IMPRESSUM & RECHTSHINWEISE

🔒 Privacy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 06 October 2026

1. Responsible Person

The person responsible for the processing of personal data in connection with Footprints and Friendships, our website and the hikes organized by us is:

Footprints and Friendships
Responsible person: Viola Orjabincova
Address: Untere Eichstädtstraße 16, 04299, Leipzig, Germany
Telephone: +49 163 9093647
Email: mail@footprintsandfriendships.de

2. What Personal Data Do We Process?

When using our website, registering for our hikes and communicating with participants, we may process the following personal data in particular:

• First and last name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Information about hiking experience and hiking knowledge
• Voluntary information about personal circumstances or limitations that should be taken into consideration when carrying out a hike
• Voluntarily provided information about disabilities or a degree of disability (GdB), insofar as this information is relevant to participation or safety
• Information about an emergency contact person (first and last name, telephone number)
• Information about registrations and participation in our events
• Information voluntarily provided to us as part of registration or communication

In addition, technical data may be processed when you visit our website.

3. Purpose of Processing

We process personal data in particular for the following purposes:

• Organizing and conducting our hikes
• Processing and managing registrations
• Communicating with participants
• Providing important organizational information
• Informing participants about changes, postponements or cancellations of events
• Contacting participants in connection with their participation
• Taking voluntarily provided information into consideration where this is relevant to the safe and appropriate conduct of a hike
• Managing our participant and invitation lists
• Informing participants about future hikes and events organized by Footprints and Friendships, provided that the appropriate consent has been given
• Improving and technically operating our website

4. Invitations to Future Events

We would also like to inform participants about future hikes, events and other offers from Footprints and Friendships. Participants may voluntarily be added to our invitation management system.

Ongoing information about future events will only be provided on the basis of an appropriate legal basis, in particular voluntary consent. Consent may be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future.

Following withdrawal of consent, contact details will no longer be used for the relevant invitations and event information unless there is another legal basis for the communication.

5. Storage of Personal Data

As a general rule, we only store personal data for as long as it is necessary for the respective purpose. Registration data may be stored for the organization and conduct of a hike as well as for subsequent administrative processing.

If a person has consented to receiving information about future events from Footprints and Friendships, the contact details required for this purpose may be stored for the duration of the consent. Consent may be withdrawn at any time.

Once the respective purpose no longer applies, the data will be deleted unless statutory retention obligations or other legal reasons require longer storage.

6. Emergency Contact

As part of the registration process, participants may voluntarily provide an emergency contact person. The following information may be collected: first and last name and telephone number.

The emergency contact person's data will only be used to contact that person in the event of an emergency or a comparable urgent situation in connection with the hike. The emergency contact person will not be contacted for advertising, invitations to events or other marketing purposes.

The participant is responsible for informing the designated emergency contact person that their contact details have been provided and explaining how they may be used for the stated purpose.

The emergency contact person's data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for the stated purpose, unless statutory retention obligations prevent this.

7. Voluntary Information About Personal Circumstances and Health Data

Providing information about personal circumstances, physical limitations, disabilities or other health-related information is voluntary. Such information should only be provided if it is relevant to participation, individual support or the safe conduct of a hike.

We ask participants not to provide detailed medical diagnoses or other information that is not necessary for the hike.

Where such information constitutes health data or another special category of personal data within the meaning of Article 9 GDPR, it will only be processed on the basis of an appropriate legal basis. Where explicit consent is required, this consent will be obtained separately. Such consent may be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future.

8. Legal Bases for Processing

Depending on the purpose, personal data is processed in particular on the following legal bases:

• Article 6(1)(b) GDPR, insofar as processing is necessary for the organization and conduct of an agreed participation;
• Article 6(1)(a) GDPR, insofar as consent has been given;
• Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, insofar as processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests and these interests are not overridden by the interests of the data subject.

For health data and other special categories of personal data, the additional requirements of Article 9 GDPR apply.

9. Disclosure of Personal Data

Personal data will generally not be disclosed to third parties without an appropriate legal basis. Disclosure may be necessary where this is required for the conduct of a hike, the operation of our website, compliance with legal obligations or the prevention or management of an emergency.

In the event of a medical or other emergency, necessary information may be disclosed to emergency services, medical personnel or other parties required to provide assistance, insofar as this is legally permissible and necessary to prevent or address the danger.

