Privacy Policy
1. Scope and controller
This notice covers this blog, its German and English pages and contact with the editorial team. The controller is:
Uwe Betz
c/o Online-Impressum #10111
Europaring 90
53757 Sankt Augustin
Germany
Data protection contact: cybersmart@mail.online-impressum.de. You may use this address to exercise your data protection rights. The privately operated project is based in Bavaria, Germany. The c/o address is the address for service.
2. Providing and securing the website
When you access the website, your IP address and technical connection data are processed to deliver content and detect faults or misuse. This includes the requested page or file, access time, browser and operating-system information, device type and any referrer transmitted. Delivering a page requires the necessary connection data; you are not obliged to visit this website.
The hosting provider is IONOS SE, Elgendorfer Str. 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany. Processing to deliver and secure the website relies on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR and our legitimate interest in a secure, reliable service.
For its Web Hosting product, IONOS states that visitor data is anonymised and retained for eight weeks. This statement concerns the visitor data described by IONOS; it is not a blanket retention or anonymisation promise for every technical error or security log. IONOS distinguishes older hosting contracts with archived logs from newer contracts with current logs accessible through its logging tools. IONOS Web Hosting data processing; IONOS log information.
Technical error information is processed only to diagnose faults, protect the website or investigate a specific incident. When the relevant fault or incident is resolved, data is erased once no justified evidentiary need remains. The public WordPress debugging log is disabled.
3. Contact by email and post
If you email us, we process your sender/contact details, message, attachments and technical communication data to handle your enquiry. Providing information is voluntary; without contact details or sufficient information we may be unable to reply. General reader enquiries are based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR and our legitimate interest in appropriate communication. Article 6(1)(b) GDPR may apply to an actual contract-related enquiry.
The public contact address is forwarded by Online-Impressum.de to our mailbox info@cybersmart.eu. The service currently identifies Clear-Media UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Europaring 90, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany, as its provider. The receiving Apple/iCloud Mail service is provided through Apple Distribution International Limited, Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Ireland. Providers involved in forwarding and mailbox operation therefore receive the data needed to handle messages.
Correspondence is deleted when the matter is concluded and no justified further retention is necessary. Statutory retention is based on Article 6(1)(c) GDPR; necessary evidentiary retention or legal defence may rely on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Use is then restricted to that purpose.
Apple states that international processing, including in the United States, occurs and describes Standard Contractual Clauses for EEA data. We therefore do not promise storage exclusively in Germany or the EEA. Further information and access to safeguards: Apple Privacy Policy; Online-Impressum privacy information. Provider information does not replace our own data protection contact.
If you contact us by post at the c/o address, Clear-Media UG receives the correspondence and makes it available to us through its mail-handling service. Sender and address details, delivery information and, when digitised, the contents of the correspondence are processed for that purpose. We use these data to handle your enquiry on the same legal bases described above.
4. Cookies and similar storage access
The German or English page address determines the language of the content. When you explicitly use the DE/EN language switcher, the blog can remember that choice in the host-bound cookie cs_language for up to 180 days. The neutral entry address uses this choice, otherwise the browser’s language preference; no location lookup is performed. The blog does not create a visitor identifier for analytics. Public registration and reader comments are not offered.
WordPress uses necessary login and security cookies for authorised editorial accounts and may store account-related display preferences. Cookie duration depends on the session and login settings. Account and session data is used to administer access and protect the editorial system. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR and our legitimate interest in controlled editorial access and protection against misuse.
Storage or access strictly necessary for a function you expressly request is based on section 25(2)(2) TDDDG. Optional YouTube activation is addressed in section 6 and requires consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and, where applicable, section 25(1) TDDDG. No blanket consent to other services is obtained.
5. Visitor statistics
IONOS processes hosting access data for server-side WebAnalytics reports on use of the website and its technical optimisation. The data categories are those listed in section 2. IONOS states that IP addresses are anonymised after transmission and that WebAnalytics does not use cookies. For this IONOS analysis, we do not embed an additional tracking pixel or analytics script.
Processing before anonymisation relies on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR and our legitimate interest in assessing use of the service and improving its technical quality. The log-based evaluation does not require additional access to storage on your device by this blog. This is distinct from the consent required for optional external players. The provider’s retention information for the hosting visitor data is described in section 2. IONOS WebAnalytics.
Jetpack Stats is enabled in addition to IONOS WebAnalytics. This Automattic service evaluates page views, traffic sources and outbound link clicks. The provider for customers in Europe is Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd., Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl, Dublin, D02 AY86, Ireland; Automattic Inc. in the United States and other service providers may be involved.
