Privacy

We collect as little as possible.

The German Datenschutzerklärung is the legally binding original. This English translation is provided for convenience.

1. Controller

The controller within the meaning of the GDPR is the service provider listed in the Imprint.

2. Hosting and Server Logs

This site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages (Cloudflare, Inc., USA, with European subsidiary Cloudflare Germany GmbH). When you access the site, Cloudflare processes technically necessary data (IP address, date, requested file, browser identifier, referrer) to deliver content, mitigate attacks, and ensure availability. Processing primarily takes place in EU data centres (region EU-WEUR); a third-country transfer to the USA cannot be excluded and is based on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. The data is not merged with other sources and is deleted automatically after 7 days. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in stability and security).

3. Newsletter (Letter)

Upon subscribing to the Letter, your e-mail address and the subscription timestamp are stored in a Cloudflare D1 database (region EU-WEUR) and used for dispatch. The actual mail dispatch is handled by the e-mail service provider Resend, Inc. (USA) as a processor. Dispatch uses double opt-in (HMAC-signed confirmation link, 24 h validity). To document consent (Art. 7 (1) GDPR), the IP address at sign-up and at confirmation is also stored, used solely as proof of consent. A data processing agreement is in place; US data transfer is based on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR (consent).

To protect the sign-up form from automated submissions we use Cloudflare Turnstile. Cloudflare processes technical browser characteristics and the IP address to tell humans from bots; no cookies are set and no data is used for advertising. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in preventing abuse of the form).

After a while on the page a small window invites you to the letter. Whether you closed it or signed up is remembered only by your browser in its local storage (entry "marin_brief"), so the window does not reappear on every page. No cookie is set and this entry is not sent to us; you can delete it at any time in your browser settings. We only count, without any link to you as a person, how often the window was shown, closed or submitted (event, page and country only, no cookie, no identifier, no stored IP address). Legal basis: Section 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG. In the same way we count how often a page is viewed, which site the visit came from and which link (for example to a bookseller) was clicked, how far a page was read (scroll depth in quarters), how long it was visible and whether an audio sample was started and how far it was played: page, origin, link target, measured value and country only, no identifier and no stored IP address. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in audience measurement).

Cookies only with your consent. On your first visit we ask whether we may count your visit with a cookie of our own. If you agree we set marin_v (a random identifier with no link to your name) and marin_q (the site you first came from), both for 13 months. This shows us how many different readers visit, who returns and which origins lead to clicks on booksellers. In addition, your browser keeps a random session identifier (marin_s) and the number of pages viewed (marin_n) in session storage for the length of the visit, and we record device type (mobile, tablet, desktop), browser language, rounded screen size and campaign tags from the link (utm). This shows the path through the site up to a click on a bookseller. Your choice itself is stored in the cookie marin_ok. Everything stays on this website: no third parties, no advertising. Legal basis: your consent (Section 25 (1) TDDDG, Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR). You can withdraw it at any time by deleting this site's cookies in your browser; we will then ask again on your next visit.

To measure the relevance of letters, we record whether a letter is opened (via a small image loaded when it is displayed) and which links in it are clicked, each with time and per recipient. Only an internal ID, type and time of the event and a coarse device class are stored, no IP address. No advertising profiles, no sharing with third parties; deleted after 24 months. You can object at any time by e-mail or disable image loading in your mail client. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The same applies to e-mails to test readers. You may unsubscribe at any time via the one-click link in the Letter footer, or by writing to marin@marin-t-kael.de.

4. Beta Programme and Readers' Circle

Anyone who applied as a test reader by July 2026 provided an e-mail address, a self-chosen alias and a few details about their reading habits. We also store the times of application, selection and download of the reading copy, the feedback on the book (questionnaire and e-mails) and answers given via one-click links – in a Cloudflare D1 database (region EU-WEUR), without IP addresses. E-mails are sent through the provider named in section 3; the links in them are signed per recipient. The sole purpose is the programme and the revision of the book. E-mails to test readers are subject to the same measurement of opens and clicks as described in section 3, with the same right to object.

Anyone who requests an advance review copy (eARC) of the English edition on the eARC page provides a name, an e-mail address and, optionally, where they review. We store this, the time of the request and of dispatch in the same D1 database, without IP addresses, solely to send the personal review copy and at most one reminder about the review. Deletion on request at any time by e-mail to press@marin-t-kael.de. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

The readers' circle is a closed German-language area for test readers, reachable through a personal access link without an e-mail address and excluded from search engines. Feedback appears there without name, alias, address or date under a randomly drawn number – and only from readers who agreed to share it, by a click in an e-mail or in the circle itself. Members may vote, leave thoughts and talk to one another; this appears under the same number and is automatically checked for names and addresses on submission. Consent and withdrawal are recorded with a timestamp and a checksum of the wording shown (Art. 7 (1) GDPR).

Every consent can be withdrawn at any time: in the readers' circle with one click per text, otherwise informally by writing to marin@marin-t-kael.de. The text then disappears immediately; your own thoughts can be deleted. For sign-in, the readers' circle sets the strictly necessary cookie lk_session (30 days, Section 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG). Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR. Data is deleted on withdrawal, otherwise no later than 24 months after publication of the respective volume; records of consent three years after withdrawal. The German Datenschutzerklärung is authoritative.

5. Cookies

Only strictly necessary cookies are set. preferred-locale stores your manual language choice (DE or EN) for one year. lk_session is set only for invited test readers after they open their personal access link to the closed readers' circle; it keeps them signed in for 30 days. Neither cookie is used for tracking, profiling, or advertising; both are considered strictly necessary under Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR + ePrivacy. No consent banner is required for strictly necessary cookies.

6. Contact by E-mail

When you write to one of the e-mail addresses listed in the Imprint, your message and the data it contains are processed to handle your enquiry. Retention: as long as the enquiry is relevant, at most 24 months. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(b) and (f) GDPR.

7. Fonts

This site uses the web font "Newsreader" — self-hosted, no third party call. No IP transmission to external font providers (Google Fonts, Fontshare, etc.) occurs.

8. No Third-Party Trackers

This site sets no advertising trackers and no third-party analytics tools (no Google Analytics, no Plausible, no Matomo). Our own visit counting with the cookies marin_v, marin_q and marin_ok runs only with your consent (see above); without it, no cookies are set beyond the strictly necessary ones named in section 5. There is no social-media integration with data outflow to third parties. External links (Wikidata, ORCID, Goodreads, GitHub, Bluesky) are processed only upon click by the respective platform — the operators of those sites are solely responsible for their content and data processing.

9. Your Rights

You have the right to information (Art. 15), correction (Art. 16), deletion (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20), and objection (Art. 21 GDPR). Requests to marin@marin-t-kael.de.

10. Right of Complaint

You can lodge a complaint with a data-protection supervisory authority. Competent is the authority of your place of residence or of the relevant federal state — see Imprint.

11. Status

Last updated: 2026-10-22.