Privacy Notice

This is an English translation of our German privacy notice (Datenschutzerklärung). If the two versions differ, the German version prevails.

1. Privacy at a glance

General information

The following gives a simple overview of what happens to your personal data when you visit this website or use the GeoCanvas apps. Personal data is any data by which you can be personally identified. Detailed information follows below.

Data collection on this website

Who is responsible for data collection on this website?

Data processing on this website is carried out by the website operator. You will find their contact details in the section “Controller” in this privacy notice.

How do we collect your data?

Some data is collected because you give it to us, for example data you enter into a form.

Other data is collected automatically, or after your consent, by our IT systems when you visit the website. This is mainly technical data (e.g. browser, operating system or time of the page view). It is collected automatically as soon as you enter the website.

What do we use your data for?

Part of the data is collected to provide the website without errors. Other data may be used to analyse how the website is used. Where contracts can be concluded or initiated through the website, the data transmitted is also processed for contract offers, orders or other requests.

What rights do you have regarding your data?

You have the right at any time to receive information free of charge about the origin, recipients and purpose of your stored personal data. You also have the right to request that this data be corrected or deleted. If you have given consent to data processing, you can withdraw it at any time with effect for the future. You also have the right, under certain circumstances, to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data, and the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

You can contact us at any time about this and any other questions about data protection.

Analysis tools and third-party tools

When you visit this website, your browsing behaviour may be evaluated statistically, mainly with so-called analysis programs. Detailed information follows below.

2. Hosting

External hosting

This website is hosted externally. Personal data collected on this website is stored on the host’s servers. This may include IP addresses, contact requests, meta and communication data, contract data, contact details, names, website access and other data generated through a website.

External hosting serves the performance of contracts with our potential and existing customers (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and our interest in a secure, fast and efficient provision of our online service by a professional provider (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Where consent has been requested, processing is based solely on Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TDDDG, insofar as the consent covers storing cookies or accessing information on the user’s device (e.g. device fingerprinting) within the meaning of the TDDDG. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.

Our host processes your data only to the extent necessary to fulfil its service obligations and follows our instructions regarding this data. We use:

netcup GmbH
Emmy-Noether-Straße 10
76131 Karlsruhe, Germany

Data processing agreement

We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) for the use of this service. It is a contract required by data protection law that ensures the host processes our visitors’ personal data only on our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR.

3. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

We take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data confidentially and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy notice.

Please note that data transmission over the Internet (e.g. when communicating by e-mail) can have security gaps. Complete protection of data against access by third parties is not possible.

Controller

The controller responsible for data processing on this website and in the GeoCanvas apps is:

Kai Raschke
Leipziger Straße 31
06108 Halle, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 176 72239837
E-mail: kr@kaju.it

The controller is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (e.g. names, e-mail addresses).

Storage period

Unless a more specific storage period is stated in this privacy notice, your personal data remains with us until the purpose of processing no longer applies. If you make a justified request for deletion or withdraw your consent, your data will be deleted unless we have other legally permissible reasons for storing it (e.g. retention periods under tax or commercial law); in that case it is deleted once those reasons no longer apply.

Legal bases of processing

If you have consented to data processing, we process your personal data on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, or Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR where special categories of data are processed. In the case of express consent to the transfer of personal data to third countries, processing is also based on Art. 49(1)(a) GDPR. If you have consented to the storage of cookies or to access to information on your device (e.g. via device fingerprinting), processing is additionally based on § 25(1) TDDDG. Consent can be withdrawn at any time. If your data is required to perform a contract or to take steps prior to entering into a contract, we process it on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. We also process data where required to comply with a legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR), and on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The relevant legal basis in each case is stated in the following sections.

Recipients of personal data

We work with various external bodies. We pass personal data to them only where this is necessary to perform a contract, where we are legally obliged to (e.g. disclosure to tax authorities), where we have a legitimate interest under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, or where another legal basis permits it. When we use processors, we pass on personal data only on the basis of a valid data processing agreement. In the case of joint processing, a joint controller agreement is concluded.

