Data controller

The operator of the website “gedankenmeer.net” is responsible for the processing of personal data on this website.
Name, postal address and contact details can be found in the site’s Legal Notice (Impressum).
Email: meeresnebel@gedankenmeer.net

Type of website and content

This website publishes only original texts and photographs created by the site operator.
There is no user registration, no public user accounts, no comment function, no forum, no “like” features and no newsletter subscription.
No advertising tracking takes place and no data is passed on to third parties for marketing purposes.
At present, this website does not embed any content that is loaded directly from external platforms (such as YouTube videos or external social media plugins).
This privacy policy may be updated if the website or the applicable legal requirements change.

Hosting by STRATO / server log files

This website is hosted by STRATO GmbH, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, Germany.
When the website is accessed, the browser automatically transmits information to the hosting provider’s server (for example IP address, date and time of access, requested page, referrer URL, browser used and operating system).
These data are stored in server log files and processed by STRATO to ensure the technical operation and stability of the website and to defend against attacks.
Only anonymised IP addresses are available to me from the outset if I access the server logs for troubleshooting.
At present, I only use the access statistics provided by STRATO, which are made available with a time delay and in aggregated form. These include, for example, the total number of page views and the distribution of browsers, operating systems and device types used. The information is not available to me as linked information about individual devices. From these statistics, I can neither identify the people visiting the website nor associate page views with a particular device. I use this statistical overview to assess and, where appropriate, improve the content and technical presentation of my website.
The legal basis for this processing is my legitimate interest in operating the website securely and reliably and in assessing and improving its content and technical presentation (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).
STRATO processes these data under a data processing agreement.

Plugins used

This website uses various extensions (plugins) for layout, multilingual content and technical security.
These plugins are used solely to display the content, provide multilingual support and improve the technical security of the site. To the best of my current knowledge, they do not process visitors’ personal data for their own independent purposes. Their use of cookies and browser storage is described below.

To protect the administration area of the site, security mechanisms are in place which may temporarily store technical information (such as IP addresses and timestamps) in the event of repeated failed login attempts.
This processing is based on the legitimate interest in the security of this website (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) and relates to repeated failed attempts to log in to the protected administration area.

Contact form

When the contact form is used, the data entered there (for example name, email address, subject and the content of the message) are processed for the purpose of handling and responding to the enquiry.
The data are transmitted via the host’s server by email to the site operator and stored in the corresponding email account.

Apart from processing by the hosting and email service providers involved in delivering and storing the messages, the information submitted in an enquiry is not disclosed to others. It is deleted once the enquiry has been fully processed, unless statutory retention obligations require longer storage.
The legal basis for this processing is the consent given by selecting the consent checkbox and submitting the contact form (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR).
This consent may be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future by sending an informal email to the address stated above.

Cookies and browser storage

This website does not use cookies for analytics, tracking or marketing purposes. It does not use Google Analytics or Facebook Pixel.

This website uses the “pll_language” cookie provided by Polylang to remember the language of the last page visited (German, English or Korean). The cookie stores a language code and expires after one year unless deleted earlier. You can delete this cookie at any time through your browser settings. However, it may be set again when you next visit the website.

WordPress also uses the browser’s session storage to temporarily store the results of a check of the browser’s ability to display emojis. This helps avoid repeating the check on each page load.

Storage periods

Unless otherwise described in this privacy policy, personal data are stored only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which they are processed or to comply with legal obligations.
Server log files at the hosting provider are automatically deleted or anonymised after the periods specified by that provider.

Rights of data subjects

Subject to the applicable legal requirements, users have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability, as well as the right to object to processing (Articles 15–21 GDPR).

Users may withdraw any consent given at any time with effect for the future. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

In addition, users have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if they believe that the processing of their personal data infringes data protection law.