Privacy

Controller

Benjamin Schwarze (gearald), Elsteraue 9, 04159 Leipzig, Germany
Email: benjamin@gearald.com

In short

gearald sets no cookies, uses no third-party tracking services and loads no third-party content (fonts and icons are served from our own server). For simple audience and loading-time statistics we count ourselves – without cookies and without storing your IP address (see below).

Server logs

When you visit our website, the web server automatically stores access data (IP address, date and time, page requested, referrer URL, browser identifier, HTTP status code, amount of data transferred, response time). This serves to keep the site running and to defend against attacks (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR). Log files are rotated daily and deleted automatically after 14 days at the latest.

To protect against attacks, an automatic filter (fail2ban) evaluates these logs. Suspicious IP addresses are blocked for one hour; the list of blocked addresses is cleaned up after one day.

Audience and loading time

So we know which pages are read and how fast they load, your browser sends the following to our own server once when you leave a page: the page visited, the referring website (domain name only), the window width (from which we only derive "mobile", "tablet" or "desktop") and technical loading-time measurements. To count visitors without recognising them, we create a shortened hash of IP address and browser identifier combined with a random value that is kept only in memory and renewed daily. We do not store the IP address itself; recognising you across days is not possible. No cookies are set and no data is passed to third parties. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in a working, fast website).

Counting shop links

Clicks on shop links go through our own redirect (/go/…). We only store the time, language and device – no IP address and no identifier. Only the retailer's shop may set its own cookies after the click; its privacy policy applies.

Contact form and “Report a device” form

We store what you enter in either form on our own server in order to reply to you or check your tip. For the contact form this is your email address, your message and, if you provide it, your name; when reporting a device, providing a contact is optional. We do not pass the data on. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR, or Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR for enquiries about a contract. We delete the data once it is no longer needed, and automatically after twelve months at the latest.

The same applies if you email us.

Photo submissions

If you send us a photo via the “Send a photo” form, we store on our own server: the photo, the chosen device, the name and optional link for the photo credit, your email address for questions, the time and the exact wording of the statements you agreed to. We do not store an IP address for this. Your browser removes camera data such as EXIF and GPS coordinates before sending; anything arriving without JavaScript is cleaned by the server.

We use this information to review your photo, to reach you with questions and to credit you with the photo. Name and link become publicly visible once we show your photo; the email address stays internal. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (the agreement on the use of your photo).

If we decline a photo, we delete it right away. Submissions we have not handled are deleted after twelve months. If we show your photo, we keep the photo and your consent as long as the photo is online and afterwards as long as we need to prove the grant of rights. You can revoke your permission at any time by email for the future; we will then remove the photo within 14 days.

Hosting

The site runs on a dedicated server of Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany, in the Falkenstein data centre (Germany). A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is in place with Hetzner.

Your rights

You have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection and data portability, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.