Privacy Policy

Last updated: 14 August 2026

1. Controller

Oliver Marquardt – Business Consultant
Kleine Witschgasse 8
50676 Cologne
Germany
Email: hello@metadancer.de

2. Data we process for accounts and the service

When you access Metadancer Images, the hosting infrastructure necessarily processes technical request information such as IP address, time, requested address, referrer, browser and device information. We process this information to deliver and secure the public image-search service.

To create and administer an account, we process your name, email address, company (if supplied), password hash, account status and role. We also process activation and password-reset token hashes, authentication-session identifiers and related timestamps. We use these data to create and verify accounts, sign users in, protect accounts, provide password resets and communicate about the account.

For a purchase and image-licence delivery, we process the billing data you provide (name, company if supplied, street address, postal code, city, country and VAT ID if supplied), the purchased image identifier, headline, selected licence tier, price, tax treatment, order and payment-reference data, invoice details, delivery/download entitlement and timestamps. We retain a snapshot of billing and order information and the checkout acknowledgements required to make the digital licence available immediately after payment.

3. Purposes and legal bases

• Providing search, accounts, authentication, purchases, licences, downloads, invoices and transactional messages: Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a contract or steps at your request before entering into a contract).
• Accounting, tax, invoice and other record-keeping obligations: Article 6(1)(c) GDPR.
• Security, fraud prevention, prevention of misuse, service stability and establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims: Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interests are operating a secure and reliable service and protecting our legal rights.
• Google Analytics: your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and Section 25(1) TDDDG. You may refuse or withdraw consent prospectively at any time through the Privacy settings control.

4. Recipients and payment processing

We use hosting/infrastructure and email-delivery providers to operate the service and send account, password-reset and purchase messages. They receive personal data only as necessary to provide those services on our behalf. We may also disclose data where required by law or where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Metadancer Images currently uses PayPal for checkout and payment processing. PayPal receives the information needed to provide the checkout, process the payment and prevent fraud, which may include your name, email address, billing information, transaction amount, order and payment references, IP address, browser/device data and PayPal identifiers. PayPal acts as an independent controller for its payment processing. We receive and store PayPal order and capture references and payment status; we do not receive or store your full payment-card or PayPal-login credentials. PayPal’s processing is described in its Privacy Statement.

5. Google Analytics

With your consent, we use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, to understand how visitors find and use Metadancer Images and to improve search and preview functionality. The measurement ID is G-15PF2DD6HP. Google Analytics is not loaded and no analytics information is sent to Google unless you choose “Accept analytics”. Google signals and advertising-personalisation signals are disabled.

Analytics may process visited pages, searches, selected filters, image-preview interactions, approximate location derived from the IP address, device and browser information, referrer, timestamps and identifiers stored in cookies such as _ga. We do not intentionally send names, email addresses or HighRes image files to Google Analytics.

Google may process data outside the European Economic Area. Where required, transfers rely on an applicable adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses. See Google’s Privacy Policy for further information.

6. International transfers

Some service providers, including PayPal and Google, may process data outside the European Economic Area. Where required, transfers are based on an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. You may request further information about the safeguards applicable to a particular transfer from us.

7. Your choice

You can reject analytics without disadvantage. Your selection is stored locally in your browser. Use the “Privacy settings” control on any page to grant or withdraw consent. Withdrawal stops future Analytics loading and removes accessible Google Analytics cookies from this domain.

8. Storage periods

Account and lightbox/basket data are kept while the account is active or the data are needed for the relevant feature. Authentication sessions expire after up to 30 days. Account-verification links generally expire after 24 hours and password-reset links after one hour. Purchase, licence, payment, invoice and checkout-confirmation records are retained for as long as required for contract administration and German commercial or tax retention obligations, and thereafter where needed for legal claims. Hosting/security logs are retained only as long as reasonably necessary for security and troubleshooting. Analytics user-level and event-level data are configured for a retention period of 14 months; aggregated reports may remain available longer.

9. Your rights and complaints

Subject to the applicable conditions, you may request access, rectification, erasure, restriction or portability, object to processing based on legitimate interests, withdraw consent prospectively and lodge a complaint with a data-protection authority. Contact hello@metadancer.de. The supervisory authority responsible for our Cologne establishment is the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information North Rhine-Westphalia (LDI NRW).