Privacy policy

This website is a personal portfolio of nature photography. Here you can find out what personal data is processed when you visit the site, why this is done, and what rights you have.

1. Data Controller

The entity responsible for data processing on this website is:

Frank Gruber
Kohliwiese 6
38126 Braunschweig
Email: fr.gruber@gmx.de

2. Hosting and Server Log Files

This website is operated by IONOS SE, Elgendorfer Str. 57, 56410 Montabaur. We have a data processing agreement with IONOS in accordance with Article 28 of the GDPR.

Every time a page is accessed, the server automatically stores the following information in what are known as log files:

• IP address of the requesting device
• Date and time of access
• Page or file accessed and amount of data transferred
• Previously visited page (referrer), if provided
• Browser and Operating System

This data is necessary to provide the website and to ensure its security and stability, such as to detect attacks. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. The log files are deleted or anonymized after 30 days at the latest.

3. Encryption

This website uses SSL or TLS encryption. You can recognize this by the “https://” in the address bar. This ensures that data you send to me—for example, via the contact form—cannot be read by third parties.

4. Cookies and Consent

Cookies are small text files that your browser stores. This website uses only a few cookies:

• Essential cookies save your cookie preferences and language setting (German or English). Without them, the website will not function as intended. The legal basis is Section 25(2)(2) of the TDDDG in conjunction with Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR.
• Services that require consent, such as the hCaptcha spam protection service, will not be loaded until you give your consent. The legal basis for this is § 25(1) of the TDDDG in conjunction with Art. 6(1)(a) of the GDPR.

I manage your selections using the Real Cookie Banner plugin (devowl.io GmbH). It runs on my own server. A random identifier, the time, and your selection are stored so that I can provide evidence of your consent (Art. 7(1) in conjunction with Art. 6(1)(c) of the GDPR). You can change or withdraw your consent at any time with future effect: Change cookie settings.

5. Fonts

The fonts on this website are stored locally on my server. When you visit the pages, no connection is established with Google’s servers or those of other font providers.

6. Contact Form and Email

If you contact me via the contact form or by email, I will process your information (name, email address, subject, and message) in order to respond to your inquiry. The message will be sent to me via email and stored in my inbox.

If your inquiry concerns an image license, a print, or another agreement, the legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR. For all other inquiries, my legitimate interest is to respond to your message (Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR).

I will delete your request as soon as it has been processed, unless required by law to retain it, such as in the case of invoices.

7. Spam Protection with hCaptcha

To protect the contact form from automated spam submissions, I use hCaptcha from Intuition Machines, Inc., 350 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.

hCaptcha verifies whether an input was made by a human. To do this, information such as your IP address, browser and device information, and your behavior on the page (such as mouse movements) is transmitted to hCaptcha. hCaptcha also uses cookies for this purpose.

hCaptcha is loaded only if you have given your consent (Section 25(1) TDDDG, Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). The data may be transferred to the United States. Intuition Machines, Inc. is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which, according to a decision by the European Commission, ensures an adequate level of data protection. For more information, see hCaptcha’s Privacy Policy.

8. Spam Protection with Akismet

In addition, the Akismet service checks form submissions for spam. The service is provided by Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd., Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl, Dublin, D02 AY86, Ireland.

To this end, the information you enter in the form, your IP address, your browser identifier, and the page you visited previously are transmitted to Akismet and analyzed there. The data may also be processed by the parent company, Automattic Inc., in the United States. Automattic Inc. is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

The legal basis is my legitimate interest in protecting the website and my email inbox from spam (Art. 6(1)(f) of the GDPR). For more information, see Automattic’s Privacy Policy.

9. Images and External Links

All images and galleries are loaded from my own server. Links to other websites, such as a photo agency, are standard hyperlinks. Only when you click on such a link will you be redirected to the respective provider, who is then responsible for data processing.

10. Retention Period

I store personal data only for as long as is necessary for the respective purpose or as required by statutory retention periods. After that, it is deleted.

11. Your Rights

You have the right at any time to

• To obtain information about the data I have stored about you (Art. 15 of the GDPR),
• to have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16 of the GDPR),
• to request the erasure of your data (Art. 17 of the GDPR),
• to have the processing restricted (Art. 18 of the GDPR),
• To receive your data in a commonly used format (Art. 20 of the GDPR),
• to revoke consent that has been given, with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) of the GDPR).

For any inquiries, simply send an informal email to fr.gruber@gmx.de.

You may also file a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The authority responsible for me is: The State Data Protection Commissioner of Lower Saxony, Prinzenstraße 5, 30159 Hannover, www.lfd.niedersachsen.de.

As of October 2026