Effective date: 19th August 2026
Fifth String Fine Instruments, Salztorgasse 2/16, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
info@fifthstringfineinstruments.com
Contact data (name, email address and telephone number) when you contact us, submit an enquiry or arrange an appointment.
Business and transaction data (instrument details, photographs, evaluation notes, provenance information, trial arrangements and consignment or sale records).
Communications (emails, messages and other information you send us).
Usage data (IP address, browser, device, pages visited and access times) through Squarespace and our website analytics.
Cookies and similar technologies (see “Cookies” below).
Why we use your data & legal bases
Respond to enquiries and provide services — to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform a contract.
Arrange evaluations, consultations and trials — to take requested pre-contractual steps or perform an agreement.
Operations and security — for our legitimate interests in operating the website, maintaining business records, preventing misuse and protecting our services.
Marketing (optional) — to send news or updates where you have provided consent. You may withdraw consent at any time.
Compliance — to meet accounting, tax and other legal obligations, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Analytics — to understand and improve website performance where you have consented to non-essential analytics cookies.
Sharing & processors
We use trusted service providers as processors, including Squarespace for website hosting, website functionality, form delivery and analytics. We may also use email, cloud-storage, accounting, payment, insurance, transport and professional advisory providers where necessary to respond to an enquiry or complete a transaction. These providers receive only the information reasonably necessary to perform their services.
Some providers may process data outside the European Economic Area. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as an adequacy decision or European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses.
We do not sell your personal data.
Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. General or unsuccessful enquiries may be retained for up to 24 months after the last meaningful contact. Information relating to an active consultation, trial, consignment or sale is retained for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards. Contracts, invoices and accounting records are retained for the periods required by Austrian law. Data may be retained for longer where necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.
Your rights (EU/EEA)
You may request access, rectification, erasure, restriction and portability of your personal data, and you may object to certain processing. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
To exercise your rights, contact info@fifthstringfineinstruments.com. We may request sufficient information to confirm your identity.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority:
Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde, Barichgasse 40–42, 1030 Vienna, Austria
+43 1 52 152-0
Cookies
We use strictly necessary cookies to operate and secure the website. With your consent, we may also use analytics cookies to understand how visitors use the website and improve its performance.
Non-essential cookies and third-party technologies are activated only after you provide consent. You may accept, decline or manage your choices through our cookie banner. You may withdraw or change your consent at any time through the cookie settings available on the website. You can also remove stored cookies through your browser settings.
Your choices: Use the cookie banner to Accept, Decline or Manage your preferences. Declining non-essential cookies will not prevent you from accessing the main content of the website.
Cookies we use:
Essential (always active): Squarespace functional and security cookies required to operate the website, protect it against misuse and remember your privacy preferences.
Analytics (with consent): Squarespace Analytics cookies used to measure visits, page views and website performance.
Third-party content (with consent): Technologies that may be used when displaying content from services such as Instagram. Those services may process technical information under their own privacy policies.
Marketing: We do not currently use advertising or marketing cookies.
Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures, including HTTPS, access controls and trusted service providers, to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure. No method of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Children
Our services are not specifically directed at children. Where a minor participates in an instrument trial or transaction, we may require the involvement and authorisation of a parent or legal guardian. We do not knowingly use children’s personal data for marketing.
Changes
We may update this Privacy Policy when our services, website technologies or legal obligations change. The current version will be published on this page together with its effective date.
Contact: For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email [info@fifthstringfineinstruments.com