Sign in Subscribe

Data Protection & Privacy Policy

Controller

Akademie zur Förderung physiochemischer Nachhaltigkeit e.V.
Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 22
32602 Vlotho
Germany
E-Mail: info@vectorpress.pub

Principle

We do not collect personal data from visitors beyond what is technically necessary to operate this website. We do not use tracking tools, analytics services, or advertising networks. No data is shared with third parties. Personal data is shared with third parties only where strictly necessary to process membership subscriptions and payments, as described below.

Cookies

This website uses only technically necessary session cookies. These include session cookies (deleted when you close your browser) and cookies set by our membership system (Ghost) to keep you logged in to your member account. If you subscribe as a member, Ghost stores a session authentication cookie in your browser so that you remain signed in across visits. This cookie is essential to the functioning of the membership area and does not track you across other websites. No consent is required for these under § 25 para. 2 TDDDG / Art. 5 para. 3 ePrivacy Directive, as they are strictly necessary for the service you have requested.

Membership & Donations

This website offers free memberships and voluntary financial support (donations) via our membership portal. To become a member, you must provide your email address. If you choose to make a voluntary payment, you will additionally need to provide payment information.

When you sign up as a member or make a donation, the following personal data is collected and stored:

  • Email address
  • Name (if provided)
  • Membership status and history (e.g. sign-up date, subscription tier)
  • Records of any voluntary payments made

This data is processed by Ghost, our self-hosted content management and membership platform. Ghost is hosted on our own servers in Germany (see "Hosting" below); your membership data does not leave our infrastructure except where payment processing requires it (see "Payment Processing" below).

The legal basis for processing this data is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (performance of a contract or pre-contractual measures – i.e. providing you with the membership service you requested). For free memberships where no payment is involved, the legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (your consent, given by voluntarily signing up) or Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (providing the requested service).

You may cancel your membership and request deletion of your member data at any time by contacting us at: info@vectorpress.pub

Payment Processing

We offer payments via Stripe and PayPal:

– Stripe

If you choose to make a voluntary financial contribution (donation or tip), your payment is processed by Stripe, Inc. (US) and Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd. (Ireland). When you enter your payment details, these are transmitted directly to Stripe and are not stored on our servers.

Stripe may collect and process the following data:

  • Name and email address
  • Payment card details or bank account information
  • Transaction amounts and dates
  • IP address and browser metadata (for fraud prevention)

Stripe processes this data as an independent data controller for payment processing and fraud prevention purposes. Stripe is certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, and the transfer of data to the US is safeguarded accordingly.

The legal basis for sharing your data with Stripe is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (necessary for the performance of the transaction you initiated).

For more information on how Stripe handles personal data, please see Stripe's privacy policy: https://stripe.com/privacy

– PayPal

Alternatively, you may make a voluntary contribution via PayPal. If you choose to do so, you will be redirected to PayPal's platform via an external link on our About page. The payment is processed entirely by PayPal (PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22–24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg).

We do not receive or store your PayPal account details, payment card information, or bank account data. PayPal may share with us only the following:

  • your name (or PayPal display name),
  • your email address,
  • the transaction amount and date,
  • a transaction reference number.

PayPal processes your data as an independent data controller. PayPal's data processing may involve transfers to the USA; these are safeguarded by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and PayPal's binding corporate rules.

The legal basis for sharing data with PayPal is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (necessary for the performance of the transaction you initiated).

For more information on how PayPal handles personal data, please see PayPal's privacy policy: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

You can make voluntary financial contributions to support our publication via:

  • A Stripe donation link – This link opens the Donorbox portal and initiates payment processing through Stripe as described above.
  • A PayPal donation link – This link redirects you to PayPal's platform, where the payment is processed entirely by PayPal as described above.

No additional data is collected through these links beyond what is described in the "Membership & Donations" and "Payment Processing" sections.

Contact by Email

If you contact us by email, the data you submit is stored solely for the purpose of handling your enquiry. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR. Data is not passed to third parties and is deleted once the matter is resolved.

Hosting

This website is hosted on servers operated by Akademie zur Förderung physiochemischer Nachhaltigkeit e.V. in Germany. No external hosting providers are used. No data leaves our infrastructure, except where payment data is transmitted directly from your browser to Stripe or PayPal as described above.

Server Log Files

When you visit this website, our server automatically records standard access data: the URL requested, date and time of access, data volume transferred, browser type, operating system, and an anonymised IP address. This data is processed on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interest in the security and stable operation of the website). It is not used for behavioural analysis or profiling, is not combined with other data, and is deleted after a maximum of 14 days.

Data Retention

Your membership data (email address, name, membership history) is retained for as long as your membership is active. If you cancel your membership and request deletion, we will erase your data without undue delay, unless we are legally required to retain it (e.g. tax record-keeping obligations under German law, typically 10 years for payment/transaction records under § 147 AO).

Payment transaction records held by Stripe are subject to Stripe's own retention policies and legal obligations. The same applies to transaction records held by PayPal.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

– Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR): you may request confirmation of whether we process data about you and obtain a copy of that data.
– Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR): you may request correction of inaccurate data.
– Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR): you may request deletion of your data where no legal obligation requires us to retain it.
– Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR): you may request that we limit processing in certain circumstances.
– Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR): where processing is based on consent or contract, you may request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
– Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR): you may object at any time to processing based on legitimate interest.
– Right to lodge a complaint (Art. 77 GDPR): you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the EU member state of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement.
– Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7 para. 3 GDPR): where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

To exercise your rights, contact: info@vectorpress.pub

Supervisory authority for our organisation: Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (LDI NRW), www.ldi.nrw.de

This policy is provided in English as the primary language of Vector Press. It is legally valid as stated and complies with GDPR and German TDDDG requirements.