Privacy policy

The German version of this policy is the authoritative one. Where the versions differ, the German text applies.

This is a private, access-restricted website. This page explains what personal data is processed when you visit it, why, and how long it is kept.

Who is responsible

The controller within the meaning of Art. 4(7) GDPR is:

For any question about your data, or to exercise the rights below, write to the postal address above.

Server logs

Every request to this site is recorded by the web server. The record contains a shortened IP address — the last part is removed before anything is written, so the address cannot be traced back to you — together with the time, the page requested and the response status. No browser identification and no referring page is stored. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, the legitimate interest in operating the site securely. These records are kept for a short period and then deleted.

Login and cookies

Reading this site requires a shared password. When you enter it, a cookie is placed in your browser holding a random identifier, and the corresponding entry on the server records only when the session began and which language you chose. No name and no address is stored with it. A second cookie remembers your language so that pages open in it. Both are strictly necessary for a password-protected site to work at all, so the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The session ends when it expires or when you log out. No analytics, tracking, advertising or third-party cookies are used anywhere on this site.

The contact form

If you use the contact form, the name, email address and message you enter are stored on the server so that your request can be answered. The legal basis is your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, which you give with the checkbox on the form and may withdraw at any time. Your message is not forwarded by email to anyone; it is read on this site by the person who administers it. To limit misuse, the time the form page was opened and a shortened, irreversibly hashed form of your IP address are held briefly. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that already took place.

Your message is deleted 30 days after it has been dealt with — that is, once access has been granted or declined. A message that nobody has dealt with is deleted 90 days after it arrived, whichever comes first. Deletion is automatic and permanent.

Named accounts

The site administrator has a named account holding a display name, an email address and a password stored only as a cryptographic hash. Accounts are created by invitation only; there is no way to register. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Pictures of people in the family tree

A person in the family tree may have a picture stored with their record. These are uploaded only by the person who operates this website and are held on storage inside the same infrastructure as the site itself — they are not passed to any third party and can only be retrieved after signing in. All embedded metadata is removed on upload, in particular the place and time a photograph was taken; the original file is not kept, only two reduced crops of it. No picture is shown or stored for a living person who has not explicitly agreed to be shown. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent), or for deceased relatives the legitimate interest in documenting the family under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Consent may be withdrawn at any time, and the picture is then deleted.

Photographs and comments

Members with an account can upload photographs to the album and comment on them. A photograph is stored with a caption, a description for people who cannot see it, the name of the person who uploaded it, and the time. A comment is stored with its text, its author and the time. All of it is held on storage inside the same infrastructure as the site, is reachable only after signing in, and is passed to no third party. Embedded metadata is removed from every photograph on upload, in particular the place and time it was taken; the original file is not kept. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, the legitimate interest of a private circle in sharing its own family material. You can delete your own photographs and comments at any time and they are removed, not hidden; the person administering the site can remove any of them. If you appear in a photograph and do not wish to, ask via the contact form and it will be taken down.

Who receives your data

Your data is not sold, not shared with advertisers, and not transferred outside the European Union. The site runs on servers operated on behalf of the controller; the hosting provider acts as a processor under Art. 28 GDPR. Email that the site sends is delivered through an email provider acting as a processor, and never contains the content of your message.

Your rights

You have the right to obtain confirmation of whether your data is processed and to receive a copy of it (Art. 15), to have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16), to have your data erased (Art. 17), to have processing restricted (Art. 18), to receive your data in a portable form (Art. 20), and to object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21). Where processing rests on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. To exercise any of these, write to the address above.

Right to complain

If you believe your data is being processed unlawfully, you may complain to a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your residence, your place of work, or where the suspected infringement occurred.

Changes to this page

If what is processed here changes, this page changes with it. It carries the date it was last revised.

Last updated: July 30, 2026