Withdrawal of your consent

Many processing operations are only possible with your express consent. You can withdraw consent you have given at any time. The lawfulness of processing carried out until the withdrawal remains unaffected.

Right to object to data collection in special cases and to direct marketing (Art. 21 GDPR)

WHERE PROCESSING IS BASED ON ART. 6(1)(E) OR (F) GDPR, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT AT ANY TIME, ON GROUNDS RELATING TO YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA; THIS ALSO APPLIES TO PROFILING BASED ON THESE PROVISIONS. THE LEGAL BASIS FOR EACH PROCESSING IS STATED IN THIS PRIVACY NOTICE. IF YOU OBJECT, WE WILL NO LONGER PROCESS THE PERSONAL DATA CONCERNED UNLESS WE CAN DEMONSTRATE COMPELLING LEGITIMATE GROUNDS FOR THE PROCESSING THAT OVERRIDE YOUR INTERESTS, RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS, OR THE PROCESSING SERVES THE ESTABLISHMENT, EXERCISE OR DEFENCE OF LEGAL CLAIMS (OBJECTION UNDER ART. 21(1) GDPR).

IF YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS PROCESSED FOR DIRECT MARKETING, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT AT ANY TIME TO SUCH PROCESSING, INCLUDING PROFILING RELATED TO SUCH MARKETING. IF YOU OBJECT, YOUR PERSONAL DATA WILL NO LONGER BE USED FOR DIRECT MARKETING (OBJECTION UNDER ART. 21(2) GDPR). WE DO NOT CARRY OUT DIRECT MARKETING.

Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

In the event of breaches of the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement. This right exists without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedies.

Right to data portability

You have the right to receive data that we process automatically on the basis of your consent or to perform a contract, in a common, machine-readable format, for yourself or a third party. If you request direct transfer to another controller, this is done only where technically feasible.

Access, rectification and erasure

Within the applicable legal provisions, you have the right at any time to free information about your stored personal data, its origin, its recipients and the purpose of processing, and, where applicable, a right to rectification or erasure of this data. You can contact us at any time about this.

Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data in the following cases:

• if you dispute the accuracy of your personal data stored with us, for the time we need to verify it;
• if the processing was or is unlawful, and you request restriction instead of erasure;
• if we no longer need your personal data but you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
• if you have objected under Art. 21(1) GDPR, while it has not yet been determined whose interests prevail.

If processing has been restricted, this data may – apart from its storage – only be processed with your consent, for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person, or for reasons of important public interest of the European Union or a Member State.

SSL/TLS encryption

For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, this site uses SSL/TLS encryption. You can recognise an encrypted connection by the “https://” in the address bar and the lock symbol. When encryption is active, the data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

4. Data collection on this website

Server log files

The hosting provider automatically collects and stores information in server log files that your browser transmits automatically:

• browser type and version
• operating system
• referrer URL
• host name of the accessing computer
• time of the server request
• IP address

This data is not combined with other data sources. It is collected on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR: we have a legitimate interest in the technically error-free presentation and optimisation of the website, for which server log files are needed.

5. Analysis tools

Matomo

We use the open-source program Matomo to see which pages and features of this website are used and whether they work without errors. It records the page visited, the time, the referring page, browser type, operating system and screen resolution, and individual named actions in the application (e.g. adding a layer, exporting, saving a project).

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is operating the website reliably and improving it.

IP anonymisation

Your IP address is shortened before it is stored, so that it can no longer be attributed to you.

No cookies, no user identifier

Matomo is configured not to store any cookies in your browser. We assign no user ID and do not combine the data with your account or any other data source.

Automated access

Besides visits by people, we also record access by automated programs such as AI assistants or search-engine crawlers. Matomo evaluates these separately from visits, in a statistic of its own. Only the identifier of the accessing program (user agent) and the page path without query parameters are transmitted; no visitor IP address is sent. Requests that Matomo does not classify as automated are discarded and not stored.

Hosting

Matomo runs exclusively on our own servers. The data stays with us and is not passed on to anyone.

