Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is provided pursuant to Articles 13 and 14 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable German data protection law (BDSG).
1. Controller
The controller responsible for the processing of your personal data is the operator of Kobold Kronikler, whose full contact details are set out in the Impressum.
For data-protection enquiries, please contact us using the email address listed in the Impressum with the subject line “Data Protection / Datenschutz”.
A Data Protection Officer has not been appointed, as there is currently no statutory obligation to do so (Art. 37 GDPR / §38 BDSG).
2. Personal Data We Collect
We collect only the data that is necessary (“data minimisation”, Art. 5(1)(c) GDPR):
| Category | Data | Collected when |
|---|---|---|
| Account data (GM) | Name or display name, email address, bcrypt-hashed password | Registration |
| Account data (Player) | Username, email address (optional), bcrypt-hashed password, character name and description (optional) | Invitation / first login |
| Campaign content | Campaign names, plot descriptions, world events, news articles, GM notes, player notes, and any other content you voluntarily enter | Active use |
| Technical / log data | IP address, browser type, operating system, pages visited, timestamps (retained in server logs) | Every page request |
| Cookie / consent data | Cookie preferences and consent record - see our Cookie Policy | First visit |
| Tier application data | The tier applied for, anything you choose to write about your table, your recorded acceptance of the revocation clause (timestamp and Terms version), and the outcome including any note we send you - see Terms §4 | Only if you apply for a tier |
| Error and performance reports | For errors: the error message, the address of the page or function involved, and browser and operating-system information sent with the request. For a random sample of up to 20% of requests: the page or function requested and how long it took. No name, email address or account is attached. | When an error occurs, and for a random sample of up to 20% of requests |
| AI feature content | The campaign content you choose to process with an AI feature (as a GM, for example text checked for continuity or an article to rewrite; as a player, feedback or a question you ask the AI to anonymise), and the AI's response | Only after you turn on AI features in your account settings and use them. Players can use them only if the campaign’s GM has turned them on as well |
| Usage analytics | Pages visited, clicks, scrolling and other interactions, session recordings and heatmaps, device and browser information, approximate location derived from your IP address, and a pseudonymous identifier | Only after you accept the Analytics cookie category |
| Advertising data | Cookie identifiers, IP address, device and browser information, and the pages on which ads are shown | Only after you accept the Marketing cookie category; never on a paid plan |
| Invitation data (people without an account) | The email address a Game Master entered to invite you, the campaign and Game Master it is from, and when it was sent and expires | When a Game Master invites you by email |
3. Legal Basis and Purposes
Every processing activity must have a legal basis under Art. 6 GDPR. We rely on the following:
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Providing the Service (account creation, authentication, storing campaign data) | Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR - performance of a contract to which you are a party |
| Security, fraud prevention, CSRF protection, server-side rate limiting | Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - our legitimate interest in securing the Service and protecting users |
| Server / access log retention (IP address, request metadata) | Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - legitimate interest in diagnosing errors and detecting abuse |
| Analytics and advertising (PostHog, Microsoft Clarity, Google AdSense) and other non-essential cookies, if you accept them | Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TDDDG - your explicit consent via the cookie preference banner |
| Responding to support enquiries or data-subject requests | Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR - compliance with a legal obligation; and/or Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - legitimate interest in providing support |
| Reviewing and deciding a tier application you submit, and keeping a record of the tier granted and of your acceptance of the revocation clause | Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR - taking steps at your request before providing the access you asked for; and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - legitimate interest in evidencing the basis on which discretionary access was granted |
| Error and performance monitoring: detecting, diagnosing and fixing errors and slow responses in the Service | Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - our legitimate interest in a reliable, working Service |
| AI features you turn on and use | Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR - providing the feature you asked to use. AI features are off by default (opt-in). |
| Sending a campaign invitation to an email address a Game Master entered, and letting the person it was sent to accept it | Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - the Game Master's and our legitimate interest in inviting players to a campaign. The address is used for nothing else, and the invitation email tells the recipient where we got it and how long we keep it (Art. 14 GDPR). You can object at any time (section 9), or simply ignore the invitation. |
| Essential cookies (sign-in, security, storing your cookie choice) | § 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG - strictly necessary to provide the Service you requested, so no consent is required |
4. Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the stated purpose and no longer than required by law:
- Account data: Retained for as long as your account is active. Upon deletion of your account, account data is deleted within 30 days, unless a longer retention period is required by law (e.g. German commercial or tax retention obligations under HGB / AO, typically up to 10 years).
- Campaign content: Retained for as long as your account is active and for 30 days following account deletion.
- Server / access logs: Retained for a maximum of 7 daysin the normal course of operations, unless a specific security incident requires longer retention.
- Cookie consent records: Retained for 1 year from the date of consent, so that we can demonstrate your consent (Art. 7(1) GDPR).
- Tier application records: Retained for as long as your account is active, and deleted with your account within 30 days of its deletion. We keep decided applications rather than deleting them on decision, because the record of which tier you were granted, and of your acceptance of the revocation clause, is what evidences the basis on which that access was given (see Terms §4).
