Privacy policy

Privacy

Contents: 1. Overview · 2. Hosting · 3. General information · 4. Data collected on this website · 5. Direct marketing by email · 6. ReceiptTrail · 7. Cookies and analytics · 8. Your rights

1. Privacy at a glance

General information

The following notes give a simple overview of what happens to your personal data when you visit this website or when I contact you by email. Personal data is any data that can be used to identify you personally.

This policy also covers the service ReceiptTrail, a product of Abel Automation, at receipttrail.de (formerly belege.abel-automation.de). See section 6.

Who is responsible?

Béla Nicolai Abel, trading as Abel Automation
Nedlitzer Straße 16a
14469 Potsdam, Germany
Email: bela@abel-automation.de or bela@abel-automation.com
Phone: +49 177 655 2119

How do I collect your data?

Some data you give me yourself, for example in the contact form. Other data is collected automatically by the hosting provider's systems when you visit the website (technical access data). If I contact your business by email, I use business contact details from public sources; section 5 explains this in detail.

What rights do you have?

You have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection (Art. 15 to 21 GDPR), and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

2. Hosting

This website is hosted by Netlify, Inc. (2325 3rd Street, Suite 215, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA). When you open a page, technical access data (in particular IP address, time stamp, requested resource, user agent) is processed automatically so that the content can be delivered.

Netlify is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. Transfers to the USA are based on this framework and, in addition, on standard contractual clauses (Art. 46 GDPR). More information: Netlify Privacy Policy.

The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in reliable, secure and fast delivery of the website).

Domains: The domains abel-automation.de and abel-automation.com are registered with IONOS SE (Elgendorfer Str. 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany). IONOS manages DNS and domain services and hosts my mailboxes; no website content is delivered via IONOS. abel-automation.com forwards to abel-automation.de.

3. General information and mandatory details

Storage periods

  • Enquiries without a contract (email, phone, form): up to 6 months after the enquiry is closed, then deleted.
  • Customers: until the contract is fulfilled and for the statutory retention periods (in particular § 257 HGB and § 147 AO of German law, usually 6 or 10 years after the end of the financial year).
  • Direct marketing by email: see section 5 (6 months without a reply; suppression list after an objection).
  • localStorage abel_lang: until you delete it manually or reset your browser. It is not sent to me.
  • localStorage abel_consent_v2: until you reset it in section 7 or reset your browser. It is not sent to me.
  • Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _ga_<ID>): 13 months from your last visit, and only if you have consented. The related analytics data at Google is deleted after 14 months.
  • Server log files at the host Netlify: according to the provider, at most 30 days, then deleted or anonymised.

Unless a more specific period is stated in this policy, personal data stays with me until the purpose of processing no longer applies. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

Legal bases

  • Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR: consent
  • Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR: performance of a contract or steps prior to entering into a contract
  • Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR: legal obligation
  • Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR: legitimate interests

Withdrawing consent

You can withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future. Processing carried out before the withdrawal remains lawful.

Right to lodge a complaint

You can complain to any data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the EU or EEA country where you live, work or where the alleged infringement took place. The authority responsible for me is:

Die Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und für das Recht auf Akteneinsicht Brandenburg
Stahnsdorfer Damm 77, 14532 Kleinmachnow, Germany
Phone: +49 33203 356-0
Email: poststelle@lda.brandenburg.de
Website: www.lda.brandenburg.de

4. Data collected on this website

Server log files

The hosting provider (Netlify) automatically collects and stores information that your browser transmits: browser type and version, operating system, referrer URL, host name of the accessing computer, time of the request and IP address (shortened). This data is not combined with other data sources. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

Contact form

If you send me an enquiry via the contact form, your details including contact data are stored to handle the enquiry and any follow-up questions. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR (steps prior to a contract) together with Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent via checkbox before sending).

The fields you fill in are transmitted: name, email address, optionally phone number, topic ("interest") and your message. A hidden honeypot field is used only to detect spam and contains no personal data. Two technical details are also sent: the language of the page (so that I reply in the same language) and, if present, the campaign tag from the page address (the usual parameters utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign and utm_content). The campaign tag always identifies a campaign, never an individual person, and is only kept in the browser for the duration of your visit.