Objecting to collection

You can object to collection by Matomo. Use the switch below to set an opt-out cookie that prevents future collection in this browser:

Note: if you delete this cookie, you need to set the opt-out again. It applies only to this browser and this website.

6. AI assistant (chatbot)

This section applies only if you actively switch on the AI assistant (“AI Chat”) in the map application. It is off by default; until you switch it on, none of the processing described here takes place. Before it starts, the chat window asks you to read this section and confirm that your input is sent to Mistral AI for processing.

Description and scope of processing

The assistant lets you control the map and ask questions about our data. When you send a message, the text (prompt) is transmitted to our service provider’s servers so the AI can generate an answer. In addition to your input, the following is sent so that the assistant can operate the map:

• a short description of the current map state, e.g. projection, map extent, names of the loaded layers and the current selection,
• attribute values of these layers where the assistant looks them up to answer, e.g. feature or place names,
• descriptions of the functions the assistant may call, and the function calls and parameters it produces.

We do not permanently store your input or the answers on our systems. Our server only forwards the messages and returns the answer; no log of conversation content is kept. The only exception is a rating you choose to give; see “Voluntary rating of the assistant” below.

Please do not enter sensitive or personal data (such as names or contact details) in the chat window. Note that an assistant query can also reveal such data if the map data you loaded contains it.

Recipient

The recipient is Mistral AI SAS, 15 rue des Halles, 75001 Paris, France.

Legal basis

Processing is based on our legitimate interest in answering user requests efficiently and promptly and in optimising our online service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). If you have an AI subscription (section 9), processing is necessary to perform that contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

Usage measurement

We measure how much you use the assistant in tokens (units of text), to keep to the free allowance and the allowance of a subscription. No content is stored for this, only numbers. Details are in section 8.

Separate accounts with the provider

Mistral AI processes requests from subscribers through a separate account, kept apart from free requests. Recipient, retention and the exclusion of model training are the same.

No model training; retention

We have configured our account with the provider so that your input is not used to train AI models. The provider keeps the data after answering only for abuse detection; retention is set to 30 days in our settings with the provider. It is then deleted. This applies equally to free requests and requests under a subscription.

Transfers to third countries

Mistral AI is a European company and processes data within the European Union by default. Should sub-processors outside the EU/EEA be involved in exceptional cases, the level of protection is ensured by EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

Usage statistics for the assistant

To tell whether the assistant works reliably and usefully, we record a few anonymous figures through our self-hosted Matomo (see section 5). Only events with numeric values are recorded:

• opening the chat window and switching the assistant on,
• sending a message,
• per answer, the number of tokens processed and produced, the speed in tokens per second and the number of function calls (tool calls),
• which technical variant of the assistant you were assigned,
• a rating you give, as a number.

The content of your messages, the answer texts and layer, feature or place names are not transmitted. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. An objection to Matomo as described in section 5 also covers these events.

Voluntary rating of the assistant

As we neither store conversations nor can view them at the provider, we cannot tell whether an answer was useful without your feedback. After a few answers, the chat window therefore offers you to rate the conversation.

Only if you click one of the three ratings do you send us the conversation so far:

• your input, verbatim,
• the assistant’s answers, verbatim,
• the function calls it made, with their parameters,
• technical measurements for these answers, such as token counts, speed and number of processing steps,
• the technical variant assigned to you, the interface language and a random conversation identifier.

Your IP address, any user or device identifier, and the full results of data queries the assistant ran are not transmitted.

The legal basis is your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. The rating is voluntary; the assistant works the same without it. You give consent by clicking a rating after the notice above the buttons has been shown.

The sole purpose is to improve and assure the quality of the assistant. Submitted conversations are stored on our own servers in the European Union, not passed on to third parties and not used to train AI models. We delete them no later than 6 months after submission.

After submitting, you are shown a reference number. You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR) and request deletion of the submitted conversation by sending the reference number to the e-mail address in the imprint. Without it we cannot identify your conversation, as we never store a user identifier.

Assignment of a technical variant

We are currently testing four technical variants of the assistant, which differ in the language model used and in how the available functions are offered to it. The variant is chosen at random when you switch the assistant on.

