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Privacy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2 May 2026

Note: This is a non-binding English translation provided for convenience. The legally binding version of this privacy policy is the German original.
Status: This privacy policy is a well-founded draft and will be reviewed by legal counsel before its final publication. Open points (data-processing agreements with the services used, the specific tracking configuration) are still being clarified. No statement is made regarding legal certainty.

This statement describes how ahead processes personal data when you visit this website, register for an event, apply for one of our formats, or contact us. The applicable laws are the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and, in Austria, the DSG (Austrian Data Protection Act).

The controller for the processing operations referred to in § 1 is M&K Event GmbH (organiser of the DACH events). The owner of the trademark and domain and operator of the platform is SHINK BIG LLC; the precise data-protection allocation of the website- and magazine-related processing operations is subject to the legal review (see Imprint).

1. Controller

Controller
M&K Event GmbH
Address
Europastraße 10, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
Commercial register
FN 638216 d, Regional Court of Salzburg
Management
Sebastian Klein · Christoph Martin
Email
hello@aheadx.at
Phone
+43 662 285000
Data protection officer
Not appointed (no statutory obligation).

Please direct trademark- and domain-related matters to Shink Big LLC, 7901 4th St N, Ste 300, St Petersburg, FL 33702, USA, Document Number L24000079118.

2. Which data we process

2.1 When you visit the website

  • Server logs: IP address (anonymised), date, time, requested URL, referrer, user agent. Stored for a maximum of 14 days for security and error analysis.
  • Local storage: This website currently sets no consent-requiring cookies. Only technically necessary browser storage entries are used (localStorage/sessionStorage, see §7). No third-party tracking, no Google Analytics, no Meta pixels.
  • Map embeds: The city detail pages display an OpenStreetMap. The map is loaded via tile.openstreetmap.org, during which connection data is transmitted to the OpenStreetMap Foundation. More at OSM Privacy Policy.

2.2 For ticket bookings

Tickets are sold via the external platform Eventbrite. Their privacy policies apply in addition. ahead receives registration lists from these platforms containing name, email and, where applicable, industry, for the purpose of running the event.

2.3 For applications (speaker, partner) and enquiries (workshop, future)

When you contact us via one of our application or enquiry forms, we process the data you enter in order to review and respond to it, typically name, email, phone, company, role, region and a free-text field. Legal basis: pre-contractual relationship (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

We store application data for 24 months after the last communication, after which it is deleted. If a contract is concluded, the retention periods under commercial and tax law apply.

2.4 For reminder sign-ups

When you sign up for "Let me know when sales start", we store only your email and the event you are interested in. We send a single message when sales start; afterwards the entry is deleted. Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), revocable at any time.

2.5 For newsletter / email correspondence

When you send us an email (to hello@aheadx.at), we process the contents to respond to your enquiry. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in responding).

3. Recipients of the data

  • Hosting: Hostinger International Ltd. (Lithuania). The website is delivered as a static site; the data referred to in §2.1 is recorded in the server logs. The data-processing agreement under the provider's terms is subject to the legal review.
  • Form delivery: Web3Forms. Application, enquiry and contact forms are delivered to the ahead mailboxes via HTTPS through Web3Forms (the form fields you enter are transmitted).
  • Newsletter dispatch: Brevo. Only becomes active once the newsletter function is enabled; until then Brevo processes no data from this website.
  • Ticket platforms: Eventbrite (Eventbrite, Inc., USA), their own privacy policies apply.
  • Map provider: OpenStreetMap Foundation, UK.
  • Avatars: DiceBear (Florian Körner, DE), placeholder avatars are pre-rendered on the server.
  • Images: Individual hero and city images are loaded from Unsplash (Unsplash Inc., USA). When an image is fetched, the browser's IP address is transmitted to Unsplash; Unsplash sets no cookies in doing so.

4. Transfer to third countries

Insofar as we transfer personal data to providers outside the EU/EEA, this is done on the basis of an adequacy decision by the EU Commission or via EU standard contractual clauses (SCC). Specific providers: see above.

5. Your rights

You have the right at any time to:

  • Access (Art. 15 GDPR), to what we have stored about you
  • Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), to have incorrect data corrected
  • Erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), insofar as no statutory retention obligations exist
  • Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
  • Data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
  • Objection (Art. 21 GDPR), to processing based on legitimate interests
  • Withdrawal of consent (Art. 7(3) GDPR), e.g. for the reminder list

You can address data protection requests with the subject line "Datenschutz" to hello@aheadx.at. We will respond within the statutory period of one month.

6. Right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. Competent in Austria: Austrian Data Protection Authority, Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna. For DE: BfDI. For CH: EDÖB.

7. Cookies & banner

This website currently operates cookie-free in terms of the consent requirement: no tracking cookies and no third-party pixels are set, so no cookie banner is shown either. Only technically necessary browser storage entries are used:

  • ahead-sticky-tickets-dismissed: remembers whether you dismissed the tickets bar. sessionStorage, deleted when the tab is closed.
  • ahead-cookie-consent: only set if consent-requiring tools are enabled in future and a consent banner appears; it then stores your banner choice (accepted / rejected) in localStorage, with no external transmission.

As soon as consent-requiring tools (e.g. newsletter or statistics tracking) are enabled, a consent banner with a reject option will appear, and this statement will be supplemented accordingly. In any case the site also functions fully without consent.

8. Images & video

Photos and video clips are produced at events (by commissioned photographers such as ©NussbaumerPhotography). They are used only with the documented consent of the persons depicted. Notice signs at the entrance draw attention to this.

9. Changes to this statement

We update this statement when processing purposes or providers change. The date stated above indicates the last change. In the event of material changes, we notify existing applicants and newsletter subscribers separately by email.