Privacy Policy

This English translation is provided for convenience. The German version is the legally binding one.

1. Controller

The controller responsible for data processing on this website within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is:

Lindner TechMarkus LindnerKoloniestraße 7613359 BerlinDeutschlandmarkuslindner1998@gmail.com

You can write to me at this email address at any time with questions about data protection or to exercise your rights.

2. Overview

Tech Meets Meat is an information platform without user accounts, without comments and without advertising. Personal data is only processed in these situations:

• On every page view: The hosting provider Vercel processes technical connection data so the page can be delivered (section 3).
• When you decide in the cookie banner: Your choice is stored locally in your browser (section 4).
• Only with your consent: Google Analytics 4 measures how the website is used (section 5).
• When you sign up: For the newsletter or the waitlist I process your email address and, if provided, your name (section 6).
• When you email me: I process your email in order to reply (section 7).

Without your consent, this website loads no script from Google and sets no analytics or advertising cookies.

3. Hosting by Vercel

This website is hosted by Vercel Inc., 440 N Barranca Ave #4133, Covina, CA 91723, USA. Whenever a page is requested, Vercel automatically processes the following data in server log files:

• IP address of the requesting device
• date and time of the request
• requested URL
• referrer, meaning the previously visited page, if your browser sends it
• user agent, meaning browser, version and operating system

Purpose: delivering the website, keeping it running reliably, and detecting and preventing attacks and abuse.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. My legitimate interest is the secure and functional operation of the website.

Retention: Vercel automatically deletes the logs shown to me in its dashboard after a short time. How long Vercel keeps connection data for its own purposes, such as defending against attacks, is described in Vercel's privacy policy. I do not combine this data with other data sources.

Vercel also runs the server function that receives and forwards sign-ups for the newsletter and the waitlist (section 6). In the process, data is also transferred to the USA. Vercel Inc. is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, for which the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision on 10 July 2023 (Art. 45 GDPR). You can find more information in Vercel's privacy policy.

4. Consent management

On your first visit, a banner lets you accept or decline Google Analytics. Both buttons carry equal weight and nothing is preselected. As long as you have not decided, Google Analytics stays switched off. The banner links to this privacy policy.

The website stores your decision in your browser's local storage (localStorage) under the key tmm-consent. Only a version number, your choice (granted for consent or denied for refusal) and the time of your decision are stored. No cookie is set for this, and the information is not transmitted to me. If you clear the site data in your browser, the banner appears again on your next visit.

The legal basis for this storage is Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG (German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act), because it is strictly necessary for the website to respect your decision.

Changing or withdrawing your decision

You can change your decision and withdraw consent at any time. Click Cookie settings in the footer of any page and the banner opens again. If you switch from consent to refusal, the website deletes the Google Analytics cookies and reloads, so no further data is sent to Google. Withdrawal takes effect for the future. It does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal (Art. 7(3) GDPR).

Language preference

If you open a language version that does not match your browser's language setting, or if you switch languages, the website remembers the chosen language in the cookie NEXT_LOCALE. It contains only the language code, for example en, is used only to send you to the chosen language the next time you open an address without a language code, and is deleted when you close your browser. The legal basis is Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG, since the cookie is strictly necessary to show you the language version you asked for.

5. Google Analytics 4

With your consent, I use Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (“Google”). It shows me which content is read and how the website is used, so I can improve it.

Only with consent: Google's script is loaded only after you have agreed in the banner. Before that, no connection to Google is made and no Google Analytics cookie is set. The legal basis is your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and Section 25(1) TDDDG.

What is measured:

• page views, including navigation between pages within the website
• start and duration of a visit and whether it is your first visit (collected automatically by Google Analytics)
• scroll depth, meaning whether you read a page to the end
• clicks on links to other websites
• a successful newsletter sign-up (event sign_up)
• a successful entry on the Berlin Scene waitlist (event join_group)
• completing the Cyborg Test, including your score (event cyborg_test_complete)

Google also records technical details such as the page address and title, the referring page, date and time, browser, operating system, device type, screen resolution, language setting and your approximate location (country, region, city). Names, email addresses and other form contents are never sent to Google.

IP address: Loading the script and sending measurement data necessarily transmits your IP address to Google. According to Google, Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. For visits from the EU, Google uses the IP address on servers in the EU only to derive your approximate location and discards it before the data is stored.