So that you get the same variant on a later visit, we store it in your browser’s local storage (localStorage), only once you switch the assistant on. It is a short technical label without personal reference; no cookie is set. You can view and delete the entry in the section on data stored on your device above.

7. Customer account (optional)

You can use GeoCanvas fully without an account. You only need one to take out an AI subscription on the web, to link a purchase from the app (for example an App Store or Google Play subscription for use on the web), or to have your usage counted on your account rather than your internet connection.

What data and why

We use the Auth0 service for sign-in. We process your e-mail address, when signing in with Google or Apple the identifier provided by that provider and possibly your name, and the time and technical details of sign-in. We keep your account under a random internal identifier; only this identifier is passed to payment and subscription providers, not your Auth0 identifier.

The legal basis is the performance of the user agreement for the account (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). The sign-in cookie is strictly necessary for the service you request (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG); it is valid for at most 24 hours.

Linking purchases from the app

The apps work without an account. If you choose “Use with an account” in the app, we create a one-time code from the purchase proofs of that device (section 8). We store only a hash of the code, which is valid once for 15 minutes. When you enter the code on the /account page while signed in, we store the link between your internal account identifier and the subscription or app purchase. A linked subscription can then also be used on the web, with the same allowance; a linked app purchase unlocks nothing. A purchase is linked to one account at a time: a newer code redeemed by another account moves the link there. The link ends when you remove it on /account or delete your account; the store purchase itself is unaffected.

To make this possible, we record for each verified app purchase an internal identifier and the store’s identifier of the purchase (for Apple the app transaction identifier, for Google the order identifier), without any other data about you. The app confirms the purchase again at every start. We delete a record that is not linked to an account once the purchase has not been confirmed for 13 months, and codes one day after they expire. The legal basis for linking is the performance of the user agreement at your request (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR); for recording the purchase identifier, our legitimate interest in offering optional linking (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Recipient and transfer to third countries

Auth0 is a service of Okta, Inc., 100 First Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. We use a tenant in the EU region. Where data nevertheless reaches the USA, the transfer is based on the adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, alternatively on EU Standard Contractual Clauses. A data processing agreement with Okta is in place.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account yourself at any time: sign in and choose “Delete account” on the /account page, in the browser or in the app. We revoke local account access immediately and retry cleanup if a provider is unavailable. We delete your account at Auth0 and with us, your account-related usage periods and the links to subscriptions and app purchases; usage events lose any reference to you. A web subscription ends at the end of the paid period. Subscriptions from the App Store or Google Play are billed by the store; cancel them in your store settings. A confirmation is queued for e-mail delivery after cleanup succeeds. A revocation record is retained for 30 days after completion to prevent old sessions from recreating the account.

We record your 18+ declaration with its exact wording, version, language, time and the account/chat/purchase screen used. We do not collect your birth date or identity document for this declaration. Your browser receives the necessary “gc_adult” cookie for this. We sign it, and it holds only the versions of the texts you confirmed (the age declaration and, in the AI assistant, the permission to share with Mistral AI) and a random identifier that refers to the stored record; it is valid for 30 days. When you unload the assistant, we replace it with one without the AI permission. The stored record is also deleted after 30 days. The cookie is strictly necessary for the service you request (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG). This supports our adult-only service policy (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); it is not consent to all data processing or verified proof of age.

8. Usage allowance of the AI assistant

Use of the AI assistant is limited: free use to an allowance per 30 days, twice that with a purchase of the app, and with an AI subscription to an allowance per billing period. To enforce this, we process:

• when used without an account, an identifier we compute from your IP address with a secret key that is changed regularly (HMAC). We do not store the IP address itself for this, and treat the identifier as pseudonymous personal data, not anonymous data. Everyone behind the same IP address shares one allowance;
• when used with an account, your internal account identifier; with an App Store subscription, an internal subscription identifier;
• per request: time, model used, platform (web, iOS, Android), number of processed and generated tokens, and the resulting cost. We do not store the content of your messages for this.