- Invitations by email: Deleted as soon as the invitation is accepted, declined or cancelled. One that is not used expires after 14 days and is deleted within two days after that, so we keep an invited address for at most 16 days after the last invitation email. Server logs record the invitation, not the address.
- Data processed by service providers: Deleted within the storage period stated for each provider in section 5.
5. Data Sharing and Third-Party Processors
We do not sell your personal data. We use the following service providers. For each, the table states who the provider is, what it receives and why, the legal basis, how long the data is kept, and whether it is transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Hosting
| Provider | Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Hosting the Service: servers, database and file storage |
| Data | All personal data listed in section 2 that is stored on our servers |
| Legal basis | Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR - providing the Service; Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - our legitimate interest in secure and reliable operation |
| Processing on our behalf | Hetzner processes the data on our behalf under a data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR). |
| Storage period | As stated in section 4 |
| Transfer outside the EEA | None. The servers are located in the European Economic Area (EEA). |
| More information |
Security and network protection
| Provider | Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Protecting the Service against attacks and abuse, such as denial-of-service attacks and automated exploit attempts. All requests to the Service pass through Cloudflare's network. |
| Data | IP address, the address of the page requested, and technical information sent by your browser |
| Legal basis | Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - our legitimate interest in keeping the Service secure and available |
| Processing on our behalf | Cloudflare processes the data on our behalf under its Data Processing Addendum (Art. 28 GDPR). |
| Storage period | Deleted as soon as it is no longer required for this purpose |
| Transfer outside the EEA | USA. Requests are handled in Cloudflare data centres worldwide, including outside the EEA. Safeguard: EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR), and the EU Standard Contractual Clauses in Cloudflare's Data Processing Addendum (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). |
| More information |
Email delivery
| Provider | Proton AG, Route de la Galaise 32, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Sending emails from the Service, such as password resets and notifications |
| Data | Your email address, the content of the email, and the time it was sent |
| Legal basis | Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR - providing the Service |
| Storage period | Deleted as soon as it is no longer required for sending the email and handling enquiries about it |
| Transfer outside the EEA | Switzerland. Safeguard: adequacy decision of the European Commission (Art. 45 GDPR). |
| More information |
Error and performance monitoring
| Provider | Functional Software, Inc. d/b/a Sentry, 45 Fremont Street, 8th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Detecting, diagnosing and fixing errors and slow responses in the Service |
| Data | For errors: the error message, the address of the page or function involved, and browser and operating-system information sent with the request. For a random sample of up to 20% of requests: the page or function requested and how long it took. No name, email address or account is attached. |
| Legal basis | Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR - our legitimate interest in a reliable, working Service |
| Processing on our behalf | Sentry processes the data on our behalf under its Data Processing Addendum (Art. 28 GDPR). |
| Storage period | Stored in Sentry's EU data region in Germany and deleted after 90 days at the latest |
| Transfer outside the EEA | USA: Sentry is a US company. Safeguard: EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR). |
| More information |
AI features (opt-in)
| Provider | Anthropic Ireland, Limited, 6th Floor, South Bank House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, D04 TR29, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Providing the AI features you turn on, such as continuity checks, rewriting an article, importing or summarising world content, and anonymising a player's feedback or question |
| Data | The campaign content you choose to process with an AI feature (as a GM, for example text checked for continuity or an article to rewrite; as a player, feedback or a question you ask the AI to anonymise), and the AI's response |
| Legal basis | Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR - providing the feature you asked to use. AI features are off by default: no content is sent to Anthropic until you turn them on in your account settings. Players can use them only if the campaign's GM has turned them on as well. |
| Processing on our behalf | Anthropic processes the data on our behalf under its Data Processing Addendum (Art. 28 GDPR) and does not use it to train its models. |
| Storage period | Anthropic deletes the content within 30 days. Content flagged for violating Anthropic's Usage Policy is kept for up to 2 years. AI results you keep are saved in your campaign and deleted with it. |
| Transfer outside the EEA | USA: processing by Anthropic, PBC. Safeguard: EU Standard Contractual Clauses in Anthropic's Data Processing Addendum (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). |
| More information |
Product analytics (only with your consent)
| Provider | PostHog Inc., 2261 Market Street #4008, San Francisco, CA 94114, USA |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Measuring which features are used and how visitors move through the Service, to improve it |
| Data | Pages visited, interactions, device and browser information, approximate location derived from your IP address, and a pseudonymous identifier |
| Legal basis | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; § 25(1) TDDDG), given in the cookie preferences (Analytics category) |
| Storage period | Stored in PostHog's EU cloud in Germany and deleted after 1 year |
| Transfer outside the EEA | USA: PostHog is a US company. Safeguard: EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR). |
| More information |
Usage analytics (only with your consent)
| Provider | Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, USA |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Understanding how pages are used, through session recordings and heatmaps, to improve the Service |
| Data | Clicks, scrolling, mouse movements and other interactions with our pages, session recordings, device and browser information, IP address, and a pseudonymous identifier (cookies _clck and _clsk) |
| Legal basis | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; § 25(1) TDDDG), given in the cookie preferences (Analytics category) |
| Storage period | Recordings are deleted after 30 days. Recordings we mark as favourites, and a random sample kept by Microsoft, are deleted after 9 months at the latest. |
| Transfer outside the EEA | USA. Safeguard: EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR). |
| More information |
Advertising (only with your consent)
| Provider | Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Showing ads on the Service, and personalising and measuring them. Ads are not shown to accounts on a paid plan. |
| Data | Cookie identifiers, IP address, device and browser information, and the pages on which ads are shown |
| Legal basis | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; § 25(1) TDDDG), given in the cookie preferences (Marketing category) |
| Storage period | As set out in Google's retention policy (linked below) |
| Transfer outside the EEA | USA: processing by Google LLC. Safeguard: EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR). |
| More information |
PostHog, Microsoft Clarity and Google AdSense are used only after you have given your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time, with effect for the future, in the cookie preferences (Art. 7(3) GDPR).