Cookies: After you consent, Google Analytics sets the cookies _ga and _ga_<Container-ID>. They contain a randomly generated identifier by which your browser is recognised on later visits. They last for up to 2 years. Some browsers limit this to a shorter period.

No advertising features: Google Analytics advertising features are switched off. Through Google Consent Mode v2, the advertising settings ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization are permanently denied. Only analytics_storage is granted after your consent. Google Signals is disabled, so your usage data is not linked to a Google account.

Retention: Google Analytics automatically deletes user and event data linked to cookies or identifiers after 2 months. Aggregated statistics without personal reference are not affected.

Processing on my behalf and transfers to the USA: Google processes the data on my behalf under Google's data processing terms (Art. 28 GDPR). Data may be transferred to Google LLC in the USA. Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and such transfers are based on the European Commission's adequacy decision of 10 July 2023 (Art. 45 GDPR).

Withdrawal: You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future via Cookie settings in the footer (section 4). To learn more about how Google handles data, see Google's privacy policy and the information on data protection in Google Analytics.

6. Newsletter The Cortex Report and Berlin Scene waitlist

The forms on this website let you subscribe to the newsletter The Cortex Report (in German: Der Kortex-Report) or join the Berlin Scene waitlist to receive invitations to events in Berlin.

Data processed: your email address (required) and your name (optional). The language version of the page you sign up from and the time of your sign-up are also transmitted. Signing up is voluntary. Without an email address, however, I cannot send you the newsletter or invitations.

How it works: Your input goes to a server function hosted by Vercel (section 3). It is not stored in a database there but forwarded directly as an email via the mail server of STRATO GmbH, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, to my mailbox at Google (Gmail), where I keep the sign-ups. Gmail is provided by Google Ireland Limited (address in section 5). Here too, data may be transferred to Google LLC in the USA on the basis of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

Purpose: sending the newsletter or invitations to Berlin scene events. I use your data for nothing else and do not sell it.

Legal basis: your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR.

Retention and withdrawal: I store your data until you withdraw your consent. An informal email to the address in section 1 is enough at any time. I then delete your data.

Spam protection: The forms contain a field that is invisible to humans (honeypot). If a bot fills it in, the sign-up is discarded. Its content is not stored.

If you have consented to Google Analytics, only the fact that a sign-up succeeded is measured as an event, without your name or email address (section 5).

7. Contact by email

If you email me, I process your email address, your name if you provide it, and the content of your message in order to handle your request. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, my legitimate interest being to answer your enquiry. If your enquiry concerns a contract, the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. The messages are kept in my mailbox at Google (Gmail, see section 6). I delete them once your request has been dealt with, unless statutory retention obligations apply.

8. External links

This website links to external services such as YouTube, Wikipedia or the websites of manufacturers and research institutions. There is no embedded content such as videos, maps or social media plugins. Visiting this website therefore sends no data to these providers. Only when you click a link do you leave this website. The respective provider is then responsible for any processing, and its privacy policy applies. If you have consented to Google Analytics, only the fact that an external link was clicked is recorded (section 5).

9. Fonts and images

All fonts and images are served directly from this domain. The fonts are self-hosted. Visiting the website does not create any connection to Google Fonts or other external servers.

10. No automated decision-making

There is no automated decision-making and no profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR. The Cyborg Test calculates your result entirely in your browser. Your answers are not stored. Only if you have consented to Google Analytics is the score you reach measured as an event (section 5).

11. Your rights

You have the following rights towards me regarding your personal data:

• Access to the data stored about you (Art. 15 GDPR)
• Rectification of inaccurate data (Art. 16 GDPR)
• Erasure of your data (Art. 17 GDPR)
• Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
• Data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
• Objection to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR on grounds relating to your particular situation (Art. 21 GDPR)
• Withdrawal of consent with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR)

To exercise these rights, an email to the address in section 1 is enough.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), in particular in the member state of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement. The authority responsible for me is:

Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit (Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information)
Alt-Moabit 59-61
10555 Berlin, Germany
www.datenschutz-berlin.de

12. SSL/TLS encryption

For security reasons, this website uses SSL/TLS encryption. You can recognise an encrypted connection by https:// in the address bar and the padlock icon in your browser. Data you send to this website, for example when signing up, cannot be read by third parties.

13. Changes to this policy

I update this privacy policy when the website, the services used or the legal situation change. The version published on this page applies. The date of the last change is shown at the top under Last updated.