Datenschutzerklärung gemäß DSGVO / GDPR
We take the protection of your personal data very seriously. This privacy policy explains what information we collect — and, more importantly, what we do not collect — when you visit this website or contact us about a private walking tour in Cologne. We are committed to processing personal data only where necessary and in full compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR / DSGVO), the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), and the German Telecommunications and Telemedia Data Protection Act (TDDDG).
The controller responsible for data processing on this website within the meaning of Article 4(7) GDPR is:
Sehenswert CGN GmbH
Rheinkontor / Agrippinawerft 6
50678 Köln, Germany
Represented by: Stephanie Biernat
Email: office@privatetourcologne.com
Phone: +49 173 966 58 31
If you have any questions about how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise your rights under data protection law, please contact us at the email address above.
This website is designed to respect your privacy to the greatest extent possible. We have made a deliberate decision not to use any analytics tools, tracking scripts, or cookies of any kind.
We do not use Google Analytics, Matomo, Plausible, or any other web analytics or audience measurement tool. No visitor statistics are collected, no page views are counted, and no user behaviour is tracked or analysed. We have no insight into how many people visit this website, which pages they view, how long they stay, or where they come from.
This website does not set any cookies — neither first-party cookies nor third-party cookies. There are no session cookies, no persistent cookies, no tracking cookies, and no advertising cookies. Because we do not use cookies, no cookie consent banner is required or displayed.
We do not use tracking pixels, web beacons, canvas fingerprinting, browser fingerprinting, or any other technology designed to identify or follow individual visitors across the web. We do not participate in any advertising network or retargeting scheme.
This website does not load any third-party JavaScript libraries, social media plugins, embedded videos, or externally hosted resources that could transmit your data to third parties. All fonts, stylesheets, and scripts are hosted locally on our own server. No data is sent to Google, Facebook, Meta, or any other technology company when you visit this website.
This website is hosted by a professional web hosting provider. When you access this website, your browser automatically transmits certain technical information to our web server. This is a standard technical process required for delivering the web page to your browser and cannot be avoided.
The following data may be temporarily processed in server log files:
This data is processed solely for the purpose of ensuring the secure and stable operation of the website, and for identifying and resolving technical errors. The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in the secure operation of the website). Server log files are deleted automatically after a short retention period (typically 7 to 30 days, depending on the hosting provider's configuration). We do not merge this data with any other data source, and we do not use it to identify individual visitors.
If you contact us by email or WhatsApp to enquire about a private tour, book a tour, or ask a question, we will process the personal data you provide in your message. This typically includes:
We process this data solely for the purpose of responding to your enquiry and, if applicable, arranging and carrying out a private tour. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a contract or pre-contractual measures taken at your request). If your enquiry does not lead to a booking, we delete your data once the conversation is concluded, unless we are required by law to retain it for a longer period.
If you choose to contact us via WhatsApp, your message is transmitted through the WhatsApp service, which is operated by WhatsApp Ireland Limited (part of Meta Platforms, Inc.). WhatsApp processes certain metadata (such as your phone number, the time of the message, and device information) in accordance with its own privacy policy. We have no control over WhatsApp's data processing. We recommend that you review WhatsApp's privacy policy before contacting us through this channel. You are always welcome to contact us by email instead if you prefer not to use WhatsApp.
If you send us an email, your message is transmitted through standard email infrastructure. Email communication is generally not end-to-end encrypted unless both parties use additional encryption tools. We store your emails and our replies in our email system for as long as necessary to handle your enquiry and any resulting booking. Emails relating to completed bookings may be retained for up to 10 years in accordance with German commercial and tax law retention requirements (§ 257 HGB, § 147 AO).
This website contains links to external websites, specifically to WhatsApp (wa.me) for messaging and to sehenswert-koeln.de (the website of our parent company). When you click on an external link, you leave our website and are subject to the privacy policy of the respective external site. We have no control over the content or data processing practices of external websites and accept no responsibility for them.
This website does not integrate any social media plugins, share buttons, or embedded feeds from platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, or LinkedIn. No data is transmitted to any social media platform when you visit this website. If we maintain profiles on social media platforms separately, visiting this website does not create any connection to those profiles.
This website uses SSL/TLS encryption (recognisable by "https://" in the browser address bar and, in most browsers, a padlock icon). SSL/TLS encryption protects the data transmitted between your browser and our server against interception by third parties. This is an industry-standard security measure.
Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at office@privatetourcologne.com.
You have the right to request confirmation as to whether we are processing personal data concerning you, and if so, to obtain access to that data and certain additional information (such as the purposes of processing, the categories of data concerned, and the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the data has been disclosed).
You have the right to request the correction of inaccurate personal data concerning you, and to have incomplete personal data completed.
You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data where, among other grounds, the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, you withdraw your consent (where consent was the legal basis), or the data has been unlawfully processed. This right is subject to certain exceptions, for example where we are legally required to retain the data.
You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we verify the accuracy of the data following a contestation by you.
Where processing is based on consent or on a contract and is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and to transmit that data to another controller.
You have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of your personal data which is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest). If you object, we will no longer process the personal data concerned unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights, and freedoms.
You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that our processing of your personal data infringes the GDPR. The competent supervisory authority for our company is:
Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kavalleriestraße 2–4
40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
Website: www.ldi.nrw.de
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Specifically:
This website is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. Our tours welcome families with children of any age, but all bookings and correspondence should be conducted by an adult.
We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. The current version is always available on this page. We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically.
Last updated: June 2026