Privacy Policy
beltoforion.de is a hobby project and a privately operated website. This English version is provided for convenience; in case of doubt, the German version is authoritative.
The website beltoforion.de can be used without providing any personal data. If a data subject wishes to use special services on this website, processing of personal data could become necessary. If the processing of personal data is necessary and there is no legal basis for such processing, we generally obtain the consent of the data subject.
Definitions
This privacy policy is based on the terms used by the European legislator for the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In this privacy policy, we use, inter alia, the following terms:
a) Personal data
Personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”). An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
b) Data subject
Data subject is any identified or identifiable natural person whose personal data is processed by the controller responsible for the processing.
c) Processing
Processing is any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.
d) Restriction of processing
Restriction of processing is the marking of stored personal data with the aim of limiting their processing in the future.
e) Profiling
Profiling means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements.
f) Pseudonymisation
Pseudonymisation is the processing of personal data in such a manner that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.
g) Controller or controller responsible for the processing
Controller or controller responsible for the processing is the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.
h) Processor
Processor is a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.
i) Recipient
Recipient is a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or another body, to which the personal data are disclosed, whether a third party or not. However, public authorities which may receive personal data in the framework of a particular inquiry in accordance with Union or Member State law shall not be regarded as recipients.
j) Third party
Third party is a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or body other than the data subject, controller, processor and persons who, under the direct authority of the controller or processor, are authorised to process personal data.
k) Consent
Consent of the data subject is any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.
Controller
Controller for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation, other data protection laws applicable in Member States of the European Union and other provisions related to data protection is:
Collection of general data and information
This website collects a series of general data and information when a data subject or an automated system calls up the website. This general data and information is stored in the server log files. The following may be collected:
- browser types and versions used
- the operating system used by the accessing system
- the website from which an accessing system reaches our website (so-called referrer)
- the sub-pages of our website which are accessed by an accessing system
- the date and time of access to the website
- an Internet Protocol address (IP address)
- the Internet service provider of the accessing system
- any other similar data and information that may be used in the event of attacks on our information technology systems.
When using this general data and information, we do not draw any conclusions about the data subject. Rather, this information is needed to:
- deliver the content of our website correctly
- optimise the content of our website as well as its advertisement
- ensure the long-term viability of our information technology systems and website technology
- provide law enforcement authorities with the information necessary for criminal prosecution in case of a cyber-attack.
This anonymously collected data and information is therefore analysed statistically and with the aim of increasing data protection and data security, so as to ensure an optimal level of protection for the personal data we process. The anonymous data of the server log files are stored separately from all personal data provided by a data subject.
Page view counter and research experiment “Dead Internet Observatory”
Page view counter
Our website counts how often each sub-page is accessed per month. Only a single number is stored per sub-page and month. No data is stored that could be attributed to a person or a device.
Purpose of the experiment
We investigate what share of the visits to our website comes from human readers and what share from automated systems such as search engines, AI crawlers or other programs. To do so, we record whether JavaScript is executed when a page is loaded and whether visitors interact with the page. On some article pages, a “Continue reading” button appears after the first paragraph, which reveals the rest of the article. The complete text is always contained in the page source and is readable without this button when JavaScript is disabled. A randomly selected share of visits does not see the button (control group). A link “What is this?” in the box opens a short explanation of the experiment.
What data is processed
- date and time of the visit
- the sub-page accessed and its language
- the identifier transmitted by the browser (user agent), e.g. browser type, version and operating system, as well as a coarse classification derived from it (e.g. “search engine”, “unknown”)
- a session identifier randomly generated in the browser, which is replaced by a new one after 30 minutes of inactivity
- the randomly assigned group (with or without the “Continue reading” button)
- technical events: page loaded, JavaScript executed, button shown or clicked, explanation opened, page left
- when leaving a page, the approximate time spent in four levels (less than 2 seconds, 2–10 seconds, 10–60 seconds, more than 60 seconds) and whether the page was scrolled, tapped, clicked or a key was pressed (yes/no)
We do not store IP addresses, cookies, mouse movements, input or any other characteristics that could be used to recognise a device. The data is not combined with other data and is not passed on to third parties. It is stored in a database at our hosting provider (STRATO AG).
Storage in the browser (local storage)
So that the “Continue reading” button appears only once per visit, our website stores the entries “dio” and “dio-next” in the local storage of your browser. They contain the random session identifier, the time of the last page view, the assigned group and whether the button has already been shown during this visit. These entries remain in your browser until you delete them, for example via your browser's “clear site data” function.
Legal basis
The processing is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the statistical and scientific analysis of the use of our website, in particular in distinguishing between human and automated access.
Storage period
The data is stored for the duration of the experiment.