Processing chain (processors under Art. 28 GDPR): The form first sends the data to a function on Netlify, Inc. (44 Montgomery Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA). From there it is forwarded encrypted to my automation server, run by Hetzner Online GmbH (Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany; server location Falkenstein, Germany), which runs the workflow software n8n. The data is then passed on to these processors:

  • Anthropic, PBC (548 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA): AI-assisted pre-classification and reply drafts ("Claude"), using name, email, topic and message. Processing runs via a business API account; on this basis your data is not used to train AI models.
  • Brevo GmbH (Köpenicker Straße 126, 10179 Berlin, Germany): sending the automatic confirmation of receipt to you.
  • HubSpot Germany GmbH (address for notices: HubSpot House, One Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland): my CRM. Stored are name, email address, company, date of the enquiry and the next planned step. My account is hosted in the EU data centre in Frankfurt am Main.
  • Slack Technologies LLC (500 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA): internal instant notification to me.
  • Microsoft Corporation (One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, USA): internal email notification to my Outlook address.

With all providers in third countries there are data processing agreements based on the EU standard contractual clauses (SCC) plus additional safeguards (encryption in transit and at rest). Your data is not combined with other sources or passed on for advertising. You can withdraw your consent at any time by email to bela@abel-automation.de; processing up to then remains lawful.

Potential check for associations (until 7 October 2026)

Until 7 October 2026 a separate eight-question form for associations was available on this website. It has been switched off and no longer accepts data. For answers received before then, the legal basis remains Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR together with Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. They were processed via Netlify and my n8n server at Hetzner, sent by Brevo GmbH and notified via Slack; they were not classified by AI and not stored automatically in my CRM. Workflow logs are kept for 90 days. Details are in the German version.

Booking appointments via Cal.eu

For appointments I use Cal.eu (provider: Cal.com, Inc., 340 S Lemon Ave #4133, Walnut, CA 91789, USA). The booking calendar is not embedded on this website. There is only an ordinary link that opens in a new window. Until you click it, no connection to Cal servers is made and no consent is needed. Once you click, you leave this website and the Cal.com privacy policy applies.

If you book an appointment on Cal.eu, the data you enter there (name, email address, any further details) is processed to manage the appointment. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR. Cal.com, Inc. is based in the USA and processes data on the basis of the EU standard contractual clauses. More information: cal.com/privacy.

Newsletter (new blog articles)

In the blog you can sign up for an email about new articles, at most once a month. Only your email address and the consent checkbox are required; the address of the page where you signed up is sent as well. A hidden field is used only to detect spam.

Double opt-in: After signing up you receive an email with a confirmation link. You are only added to the list once you click it. To prove your consent, the time of sign-up and confirmation and the IP address at confirmation are logged.

The sign-up goes via Netlify and my n8n server at Hetzner to Brevo GmbH (Köpenicker Straße 126, 10179 Berlin, Germany), which sends the emails and keeps the recipient list and consent log on servers in the EU. Brevo records opens and clicks; I only use these figures in aggregate. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR; the consent log is kept under Art. 7 (1) together with Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link in every email or by email to me. After that, Brevo keeps your address only on a suppression list; on request I delete this entry too.

Enquiries by email or phone

If you contact me by email or phone, your enquiry and the personal data it contains are stored to handle it. I do not pass this data on without your consent.

5. Direct marketing by email

I sometimes write a single email to businesses that I think could benefit from my services. This section explains what data I use for this, where it comes from and how you can stop it. It applies to emails sent from bela@abel-automation.de and from bela@abel-automation.com. Both addresses belong to the same business and the same controller.

Controller

Béla Nicolai Abel, trading as Abel Automation, Nedlitzer Straße 16a, 14469 Potsdam, Germany, bela@abel-automation.de, phone +49 177 655 2119.

Who I write to

I only write to businesses, that is companies and other legal entities, at their business email address. I do not write to consumers. Every such email names me as the sender and ends with a short privacy notice and a simple way to object.

Categories of data

  • name of the business, legal form and country
  • name and job title of a contact person, if published
  • business email address
  • the public occasion for my email, if any (for example a job advertisement)
  • date of sending and any reply, objection or bounce

Sources

I only use data that the business has published itself or that is public by law. Each email states which type of source was used:

  • Company website, in particular the legal notice or contact page
  • Job advertisement published by the business
  • Public company register (for example a national business register)

Purpose and legal basis

The purpose is to offer my services once to a business that may need them. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. My legitimate interest is direct marketing of my services to businesses (recital 47 GDPR). I keep the impact small: one email, no tracking pixels, no purchased address lists, only business contact details, and an easy way to object.

