Privacy Policy

This is an English translation for your convenience. In case of doubt, the German version is legally binding.

1. Controller

Dennis Gelner
Munich, Germany
Email: kontakt@dennisgelner.com
Website: dennisgelner.com

2. Hosting

This website is hosted by ALL-INKL.COM – Neue Medien Münnich (René Münnich, Hauptstraße 68, 02742 Friedersdorf, Germany). When you visit the website, technically necessary data is automatically stored in the so-called server log:

• requested URL
• date and time of access
• amount of data transferred
• browser type and operating system
• IP address (anonymised after processing)
• referrer URL

This data is used exclusively to ensure the technical operation of the website and is deleted after 7 days at the latest. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest).

3. Newsletter

3.1 Subscription and double opt-in

I send a newsletter with information about my artistic work, new projects and exhibitions. You can subscribe to it on this website.

After subscribing, you will receive a confirmation email (double opt-in). The newsletter is only sent after you click the confirmation link — this ensures that nobody is added to my mailing list without their consent.

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

Storage period: Your data is stored until you unsubscribe. After unsubscribing, all associated data is irrevocably deleted.

3.2 Click tracking (pseudonymised)

Each newsletter email contains links that are routed through my own system. This allows me to see whether and which links were clicked — solely to better tailor my content to your interests.

Your email address and name do not appear directly in the click log. The link is made via an internal subscriber ID — the tracking is therefore pseudonymised. However, as the operator, I am able to attribute it to you via the stored ID.

Click data is automatically deleted after 180 days.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (the consent you give when subscribing to the newsletter). You can unsubscribe at any time — this also deletes all stored tracking data.

3.3 Unsubscribing (opt-out)

You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. Every newsletter email contains an “Unsubscribe” link at the end. Clicking it immediately and irrevocably deletes your email address and all associated data from my system.

Alternatively, a short email to info@dennisgelner.com is sufficient.

4. No disclosure to third parties

I do not use an external service provider (such as Mailchimp or similar) to send the newsletter. Emails are sent exclusively via my own hosting server (ALL-INKL.COM). Your data is not passed on to third parties.

5. Cookies and own audience measurement

This website does not use any external analytics or tracking services (such as Google Analytics) and does not set tracking cookies. Technically necessary cookies may be required for operation (e.g. to store your chosen language or your objection to audience measurement, see 5.4).

To understand which content interests my visitors, I use my own statistics tool that runs directly on my server (“SM Analytics”). It sets no cookies, transfers no data to third parties and creates no user profiles. The information in 5.1 to 5.4 refers exclusively to this tool.

5.1 What data is processed?

• Page views: page visited, referring page (referrer), time, device type (desktop/mobile), browser and page language and, where applicable, campaign parameters in the address (e.g. utm_source).
• Approximate location (country/region): determined from your IP address using a database stored locally on my server (MaxMind GeoLite2). The IP address itself is not stored for this purpose and is not transferred to third parties.
• Visit counting: To group several page views of one visit, a shortened checksum is created from the IP address, browser identifier, a secret key and the current date. It changes every day, is not combined with other data and does not allow you to be identified.
• Interactions: clicks on contact links and buttons (e.g. email), clicks on links to other websites (only the target domain is stored), the successful submission of a contact form and visits to pages that do not exist (error page).
• Heatmap data: how far a page was scrolled, where it was clicked or tapped, where the mouse pointer rests while reading (desktop only), how long images were visible and how often they were enlarged or zoomed into (with two fingers on mobile). This information is stored without reference to individual visitors; mouse movements and screen positions are summed up per day into a coarse grid. No form entries, keystrokes or screen recordings are captured.

5.2 Purpose and legal basis

I want to understand which content interests my visitors, how they move through the pages and where they leave the website, so that I can design and improve it according to their needs. The legal basis is my legitimate interest under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Since no cookies are set, no IP addresses are stored and no data is passed on to third parties, the impact on your privacy is minimal.

5.3 Storage period

The collected statistics and heatmap data are automatically deleted after 365 days.

5.4 Objection

You can object to the audience measurement at any time here. Your choice is stored in a technically necessary cookie (sm_analytics_optout) in your browser; afterwards no data about your visit is collected. If a cookie notice is shown to you and you choose “Decline” there, no measurement takes place either.

6. Contact forms and model application

When you write to me via a form, your details (name, email address and message; for the model application also age, city/region, experience and reference photos) are sent to me by email so that I can answer your enquiry. Form entries are not stored in a database on the website; uploaded images are only stored briefly for sending and are then automatically deleted from the server. I delete the emails as soon as they are no longer needed to handle your enquiry and no statutory retention obligations apply.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (handling your enquiry or preparing a collaboration) and Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (your consent in the form).

6.1 Spam protection

To fend off automated spam, the website checks every submission directly on my server — without external services and without a captcha (among other things via a field invisible to humans and the time taken to submit). Messages recognised as spam are not delivered. For these, the time, form, reason for rejection, the email address entered and the first 120 characters of the message are logged for 30 days, so that I can spot enquiries that were rejected by mistake. To limit mass submissions, the number of submissions from one connection is also counted for one hour; only a shortened checksum of the IP address is used for this, not the IP address itself. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in protection against abuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

7. Your rights (GDPR Art. 15–22)

You have the right at any time to:

• access the data stored about you (Art. 15 GDPR)
• rectification of incorrect data (Art. 16 GDPR)
• erasure of your data (Art. 17 GDPR) — for newsletter subscribers simply by unsubscribing
• restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
• object to processing (Art. 21 GDPR)
• data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)

To exercise your rights, write to me at kontakt@dennisgelner.com

Withdrawal of consent (newsletter)

You can withdraw your consent to receiving the newsletter and the associated click tracking at any time — without giving reasons and without any disadvantage to you. You can do so via the unsubscribe link in every newsletter email or by sending me a message.

8. Right to lodge a complaint

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The competent authority for Bavaria is:

This privacy policy applies exclusively to the content of the website dennisgelner.com. External links lead to third-party providers for whose data protection practices I am not responsible.