Objection
You can object to the processing at any time by disabling JavaScript for our website or by blocking the storage of site data in your browser. In both cases, no events are transmitted from your browser, and all content remains fully readable.
Data protection provisions about the use of YouTube
The controller has integrated components of YouTube on this website. YouTube is an Internet video portal that enables video publishers to upload video clips free of charge and other users to view, rate and comment on them, also free of charge. YouTube allows the publication of all kinds of videos, so that complete film and television broadcasts, music videos, trailers or videos made by users themselves can be accessed via the portal.
The operating company of YouTube is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin, D04 E5W5, Ireland.
Each time one of the individual pages of this website, which is operated by the controller and on which a YouTube component (YouTube video) has been integrated, is called up, the Internet browser on the information technology system of the data subject is automatically prompted by the respective YouTube component to download a display of the corresponding YouTube component from YouTube. Further information about YouTube may be obtained under https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/. As part of this technical procedure, YouTube and Google gain knowledge of which specific sub-page of our website is visited by the data subject.
If the data subject is logged in to YouTube at the same time, YouTube recognises with each call-up of a sub-page that contains a YouTube video which specific sub-page of our website the data subject visits. This information is collected by YouTube and Google and assigned to the respective YouTube account of the data subject.
YouTube and Google will receive information through the YouTube component that the data subject has visited our website if the data subject is logged in to YouTube at the time of the call-up of our website; this occurs regardless of whether the data subject clicks on a YouTube video or not. If such a transmission of this information to YouTube and Google is not desirable for the data subject, the transmission can be prevented by logging out of the YouTube account before calling up our website.
The data protection provisions published by YouTube, available at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/, provide information about the collection, processing and use of personal data by YouTube and Google.
Data protection provisions about the use of Cloudflare (CDN)
The controller has integrated components of Cloudflare, Inc. (101 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107, USA) on this website. We use Cloudflare to make this website faster and more secure. Cloudflare uses cookies and processes user data in doing so. Cloudflare, Inc. is an American company that provides a content delivery network and various security services. These services sit between the user and our hosting provider.
A content delivery network (CDN) is a network of servers connected via the Internet. Cloudflare has servers distributed around the world in order to deliver websites faster. For this purpose, Cloudflare keeps certain standard components of this website on its own servers, from where they can be delivered to website visitors more quickly.
Cloudflare helps to make the website faster and more secure. Cloudflare offers us both web optimisations and security services such as DDoS protection and a web firewall. This includes a reverse proxy and the content delivery network (CDN). Cloudflare blocks threats and limits abusive bots and crawlers that waste bandwidth and server resources. By storing parts of this website in local data centres and blocking spam software, Cloudflare allows us to reduce our bandwidth usage. Delivering content from a data centre near you and some web optimisations performed there reduce the average loading time of a website by about half.
Cloudflare generally only forwards data requested by website operators. The content is not determined by Cloudflare but by the website operator. In addition, Cloudflare may collect certain information about the use of the website and process data sent by us or for which Cloudflare has received corresponding instructions. In most cases, Cloudflare receives data such as contact information, IP addresses, security fingerprints, DNS log data and performance data for websites derived from browser activity. Log data helps Cloudflare to detect new threats, which allows Cloudflare to ensure a high level of security. Cloudflare processes this data as part of its services in compliance with applicable laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
For security reasons, Cloudflare also uses a cookie. The cookie is used to identify individual users behind a shared IP address and to apply security settings for each individual user. This cookie does not store any personal data. It is strictly necessary for Cloudflare's security functions and cannot be deactivated.
Cloudflare also works with third-party providers. These may only process personal data under the instruction of Cloudflare and in accordance with the privacy policies and other confidentiality and security measures. Cloudflare does not pass on any personal data without our explicit consent.
Cloudflare stores your information mainly in the USA and in the European Economic Area. Cloudflare may transfer and access the information described above from anywhere in the world. In general, Cloudflare stores user-level data for domains in the Free, Pro and Business versions for less than 24 hours. For Enterprise domains that have activated Cloudflare Logs (formerly Enterprise LogShare or ELS), the data can be stored for up to 7 days. However, if IP addresses trigger security alerts at Cloudflare, there may be exceptions to the storage period mentioned above.
Cloudflare keeps data logs only as long as necessary, and in most cases this data is deleted within 24 hours. Cloudflare does not store any personal data such as your IP address. However, there is information that Cloudflare stores indefinitely as part of its permanent logs in order to improve the overall performance of Cloudflare Resolver and to detect potential security risks. You can find out exactly which permanent logs are stored at https://www.cloudflare.com/application/privacypolicy/. All data collected by Cloudflare (temporarily or permanently) is cleaned of all personal data. All permanent logs are also anonymised by Cloudflare.
More information on data protection at Cloudflare can be found at https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/.