We disclose personal data to law-enforcement or other authorities only where we are legally required to do so.
Connected AI apps
On a Lore-Keeper or Archivist plan you can connect an AI app of your choice, such as Claude or ChatGPT, to your account. This works only after you have turned on AI features in your account settings and approved the connection yourself. The connected app can read the campaigns you can open and propose changes, which take effect only once you approve them on the website. A campaign run by someone else is available to your app only while that campaign's GM also has AI features turned on.
What the app reads is sent, at your request, to the company that provides it. That company is not our processor: it handles the data as a separate controller under its own terms and privacy policy, and it may process it outside the EEA. Legal basis for our part: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR - providing the feature you asked to use.
We keep a record of each connection (the app's self-declared name, what it may do, and when it was connected, last used and disconnected) until you delete your account. You can disconnect an app at any time under Account settings, Connected Apps, which ends its access immediately.
6. International Transfers
Your account and campaign data is stored on our servers within the European Economic Area (EEA). Cloudflare, Proton, Sentry, Anthropic, PostHog, Microsoft and Google (see section 5) are based outside the EEA or process data there. For each of them, section 5 states the country and the legal safeguard for the transfer: an adequacy decision of the European Commission (Art. 45 GDPR), which for US companies means certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR).
7. Automated Decision-Making
We do not use automated decision-making or profiling with legal or similarly significant effects as described in Art. 22 GDPR.
8. Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including:
- Passwords are stored using bcrypt hashing (12 rounds) - plaintext passwords are never stored.
- All connections to the Service are encrypted via HTTPS/TLS.
- Traffic to the Service passes through Cloudflare’s network, which filters out attacks such as denial-of-service attacks and known exploit attempts before they reach our servers.
- HTTP security headers are applied on all responses: Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS), X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, and Permissions-Policy.
- CSRF tokens are used to protect all authenticated requests.
- Rate limiting is applied to login, registration, and note-creation endpoints to limit brute-force and credential-stuffing attacks.
- Inline images are not permitted in user-generated markdown content - this prevents external image requests that would expose a viewer’s IP address to third-party servers.
- Markdown output is sanitised using DOMPurify to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS).
- The database is accessible only from within the internal Docker network and is not exposed to the public internet.
- Data is stored on Hetzner infrastructure within the EEA, and Hetzner’s technical and organisational measures (TOM, Art. 32 GDPR) supplement our own.
No system is entirely free from risk. In the event of a personal data breach likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the competent supervisory authority within 72 hours and, where required by Art. 34 GDPR, inform affected users without undue delay.
9. Your Rights Under GDPR
You have the following rights regarding your personal data. To exercise any of them, contact us using the details in the Impressum with the subject line “Data Subject Request”. We will respond within one month (Art. 12(3) GDPR).
| Right | What it means |
|---|---|
| Access (Art. 15) | You may request a copy of all personal data we hold about you and information about how it is processed. |
| Rectification (Art. 16) | You may request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data. |
| Erasure (Art. 17) | You may request deletion of your personal data where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent. |
| Restriction (Art. 18) | You may request that we restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances, e.g. while accuracy is contested. |
| Portability (Art. 20) | Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out automatically, you may request a machine-readable copy of your data or have it transferred to another controller. |
| Objection (Art. 21) | You may object to processing based on legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)). We will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests. |
| Withdraw consent (Art. 7(3)) | Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal. For cookies, use the cookie preference banner or our Cookie Policy. |
10. Right to Lodge a Complaint
You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data-protection supervisory authority at any time (Art. 77 GDPR). The supervisory authority competent for the operator is the data protection authority of the German federal state (Bundesland) in which the operator is located. A list of all German supervisory authorities is available at: bfdi.bund.de - Supervisory Authorities
If you are located in another EU member state, you may also contact your local supervisory authority.
11. Cookies
For detailed information about the cookies we use, their purposes, duration, and how to manage your preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law or our data practices. Material changes will be communicated to registered users by email or by a prominent notice within the Service before taking effect. The “Last updated” date at the bottom of this page indicates when this policy was last revised.
Last updated: 25 October 2026