Privacy policy

1 Introduction

michelkraemer.com is a personal blog and portfolio website operated by myself, Michel Krämer. Any privacy information is controlled by me (see legal notice for contact information). The website is hosted on my own virtual server that is fully under my control.

The purpose of this document is to inform you about what data is collected when you visit my website, how I save and process this data, as well as what rights you have over your data.

2 What data do I collect, how is it collected, and why do I collect it?

2.1 Comments

Each blog post on this website has a comments section. The comments are not stored on my server. Instead, I make use of an external service provided by GitHub. If you want to leave a comment, you will be redirected to a GitHub discussion board. On this site, you will have to register (if you don’t already have a GitHub account) to leave the comment.

Comments and avatar images of users who have left a comment (including yours if you’ve done so as well) are loaded on demand through a backend service running on my virtual server. This backend service protects your privacy and loads the comments and avatars on your behalf from GitHub to display them here on my site.

If you visit my website, I do not have access to your GitHub identity. The backend service does not know whether you have left a comment or not, nor does it know if you have a GitHub account or not.

2.2 Cookies and local storage

My website does not use cookies.

If you toggle between light and dark mode, your personal preference will be stored in your browser’s local storage. Your preference will not be transferred to my server or used to track your identity.

2.3 Embedded YouTube videos

Blog posts on this website may include embedded YouTube videos. I’ve implemented a mechanism that requires you to consent to YouTube’s privacy policy before you can watch these videos. When merely browsing my website, no personal data about you will be transferred to YouTube and no cookies will be placed in your browser.

However, after giving your consent, playing these embedded videos happens in the exact same way as if you’d watch them directly on YouTube. YouTube may collect data about you, place cookies, and trace your interaction with the embedded video. If you’re worried, I refer you to their privacy policy.

2.4 Analytics

I use the open-source analytics tool Matomo to record how many people have visited my website. Matomo is running on my own virtual server. I have configured it for maximum privacy, so I collect as little information about the website visitors as possible. IP addresses are stored anonymized in the database and cookies are completely disabled. Visitor logs are deleted after 30 days.

I also configured Matomo to respect the “Do-not-Track” preference of your web browser, so Matomo does not store any information at all about you if you have this enabled.

Collecting data with Matomo solely serves the purpose of analysis and nothing else. The collected data does not contain any personal information. The data is not shared with third parties and is not linked with data from other websites.

If you’re still worried, you can manually opt out of tracking here:

You are currently opted in.

2.5 Server logs

The web server I use to serve my website collects the following information in log files:

The server logs will be deleted after 52 days.

Server logging solely serves the purposes of analysis and security monitoring. The data is not shared with third parties and is not linked with data from other websites.

3 With whom do I share your data?

I do not shared your data with anyone.

4 How long do I retain your data?

Comments to blog posts are retained indefinitely.

Matomo visitor logs are deleted after 30 days.

Web server log files are deleted after 52 days.

5 What rights do you have over your data?

Every user is entitled to the following:

Contact me, if you would like to exercise any of these rights.

6 Changes to the privacy policy

I keep this privacy policy under regular review and I retain the right to update it whenever necessary. The document was last updated on 3 March 2023.