Privacy policy

This privacy policy explains how personal data is processed when you visit this website and when you get in touch with me.

This English version is provided for your convenience. The German version is legally binding.

1. Controller

2. General information on data processing

I only process personal data to the extent necessary to operate this website, to handle enquiries, to prepare for or carry out a collaboration, or to comply with legal obligations.

Depending on the processing, this is based in particular on Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract or pre-contractual measures), Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR (legal obligation) or Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interests, in particular the secure and cost-effective provision of the website and the handling of general business enquiries).

3. Hosting via Netlify

This website is provided via Netlify, Inc., 101 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. When you access the website, Netlify processes technically necessary connection and usage data. This may include, in particular, your IP address, device and browser information, the date and time of access, the pages or files accessed, referrer information and technical status and log data.

This processing serves the secure, stable and technically error-free provision of the website and is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. My legitimate interest lies in the secure and reliable operation of my website.

Netlify is a provider based in the USA. According to its own information, Netlify may also process personal data outside the European Economic Area. For data transfers, Netlify refers, among other things, to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and to the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. According to Netlify, the Data Processing Agreement is incorporated into the terms of use for Netlify services.

4. Contact by email and phone

If you contact me by email or phone, I process the information you provide, in particular your contact details and the content of your enquiry, in order to handle your request.

For my business email communication, I use services provided by IONOS SE, Elgendorfer Str. 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany. Email addresses, message content, attachments and technically necessary connection data are processed on IONOS systems to the extent required for sending and receiving email and providing my email service. IONOS states that the data processing agreement has formed part of the IONOS terms and conditions for contracts since 19 July 2022.

For my business telephony, I use satellite, a service of sipgate GmbH, Gladbacher Str. 74, 40219 Düsseldorf, Germany. As part of the technical provision of telephony, sipgate processes in particular the necessary traffic and connection data. According to satellite, traffic data is stored for the cross-device call list and removed from the servers after the end of the contract or when deleted via the app. Data processing by satellite and sipgate is subject to their own privacy policies.

If your enquiry concerns a potential or existing collaboration, processing is based on Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. For other business enquiries, it is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. My legitimate interest lies in the proper handling of incoming enquiries.

The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required for handling your enquiry and there are no statutory retention obligations or legitimate reasons for further storage.

5. Contact form

The contact form on this website is processed via Netlify Forms, a service of Netlify, Inc., 101 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA — the same provider through which this website is hosted (see section 3).

The form processes your name, email address and company as mandatory fields and, optionally, your phone number, together with the message text you enter. Technically, connection and device data such as your IP address, browser information and access times may also be processed.

Your form data is processed in order to handle your enquiry. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR where a potential or existing collaboration is concerned; for other enquiries, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Messages received are stored by Netlify and made available to me. As Netlify is based in the USA, personal data may also be processed outside the European Economic Area. For data transfers, Netlify refers, among other things, to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and to the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. According to Netlify, the data processing agreement is incorporated into its terms of use.

The form contains an invisible field designed to prevent automated submissions (spam protection). If it is filled in, the message is discarded. This does not result in any additional processing of your data.

Your message will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for handling your enquiry, unless statutory retention obligations apply.

Please do not submit any special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 GDPR (e.g. health data) via the contact form, nor any information that is not required for an initial enquiry.

6. Quick check on operational capacity

On the home page, you can complete an optional quick check with six yes/no questions. The evaluation takes place exclusively in your browser. Your answers are not transmitted to me or any third parties, and they are not stored on your device. They are discarded as soon as you close or reload the page.

7. Contact via WhatsApp

This website contains a link to WhatsApp. Simply visiting this website does not establish a connection to WhatsApp. Only when you click the link do you leave my website and open WhatsApp or WhatsApp Web.

If you contact me via WhatsApp, I process the contact details and messages you send in order to handle your enquiry. For business or pre-contractual contact, the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR; for other enquiries, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. In addition, WhatsApp processes data in accordance with its own privacy policy. If you prefer not to use WhatsApp, you can contact me by email, phone or via the contact form instead.

8. Cookies, analytics and tracking services

The current version of this website does not use any analytics or marketing services or any social media plugins. Fonts are loaded directly from this website, not from external providers such as Google Fonts. The website code I provide does not use cookies or comparable storage technologies.

Should services that store information on your device or access it be integrated in future, this privacy policy will be updated before they are used and – where required – your consent will be obtained.

9. External links

This website contains links to external websites and services, for example to my profiles on LinkedIn, Xing, Malt, freelancermap, freelance.de and Google. A connection to the respective provider is only established when you click such a link. The respective provider is generally responsible for data processing on the external page you then visit.

10. Storage period

I only store personal data for as long as it is required for the respective purpose. It is then deleted, unless statutory retention periods, the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or other legitimate reasons require further storage.

11. Recipients of data

Personal data is only disclosed to those service providers or bodies whose involvement is necessary for the purposes stated, e.g. hosting, form, email or telecommunications providers. Where a service provider processes personal data on my behalf, a data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR is concluded where legally required. Service providers that process data on the basis of their own legal obligations or under their own data protection responsibility do so in accordance with the data protection provisions applicable to them.

12. Your rights

Subject to the statutory requirements, you have in particular the right of access to the data stored about you, the right to rectification of inaccurate data, to erasure, to restriction of processing and to data portability, as well as the right to object to processing based on Art. 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR.

Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time with effect for the future. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

To exercise your rights, simply send a message to kontakt@birtehagen.de.

13. Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. For non-public bodies with their headquarters in Schleswig-Holstein, the competent authority is in particular the Unabhängiges Landeszentrum für Datenschutz Schleswig-Holstein (ULD), the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection Schleswig-Holstein.

14. No automated decision-making

No exclusively automated decision-making, including profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR, takes place on this website.

15. Updates to this privacy policy

I will update this privacy policy if the website, the service providers used or the legal requirements change.

As of: October 2026