Privacy Policy

This privacy policy describes what information we collect when you visit this website, how we use that information, and what choices we offer you to access, update, and control it

We take the private nature of your personal information very seriously, and are committed to protecting it. To do that, we’ve set up procedures to ensure that your information is handled responsibly and in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy laws. We’re grateful for your trust, and we’ll act that way.

TYPES OF INFORMATION

“Personal information” is any information that we could use to identify an individual. It does not include personal information that is encoded or anonymized, or publicly available information that has not been combined with non-public information.

“Sensitive personal information,” is information that meets the “personal information” criteria and also a) reveals race, ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, or b) concerns health or sex life, information about social security benefits, or information on criminal or administrative proceedings other than in the context of pending legal proceedings.

HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION

We collect information two ways: Information we get from your use of this website (“Service”), and information you provide to us directly.

Information we get from your use of this website is primarily non-personally- identifying information of the sort that web browsers, servers, and services like Google Analytics typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the time of each visit. Other non-identifying information that we might have access to includes how you use the Service (e.g. search queries), your approximate location, cookies, etc.

We collect this non-personally-identifying information in order to better understand how visitors use the Service and, where possible, to improve their experience. For instance, we log the time it takes to run database queries so that we can improve performance. In some cases, we may publicly display information that is not personally identifying in the aggregate, (e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of the Service) or may provide the aggregate data to third parties.

When you use the Service, we also collect potentially personally identifying information in the form of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) accessed, and the unique identification number associated with the account. We don’t use that information to identify you, with one exception: we may discover, by reviewing log files, that a particular account is using the Service in a way that is degrading the experience for all Service users. If this is discovered, we may look up personally identifiable information associated with that account in order to contact the account owner. We handle and disclose this information in the same way we handle other potentially personally identifying information as described below.

Information you provide to us directly. Certain visitors to the Service choose to interact with it in ways that may require them to provide us with personally identifying information. The amount and type of information that is provided depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, we ask visitors who sign up for the Service to provide a real name, username, and email address. We only collect as much information as is necessary or appropriate given the type of interaction. We do not disclose personally identifying information other than as described below. And you can always refuse to supply personally identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent you from engaging in certain activities.

If you send us a request, such as emailing us for support, we reserve the right to publish it (absent any personally identifying information) in order to help us clarify or respond to your request or help other users.

In the process of supporting the Service, we may discover personally identifiable information associated with your account. The only personally identifiable information we may discover during the support process without your consent includes your email address. Any further information will not be discovered without your consent.

A cookie is a small piece of data that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. We use cookies to help us track visitors’ use of the Service and their preferences. If you do not wish to have cookies placed on your computer, you should set your browser to refuse cookies, but should be aware that certain features of the Service may not function properly without them.

If you are outside Germany, you should know that any personally identifiable information you enter into the Service will be transferred out of your country and into Germany, and possibly to other countries. By using the Service, you consent to such transfer, and are representing that you have the right to transfer such information outside your country.

We do not collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If you believe that a child has provided us with personally identifiable information without the consent of his or her parent or guardian, please contact us. If we become aware that a child under age 13 has provided us with personally identifiable information, we’ll delete it.

INFORMATION YOU CHOOSE TO DISPLAY PUBLICLY ON THE SERVICE

Some users may elect to publicly post personally identifying or sensitive information about themselves in their normal use of the Service. This could occur through use of the blog post comment feature. Information like that, which is voluntarily posted in publicly visible parts of the Service, is considered to be public, even if it would otherwise be considered to be personally identifying or sensitive. As such, it is not subject to the protocols listed below, because we don’t control it; you do. Additionally, voluntarily publicizing such information means that you lose any privacy rights you might normally have with regards to that information. It may also increase your chances of receiving unwanted communications, like spam.

Please also remember that if you choose to provide personally identifiable information using certain public features of the Service, individuals reading such information may use or disclose it to other individuals or entities without our control and without your knowledge, and search engines may index that information. We therefore urge you to think carefully about including any specific information you may deem private in content that you create or information that you submit through this Service.

INFORMATION YOU GIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE

This Policy only applies to information collected by this Service. It does not apply to the practices of companies that we don’t own or control, or employees that we don’t manage. Information on this Service may contain links to third party websites, and any information you provide to those sites will be covered by any privacy policies they may have. Please be sure to read the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit. It is those sites’ responsibility to protect any information you give them, so we can’t be held liable for their wrongful use of your personally identifying information.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Notice

Notice is what this privacy policy that you’re reading is all about. You are reading it, right? It’s important!

When we collect your personal information, we’ll tell you how we’re using it, any types of third parties to which we might disclose it, (other than “agents,” such as vendors or contractors, who are only processing such information for us or at our direction), and the choices we offer you to limit the use of your information.

Notice will be provided in clear and conspicuous language when you are first asked to provide us with personal information, or as soon as practicable thereafter, and we’ll notify you before we use the information for something other than the purpose for which it was originally collected. If anything in this policy seems unclear, please don’t hesitate to contact us, so we can address your question and possibly clarify this document.

Although most changes are likely to be minor, we may occasionally need to change this policy. If we do update it, we’ll notify you either by posting the new policy on the Service or by emailing you the changes or a link to the modified document. In any case, the way we use information you provide will be covered by the privacy policy that was in effect at the time it was collected.

Here are some of the ways we may use personal information you provide us:

We won’t share your personal information with non-agent third parties unless we are required to do so by law, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect our property, rights or those of third parties or the public at large. We will not rent or sell potentially personally identifying information to anyone.

If you are a registered user of this Service and have supplied your email address, we may occasionally send you an email to tell you about new features, solicit your feedback, or just keep you up to date with what’s going on with the Service. We generally use the Service to communicate this type of information, so we expect to keep this type of communication to a minimum. If we do send you information that you did not expressly request, we will provide you with a way to request that you don’t get any similar notices (opt-out).

Security

We work hard to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of personal information. All such electronic information is stored on restricted database servers, and is generally kept until such time as you may ask us to edit or delete it, as described below.

Interactions with the Service are capable of using the Transport Layer Security/Secure Sockets Layer (TLS/SSL) protocol.

Data Integrity

In addition to assuring you that we will protect your personal information, we also want to make sure that it is reliable, accurate, and up-to-date. In order to do that, we provide:

Access

Upon request, we will provide you with reasonable access to the personal information we collect about you. Because personal information—for example, your email address—is required to use this Service, we retain personal information as long as your account is active. You will have the opportunity to correct, update, modify or delete this information updating your information in this Service. Please note that there may be limits to the amount of information we can practically provide. For example, we may limit an individual’s access to personal information where the burden or expense of providing access would be disproportionate to the risks to the individual’s privacy or where doing so would violate others’ rights.

Enforcement

We will conduct internal audits of our compliance with this privacy policy, including an annual self-assessment.

If you have any concerns or complaints about how you think we’ve handled your personal information, have any questions about this policy, or our site in general, please contact us. We will work hard to investigate and resolve any complaints you might have.

This version of the policy is effective as of December 12, 2013.