Recipients

  • IONOS SE (Elgendorfer Str. 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany): email service for both domains.
  • Hetzner Online GmbH (Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany; server location Falkenstein, Germany): my automation server (n8n), which holds the sending queue, the send log and the suppression list.
  • Slack Technologies LLC (500 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA): internal notification to me when a reply arrives (standard contractual clauses).
  • HubSpot Germany GmbH (EU data centre, Frankfurt am Main): my CRM, only if you reply with interest.

I do not sell or pass on this data to anyone else.

Storage period

If you do not reply, I delete your data at the latest 6 months after sending. If you reply with interest, the rules for enquiries in section 3 apply. If you object, I keep only the email address and domain on a suppression list, permanently, so that I never write to you again (Art. 6 (1) (c) and (f) GDPR).

Your right to object (Art. 21 (2) and (3) GDPR)

You can object at any time, free of charge and without giving reasons, to the use of your data for direct marketing. A short reply is enough: reply "stop" and I will not write again. You can also write to bela@abel-automation.de. After an objection I no longer use your data for direct marketing and add your address to my suppression list the same day.

Your other rights and supervisory authority

You also have the rights listed in section 8. You can complain to the supervisory authority in your own country or to the authority responsible for me, the Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und für das Recht auf Akteneinsicht Brandenburg (address in section 3).

6. The service ReceiptTrail (receipttrail.de)

This section only concerns customers of the service ReceiptTrail. ReceiptTrail is offered in German; the complete privacy information for it is in section 5 of the German privacy policy. In short:

  • For account, contract and billing data I am the controller. For receipt data and the third-party data it contains, I am a processor under Art. 28 GDPR and act only on the customer's instructions, based on the data processing agreement.
  • Receipts are read with AI via Amazon Bedrock in the EU region Frankfurt (eu-central-1). Access data for mailboxes and cloud storage is stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM).
  • Payments are handled by Stripe. The service runs on servers of Hetzner Online GmbH in Germany; system emails are sent via Brevo.
  • The ReceiptTrail apps for iPhone and Android use Apple and Google push services only if you switch on notifications.

7. Cookies, local storage and analytics: your settings

On your first visit a window asks you to decide on analytics. As long as you do not agree, nothing is measured and no request goes to Google. Rejecting is as easy as agreeing, and you can change your decision below at any time.

What is stored without your consent

  • abel_lang: stores your language choice (DE / EN / TH). Strictly necessary for the language function. Legal basis: § 25 (2) No. 2 TDDDG (German law) together with Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.
  • abel_consent_v2: stores your own decision from the consent window (allowed categories and date). Legal basis: § 25 (2) No. 2 TDDDG together with Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR (proof of consent).

Both are kept in your browser's localStorage and are not sent to me or to third parties. There is no Facebook pixel, no LinkedIn Insight Tag and no personalised advertising, and no automated decision-making within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR.

Google Analytics 4: only with your consent

Purpose. I want to know how often my pages are visited and how visitors find them. Collected are pages viewed, approximate location at city level, browser and device type, and the submission of the contact form. No form contents, names or email addresses are sent to Google.

Legal basis. Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TDDDG, that is only your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

Recipients. The provider is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland). Data is also transferred to Google LLC in the USA, which is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision of the European Commission of 10 July 2023); standard contractual clauses apply in addition. A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is in place with Google.

What I have switched off. Google signals are disabled, data sharing with other Google products is switched off in all four settings, and IP addresses are processed in shortened form.

Storage period. Event and user data is deleted after 14 months. The cookies (_ga, _ga_<ID>) expire after 13 months and are only set with your consent. More from Google: privacy policy.

Current status: loading …

Fonts: The fonts Hanken Grotesk and JetBrains Mono are hosted locally on my server. No Google Fonts or other external font services are loaded.

External links: The "About me" page links to my LinkedIn profile. Data is only sent to LinkedIn when you click the link.

8. Your rights (Art. 15 to 21 GDPR)

  • Access (Art. 15 GDPR)
  • Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR)
  • Erasure (Art. 17 GDPR)
  • Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
  • Data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
  • Objection (Art. 21 GDPR), for direct marketing see section 5

An informal message to bela@abel-automation.de or bela@abel-automation.com is enough.

English version of the German Datenschutzerklärung, extended by section 5 (direct marketing by email). Last updated: 16 October 2026