluded (see section "Data transfer to third countries"). Google also processes the transmitted data for its own purposes and may act as an independent or joint controller in this respect. Further information: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Beyond the data already collected via the contact form, we do not store any additional data ourselves; the retention period of the hash values transmitted to Google is governed by Google's specifications and the respective conversion window.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent) in conjunction with Section 25(1) TDDDG (consent for accessing information on your terminal device); consent obtained via Usercentrics.

9. Microsoft Advertising (UET)

If you have given your consent, this website uses Universal Event Tracking (UET) from Microsoft Advertising, a service provided by Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399, USA. A cookie is stored on your device that enables analysis of your usage behavior if you have arrived at our website via a Microsoft ad (e.g., via Bing).

Microsoft and we can thereby recognize that someone has clicked on an ad and has been directed to our website. We only learn the total number of users who clicked on an ad and performed a defined action — not the identity of individual users.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent via Usercentrics).

Further information: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement

10. Contact Form and Quote Requests

When you contact us via the contact form or by email, the data you provide (e.g., name, company, email address, phone number, message text, and any requested products and quantities) is stored for the purpose of processing your request and for any follow-up questions.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (pre-contractual measures), insofar as your request is aimed at concluding a contract; otherwise Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in responding to customer inquiries).

Retention period: The data you enter in the contact form will remain with us until you request deletion, revoke your consent to storage, or the purpose for data storage ceases to apply (e.g., after your request has been fully processed). Mandatory legal provisions — in particular retention periods under the German Commercial Code (HGB) and the German Fiscal Code (AO) — remain unaffected.

Provision of your data is voluntary. However, without the information marked as mandatory fields, we may be unable to process your request, or unable to do so in full.

11. Newsletter and spam protection

Newsletter (sent via Brevo)

You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our website. For this purpose we process the email address you provide in order to send you the newsletter.

Subscription uses the double opt-in procedure: after signing up you receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Your email address is only added to the mailing list after this confirmation. To document the subscription, we store the time of sign-up and of confirmation as well as the IP address used in each case.

Legal basis: Your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future — for example via the unsubscribe link in every newsletter. The withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before it. Your email address is stored for the purpose of sending the newsletter until you unsubscribe.

We use the service provider Brevo to send the newsletter. The provider is Brevo GmbH, Köpenicker Straße 126, 10179 Berlin, Germany (registered in the commercial register of the Berlin-Charlottenburg local court under HRB 133191; formerly Sendinblue GmbH). Brevo processes the data exclusively on our behalf on the basis of a data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR. Processing takes place on servers within the European Union.

Spam protection: Google reCAPTCHA

Our newsletter sign-up form is protected by the reCAPTCHA service (version 3) to prevent automated input (bots) and misuse. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

reCAPTCHA analyses various information in the background (including IP address, time spent on the website, mouse and keyboard input, device and browser information) to assess whether the input is made by a human. This data is transmitted to Google and evaluated there. Transmission to Google servers, including in the USA, cannot be ruled out.

Legal basis: Our legitimate interest in protecting our website and forms against spam and misuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) in conjunction with Section 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG (protection against automated misuse that is strictly necessary to provide the service you have expressly requested).

Further information can be found in Google's privacy policy and the Google reCAPTCHA terms of use.

12. Live Chat (Tawk.to)

We use the live chat service Tawk.to on our website, provided by tawk.to inc., 187 East Warm Springs Rd, SB298, Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA. Tawk.to enables you to communicate with our staff in real time.

When you use the chat, the following data is processed: your chat messages, your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referrer URL, time of access, and any personal data you voluntarily provide (e.g., name, email address). Tawk.to also sets cookies to ensure chat functionality and to recognize returning visitors.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent via Usercentrics). The chat is only loaded after your active consent via the cookie consent banner. Section 25(1) TDDDG (consent for technically non-essential cookies).

Data transfer to third countries: When using the chat, data is transmitted to Tawk.to servers in the USA. Tawk.to is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and thus provides an adequate level of data protection pursuant to Art. 45 GDPR.

Retention period: Chat histories are stored for the duration of the customer relationship and deleted at the latest after 12 months of inactivity, unless statutory retention obligations apply.

Further information: https://www.tawk.to/privacy-policy/

13. Request Cart (B2B Shop)

Our request cart is used exclusively for the non-binding compilation of product inquiries. No purchase is concluded via the website. The data entered in the cart and the associated inquiry form is processed for the purpose of handling your request.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (pre-contractual measures).

14. AI Inquiry Assistant (anfrage.technische-antriebselemente.de)

On our subdomain anfrage.technische-antriebselemente.de, we offer customers who have sent us an incomplete inquiry an AI-powered assistant. By asking targeted follow-up questions, it helps structure the technical inquiry so that our sales team can quickly and accurately prepare a quotation. The subdomain is not publicly indexed; access is exclusively via an individual token link that our sales team sends to customers when needed.

Purpose of processing: Structuring technical customer inquiries, improving efficiency of sales processing.

Data processed:

• IP address (technically required)
• Browser and device metadata
• Technical inquiry data voluntarily entered by the user (e.g., component, dimensions, application)

Before the conversation begins, we expressly advise that no personal data (names, addresses, phone numbers) should be entered. Such data is collected during the subsequent sales contact.

Recipients / Processors:

• Anthropic PBC, 548 Market Street, PMB 90375, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA — AI language models (Claude). A Data Processing Agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR is in place. Anthropic contractually guarantees that API data is not used for training purposes.
• Hostinger International Ltd., Švitrigailos g. 34, Vilnius 03104, Lithuania — Server hosting within the EU.
• GitHub Inc., 88 Colin P. Kelly Jr. Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA — Source code repository (no customer data contact).

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (pre-contractual measures) and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in the efficient processing of technical inquiries).

Third-country transfer: Data is transferred to Anthropic in the USA for AI processing. Standard Contractual Clauses pursuant to Art. 46 GDPR serve as the appropriate safeguard.

Retention period: Server logs are automatically deleted after 90 days. Conversation content is not retained beyond the time required for processing after handover to our sales team.

Cookies / tracking: No cookies or tracking are used.

15. Data Transfers to Third Countries

Where we use services from providers based in the USA (Google, Microsoft), a transfer of personal data to the USA is possible. The USA has an adequacy decision from the EU Commission (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework). Providers certified under the Data Privacy Framework provide an adequate level of data protection.

Where no adequacy decision exists, we base the data transfer on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission pursuant to Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR.

16. Your Rights as a Data Subject

You have the following rights under the GDPR:

Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR): You have the right to request information about the personal data we process about you.

Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR): You may request the correction of inaccurate or the completion of your data stored with us.

Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR): You may request deletion of your data, provided no statutory retention obligations apply.

Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR): You may request restriction of the processing of your data.

Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR): You have the right to receive the data concerning you in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR): If processing is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, you have the right to object at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation.

No automated decision-making: No automated decision-making, including profiling, within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place.

To exercise your rights, please contact: info@tea-hamburg.de

17. Right to Lodge a Complaint with a Supervisory Authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority about the processing of your personal data. The supervisory authority responsible for us is:

The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information
Ludwig-Erhard-Str. 22, 7th floor
20459 Hamburg
https://datenschutz-hamburg.de

18. Timeliness and Amendments to This Privacy Policy

This privacy policy is currently valid (as of May 2026). Due to the further development of our website or changes to legal or regulatory requirements, it may be necessary to amend this privacy policy. The current version can be accessed at any time on this page.

Last updated: May 2026 · Technische Antriebselemente GmbH, Hamburg