10. Rights of Data Subjects

Subject to the applicable legal requirements, data subjects have the following rights in particular:

• The right to obtain information about their stored personal data
• The right to correct inaccurate data
• The right to have their personal data deleted
• The right to restrict processing
• The right to data portability, where the legal requirements are met
• The right to object to certain processing activities
• The right to withdraw consent with effect for the future

To exercise these rights, please contact the responsible person listed above.

11. Right to Lodge a Complaint with a Data Protection Supervisory Authority

Data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority concerning the processing of their personal data. In particular, the competent authority may be the data protection supervisory authority of the federal state in which the responsible person is based.

12. Contact

If a person contacts us by email, telephone or through a contact form, we process the information provided for the purpose of handling the inquiry. The data will be deleted once the purpose of the communication has been fulfilled and there are no statutory retention obligations or other legal reasons requiring further storage.

13. Technical Data When Visiting the Website

When visiting our website, technical data may be processed for reasons necessary for the provision and security of the website. This may include, in particular:

• IP address
• Date and time of access
• Browser used
• Operating system
• Pages accessed
• Technical information about the device being used

The data actually collected depends in particular on our hosting provider and the technical design of our website.

14. Cookies, External Services and Embedded Content

Our website may use various technical services, external content and tools. Which services are actually used depends on the technical design of our website.

14.1 Website Hosting

Our website is operated through an external hosting provider. The hosting provider provides the technical infrastructure for our website and may process personal data that is technically generated when the website is visited. This may include IP addresses, access times, browser information, operating system information and other technical connection data.

Hosting provider: OVH SAS is a subsidiary of OVH Groupe SA, a company registered in the Lille Trade and Companies Register under registration number 537 407 926, with its registered office located at 2, Rue Kellermann, 59100 Roubaix, France.

Processing is carried out in particular for the technical provision, stability and security of our website.

14.2 Registration and Contact Forms

We use forms on our own website for registration for our hikes and for contacting us. No external form provider is used for this. The following data may be processed in particular:

• First and last name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Information about hiking experience
• Voluntary information about special needs or limitations
• Information about an emergency contact person
• Other voluntarily provided information

14.3 Instagram

We operate the Instagram account Footprints and Friendships under the username @footprintsandfriendships. Our website may contain a link to our Instagram profile.

Footprints and Friendships on Instagram

If you click the link to our Instagram profile, you will leave our website and be redirected to Instagram. From that point onward, Instagram's and Meta Platforms Ireland Limited's privacy policies apply. If you simply visit our website without clicking the Instagram link, no Instagram content is loaded through this link.

Our Instagram profile may contain information about upcoming hikes, events, photographs and other content relating to Footprints and Friendships.

Provider:
Meta Platforms Ireland Limited
4 Grand Canal Square
Grand Canal Harbour
Dublin 2, Ireland

Further information about data processing by Meta and Instagram can be found in the privacy information provided by the respective provider.

Note: If Instagram content, posts, Reels or an Instagram feed are embedded directly into our website in the future, this Privacy Policy will be updated accordingly.

14.4 Newsletter and Email Distribution

We use an external email or newsletter service to send information about new hikes, events and other offers from Footprints and Friendships. The following data may be processed in particular:

• First name
• Last name
• Email address
• Information about consent and unsubscribing
• Where applicable, technical information about the receipt and use of the messages sent

Provider: Brevo (Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker Straße 126, 10179 Berlin, Germany). In principle, people will only be added to the mailing list with the appropriate consent. Consent may be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future.

14.5 Cookies

Our website uses cookies. Cookies are small text files that may be stored on visitors' devices. We distinguish in particular between:

• Technically necessary cookies required for the operation of the website
• Functional cookies that enable certain functions
• Analytics and statistics cookies
• Marketing and tracking cookies

Where consent is required for the use of certain cookies, these cookies will only be used after the relevant consent has been given. We currently use only technically necessary cookies. Consent can be changed or withdrawn at any time through the cookie settings on our website (via the "Cookie settings" link in the footer).

14.6 External Links

Our website may contain links to external websites, social networks and other online services. When a person clicks on such a link, they leave our website and are directed to the service of the respective third-party provider. The respective provider is responsible for data processing taking place there.

This may include links to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networks.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy if changes are made to our website, the services we offer or the applicable legal requirements. The current version published on our website shall apply.

Last updated: 06 October 2026