In the app, a purchase proof signed by Apple or Google confirms that you bought the app or took out a subscription. We verify the signature and remember the result in a signed cookie (“gc_buyer” for the app purchase, with our internal identifier of that purchase where the store provides one, at most 30 days; “gc_sub” for the subscription, at most until the end of the billing period and no longer than 7 days). Both cookies are strictly necessary for the service you request (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG); the app renews them at every start.

The legal basis for free use is our legitimate interest in protecting a free service against abuse and unlimited costs (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); for a subscription, the performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). The data is processed on our own servers in the EU.

Retention: allowance periods without an account are deleted 30 days after they end, usage events after 13 months. Account-related periods are deleted with the account.

9. Purchases and subscriptions

App Store (iOS)

Purchases in the iOS app are made with Apple (Apple Distribution International Ltd., Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Ireland). Apple processes your payment data under its own responsibility; we receive no payment data, no name and no e-mail address, only the transaction details signed by Apple (product, period, transaction identifier, status such as renewal, cancellation or refund).

Google Play (Android)

Purchases in the Android app are made with Google (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland). Here too we receive only purchase proofs (purchase identifier, product, status), no payment data.

RevenueCat

To handle store purchases in the app we use RevenueCat (RevenueCat, Inc., 1032 E Brandon Blvd #3003, Brandon, FL 33511, USA). The app transmits a random user identifier and the store’s purchase details; no account is needed and none is transmitted. RevenueCat informs us of events such as renewal, cancellation or refund. The legal basis is the performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). The transfer to the USA is based on EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, where RevenueCat is certified; a data processing agreement with RevenueCat is in place.

Web subscription (Stripe)

A subscription on geocanvas.app is paid through Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd., 1 Grand Canal Street Lower, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, Ireland). Stripe processes your payment data, name, e-mail address and billing address. The seller and merchant of record is Sold through Link, LLC (Stripe Managed Payments), which processes your order and payment data as a controller in its own right under its own privacy notice. Kai Raschke provides the service. We receive the subscription details (identifier, period, status) and the customer identifier, but not the full payment data. The legal basis is the performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR); retention obligations under tax and commercial law (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) remain unaffected.

Cancellation and withdrawal

If you submit a declaration through “Cancel contracts here” or “Withdraw from contract”, we store your name, e-mail address, the contract reference if given, the type and time of the declaration and the outcome, and send you an acknowledgement of receipt. The legal basis is compliance with our legal obligations (§§ 312k, 356a BGB; Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) and our legitimate interest in proof (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Retention

We keep subscription records and cancellation or withdrawal declarations until the end of the third calendar year following the subscription end or receipt of the declaration; unresolved requests and records subject to a specific legal hold are retained until their purpose ends. Identifiers of provider notifications are deleted after 90 days.

10. E-mail notifications

We send e-mails only when a process requires it: confirming a cancellation or withdrawal, and confirming the deletion of an account. We do not send advertising. E-mails are sent through the mail servers of our host netcup (section 2). The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) or (c) GDPR.

11. Information for users outside the EU

GeoCanvas is operated from Germany; all processing follows the GDPR, even if you use the website or the app from another country. We grant the rights described in this notice to all users, regardless of where they live. Contact us at the address in section 3; we reply within one month.

• United Kingdom and Switzerland: the UK GDPR and the Swiss FADP apply accordingly. Transfers from these countries to the EU are covered by adequacy decisions.
• USA, including California: we do not sell personal data and do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising (“no sale or sharing” within the meaning of the CCPA/CPRA). You can request access, correction and deletion; we will not discriminate against you for doing so.
• Brazil (LGPD), Japan (APPI), India (DPDP Act), Canada (PIPEDA), Australia (Privacy Act) and other countries: our application server is located in Germany. The providers named in this notice may also process data outside the EU, depending on the service and feature used. When you use the AI assistant, an account or a purchase, your data is transferred to where the respective recipients process it (EU, USA); the safeguards are described for each recipient.
• Adults only: accounts, the AI assistant and subscriptions are restricted to people aged 18 or over. Store family and parental settings also apply.

Source of the German original: https://www.e-recht24.de