Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026

This is a courtesy translation. The German version is the legally binding one.

1. Controller

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

Samuel Houcken
Neymannsweg 12
47608 Geldern, Germany
Email: info@samuelhoucken.de
Phone: +49 176 43981099

2. Overview and data minimisation

This website is deliberately built to collect as little as possible:

  • No advertising or tracking cookies – no cookies are set for marketing or analytics purposes, neither my own nor third-party ones.
  • Cookieless audience measurement only – visitor numbers are recorded using Umami Analytics (see section 4). Umami is GDPR-compliant and does not collect personal data. No Google Analytics, no Matomo, no tracking pixels and no heatmaps are used.
  • Embedded services load only after an active click – the newsletter form (Brevo) is loaded only when you explicitly ask for it (see section 5). Without your action, no connection is made to Brevo. There are no embedded YouTube videos, no Google Maps and no social media plugins.
  • Self-hosted fonts – fonts are loaded from my own server; no request is made to Google Fonts or any other external font provider.
  • No registration, no user account – the free e-paper can be downloaded directly and anonymously.

Since no cookies requiring consent are set and no information is stored on or read from your device (§ 25 TTDSG), no cookie banner is required.

3. Hosting – Netlify

This website is delivered statically (without server-side application logic). The hosting provider is:

Netlify, Inc.
512 2nd Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94107, USA

When a page is requested, Netlify processes technically necessary access data. This includes in particular:

  • IP address (shortened/pseudonymised where applicable)
  • Date and time of the request
  • URL requested and volume of data transferred
  • Browser type and operating system (from the HTTP user agent header)
  • Referrer URL

This data is processed solely to deliver the website, to fix errors and to fend off attacks. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in secure and trouble-free operation).

The data is not used for advertising purposes and is not combined with other datasets. A data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR is in place with Netlify. Netlify may process data in the USA; the transfer is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses of the European Commission (Art. 46 (2) (c) GDPR). Further information can be found in Netlify’s privacy policy.

4. Audience measurement – Umami Analytics

I use Umami Analytics to determine visitor numbers. Umami is a privacy-friendly web analytics tool that operates in compliance with the GDPR and the CCPA.

How Umami works:

  • A minimal piece of JavaScript runs in the browser, which however collects no personal data.
  • No cookies are set.
  • No IP address is stored – Umami anonymises at a technical level.
  • Only aggregated figures are evaluated, such as page views, visitor numbers, pages visited and browser type.
  • No cross-site tracking – Umami does not link data across several domains.

Since Umami sets no cookies and records only anonymised data, no explicit consent under § 25 TTDSG is required for it. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in a statistical evaluation of reach in order to improve what is offered here). Individual persons are not identified.

Further information on data processing by Umami can be found at umami.is/privacy.

5. Newsletter form – Brevo

On the pages about the free e-paper, a sign-up form from the provider Brevo can be used in order to receive the e-paper or news by email. The provider is:

Sendinblue GmbH (Brevo)
Köpenicker Straße 126
10179 Berlin, Germany

The form is implemented as an external embed (iframe from sibforms.com) and is loaded only after an active click on “Load form”. Before that click, no connection to Brevo is established. By clicking, you consent to the form being loaded; a connection to Brevo’s servers is then established, in the course of which your IP address, among other things, is transmitted for technical reasons.

If you enter your details into the form, I process the data you provide (in particular your email address and, where given, your name) in order to send the e-paper and the confirmation of sign-up (double opt-in). The legal basis is your consent pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future, for example via the unsubscribe link in every email. A data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR is in place with Brevo. Further information can be found in Brevo’s privacy policy.

6. Getting in touch

You can write to me directly at the email address given, or use one of the forms on this website (the contact page as well as the print enquiry on the prints page). In both cases I process:

  • your email address,
  • your name (where given),
  • the content of your message, and
  • the date and time of the enquiry.

The purpose of the processing is to handle and answer your enquiry. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in handling enquiries) or Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR insofar as the enquiry is aimed at entering into a contract.

The data is not passed on to third parties and is deleted as soon as it is no longer needed for the respective purpose and no statutory retention obligations stand in the way (as a rule after three years at the latest).

About the forms: they send your details to a function on this website’s own server (/api/kontakt), which checks the submission for automated spam and then passes it on to Netlify Forms, from where it reaches me by email. No captcha, no cookies and no further providers’ services are involved; no information is stored on or read from your device. Netlify is the same processor as for hosting (see section 3). Only what you enter into the form yourself and confirm by submitting it is transmitted. The legal basis is the same as above.

7. Download – free e-paper

The e-paper “6 Tipps für bessere Vogelfotos” can be downloaded directly as a PDF, without providing personal data, without registration and without an email address. The download merely generates the Netlify server logs mentioned in section 3 (IP address etc.).

This website contains links to external third-party websites. I am not responsible for their content or their privacy practices. When you click an external link, you leave this website.

9. Your rights as a data subject

As a data subject, you have the following rights under the GDPR:

  • Access (Art. 15 GDPR): you may request information about whether and which personal data I process.
  • Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR): you may request the correction of incorrect data.
  • Erasure (Art. 17 GDPR): under certain conditions you may request the deletion of your data.
  • Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR): you may request that processing be restricted.
  • Data portability (Art. 20 GDPR): you may receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
  • Withdrawal (Art. 7 (3) GDPR): you may withdraw consent you have given at any time with effect for the future.
  • Objection (Art. 21 GDPR): you may object to the processing of your data insofar as it is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

To exercise these rights, please contact the address given above.

10. Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR). As I am resident in North Rhine-Westphalia, the competent authority is:

Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit NRW (LDI NRW)
Kavalleriestraße 2–4
40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
www.ldi.nrw.de