Processing may include your IP address, visited and referring URLs, access time, browser and device information, language and country inferred from the connection. WordPress.com account information may also be included if you are logged in. The operator receives statistical reports, not lists identifying individual visitors. Automattic specifies a 28-day retention period for Stats logs; aggregate reports may remain available for longer.
Voluntary client-side visitor analytics in public operation requires your prior consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and, for device access requiring consent, section 25(1) TDDDG. Consent may be withdrawn with effect for the future. Processing outside the European Economic Area, particularly in the United States, is possible. Information on recipients, international-transfer safeguards and data-subject rights: Automattic’s notice for website visitors, Automattic’s Privacy Policy and Jetpack Stats.
Jetpack Stats starts only after you select “Allow statistics”. “Decline” leaves the blog fully usable without this analytics service. You can change or withdraw your choice through “Statistics settings” in the footer. The necessary host-bound cookie cs_statistics remembers consent or refusal, its version and expiry time for up to 180 days; it contains no visitor ID. Withdrawal reloads the page and ends further use of the Stats sender; other open tabs on the same site are notified locally where supported and recheck the choice when focused or revisited. Data already transmitted is not retrieved or automatically erased by withdrawal. No Stats sender runs without JavaScript. This choice does not activate YouTube videos.
6. External videos
YouTube is provided in the European Economic Area by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Other Google group companies, including Google LLC in the United States, may be involved in processing.
Each embedded video initially shows a locally served preview. Only after you deliberately press Play following the notice directly above that video does the blog load the player from youtube-nocookie.com. Activation is voluntary and applies to that video. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and, where applicable, section 25(1) TDDDG.
After activation, Google processes connection and usage data, including your IP address, browser and device information and the video requested. Google may store or access identifiers and other information on your device. Depending on account and provider settings, data may be associated with a Google account. The privacy-enhanced player does not make transmission anonymous.
Press “Remove video” to withdraw activation for that embed and stop its further use. This does not undo data already transmitted, erase provider-side data or remove cookies already set by Google; browser and Google account settings can be used for those purposes. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of earlier processing. The blog stores no permanent blanket video consent. You may also use the external link to YouTube.
Processing in the United States is possible. Google describes the EU–US Data Privacy Framework for certified US recipients and covered data, and Standard Contractual Clauses where required. Details, access to safeguards and provider retention information: Google Privacy Policy and Google international transfers. Other video providers require a separate assessment before use.
7. Images, links and sharing
Photos, fonts and the play preview are served locally. Source and licence links open the relevant external website only when selected. That provider’s notice applies to its processing.
Social-sharing controls are links and do not load social SDKs. A service processes data transmitted by your browser when you open it, under its own terms. Sharing by email opens your own email application; the blog does not send that message. Copying a link occurs in the browser after you press the control.
8. Backup and recovery
Access-restricted copies of files, database, editorial content and configuration are created for security and recovery. Copies may contain account and session data. Technical release and recovery tests may use encrypted archives and isolated test copies on the operator’s own devices. These copies are not used for advertising or visitor analytics.
The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR and our legitimate interest in preventing data loss and verifying recovery. Retention is tied to the recovery purpose: a release checkpoint is retained while the relevant release or rollback window remains open; test copies are retained only while needed to complete or verify the relevant test. Copies no longer required are erased or replaced by a verified successor backup. Data erased from the running system must be erased again if restored from an older copy.
Jetpack is connected to this installation; the purchased plan includes Jetpack Backup (Daily). This service may transfer files, the database, editorial content and any account or contact information contained in them to the Automattic companies identified in section 5 and their technical service providers. Backups serve recovery and are retained according to the purchased plan and the backup purpose. Available recovery points and the applicable plan-specific retention can be checked in the backup account or contractual documents. Processing outside the European Economic Area is possible; further provider information on recipients and international transfers is available in the privacy notices linked in section 5.
9. Your data protection rights
Subject to the applicable legal conditions, you have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction and, where applicable, portability (Articles 15–20 GDPR). Consent may be withdrawn for the future at any time; this does not affect earlier lawful processing.
Objection under Article 21 GDPR: Where processing relies on legitimate interests, you may object on grounds relating to your particular situation. We stop processing unless overriding compelling grounds or requirements to establish, exercise or defend legal claims apply. You may object to direct marketing, including related profiling, at any time without giving reasons.
You may complain to a supervisory authority, particularly where you live or work or where an alleged infringement occurred. The authority for non-public bodies in Bavaria is the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA), Promenade 18, 91522 Ansbach, Germany: BayLDA complaint page. You need not contact us before making a complaint.
The described blog operation does not make automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects under Article 22 GDPR.
10. Date and changes
Updated: 25 October 2026. These notices describe the services currently used. Ratings, public registration, memberships, Authentik login and newsletters are not active. Before introducing additional processing or changing providers, we will update the relevant information.