Privacy Policy

1. Data Controller

Jonathan Schmakies
Am Rodelberg 11
13469 Berlin
Germany

Email: contact@ai-and-the-bible.com

No Data Protection Officer has been appointed.

2. Your Rights as a Data Subject

You have the right to access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR), data portability (Art. 20 GDPR), and objection to processing (Art. 21 GDPR). Any consent given may be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), e.g. the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.

No automated decision-making, including profiling, within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place.

3. Contact via Email

If you contact me via email at contact@ai-and-the-bible.com, the data you provide (in particular your email address, name if given, content, and timestamp of the message) will be processed to handle your inquiry. Email is received via Google Workspace (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, and/or Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA).

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The legitimate interest lies in responding to inquiries. Data will be deleted once the inquiry has been conclusively processed and no legitimate grounds for further storage exist.

4. Hosting and Server Log Files

This website is hosted by Hostinger (Hostinger International Ltd., Cyprus, among others). According to Hostinger, the server used for this website is located in the USA (Arizona). When you visit the website, the hosting provider automatically processes technical access data, including:

• IP address
• date and time of the request
• page accessed, referrer URL
• browser type/version, operating system
• amount of data transferred, HTTP status code

These log files are automatically overwritten on a rolling basis after seven days.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in the technically error-free and secure operation of the website).

Since the server is located outside the EU/EEA in the USA, personal data is transferred to a third country. This transfer is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) approved by the European Commission, which Hostinger incorporates into its Data Processing Addendum with its customers. A copy of the safeguards can be requested using the contact details given above.

Hostinger also creates automated backup copies of the website. Deletion of individual data from backups generally only occurs when the backup copy is routinely overwritten.

5. Videos on This Website

Videos on this blog are not embedded via YouTube or any other external video service, but are hosted directly as files on the Hostinger server mentioned in Section 4. Therefore, no additional data transfer to third parties occurs through video playback; the statements regarding server log files in Section 4 apply accordingly.

6. Comment Function

When writing a comment, the following data is processed:

• name or pseudonym (required)
• email address (required, not published)
• comment content
• IP address
• date and time

Providing a name/pseudonym and email address is required to submit a comment. Without this information, the comment function cannot be used.

Publicly visible are the name/pseudonym, comment content, and the date and time. Not publicly visible are the email address and IP address.

Comments are automatically checked for spam (see Akismet below); individual comments may additionally be held back for manual review before publication.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The legitimate interest lies in providing and moderating a public comment function, preventing spam and abuse, and defending and enforcing legal claims.

Comments are generally stored and published permanently until deleted by the commenting person upon request or by the controller.

Comment cookies: When commenting, you are offered the option, via an opt-in checkbox, to voluntarily consent to having your name, email address, and website stored in a cookie on your device so that this information does not need to be re-entered for a future comment. This storage only takes place with your explicit consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, Section 25(1) TDDDG, the German Telecommunications-Digital-Services-Data Protection Act) and can be ended at any time by deleting cookies in your browser or by not activating the option for a future comment.

Akismet (Spam Protection)

Akismet is used to detect spam comments, a service provided by Automattic Inc., 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. Comment content, name, email address, IP address, referrer URL, and browser information are transmitted to Automattic's servers and automatically evaluated there.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in functioning spam protection). The transfer to the USA is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses of the European Commission used by Automattic with recipients located there.

More information: automattic.com/privacy

Gravatar

For comments, the display of Gravatar profile pictures is used, also a service of Automattic Inc. (USA). When a page with comments is loaded, the email address of the commenting person is transmitted in encrypted form (hash value) to Gravatar's servers to check whether an associated profile picture exists. The IP address of the visiting person is also transmitted to Gravatar in this process. This applies even if no individual profile picture exists and the configured anonymous default avatar is displayed instead.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. As with Akismet, the transfer to the USA is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses of the European Commission used by Automattic.

7. Blog Newsletter Signup

You can sign up on this website for an email list to receive updates about new blog posts. Only your email address and a timestamp of signup and confirmation are collected. No further data (e.g. open or click rates) is recorded.

Providing an email address is required for signup. Without it, no newsletter can be sent.

Signup uses a double opt-in process: after signing up, you receive a confirmation email; only after confirming via the link contained therein are you added to the active mailing list. This serves as proof of your consent.

Technical processing is carried out via a self-developed script based on Google Apps Script, with data stored in a Google Sheets spreadsheet associated with a Google Workspace account under the domain ai-and-the-bible.com. Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, and/or Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, is responsible for the technical provision of this infrastructure.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent). Every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link. Alternatively, you can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by sending an informal message to contact@ai-and-the-bible.com. Your data will then be deleted from the spreadsheet.

Google LLC is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; additionally, the Standard Contractual Clauses of the European Commission apply as part of the Google Workspace data processing agreement.

8. External Fonts (Google Fonts)

This website uses fonts from Google Fonts. These are not dynamically loaded from Google's servers, but are self-hosted as files and located on the Hostinger server mentioned in Section 4. Therefore, no direct connection to Google's servers occurs in connection with the display of the fonts; in particular, your IP address is not transmitted to Google for this purpose.

However, since the font files – like the rest of the website – are delivered from the Hostinger server in the USA (Arizona), the statements in Section 4 (Hosting and Server Log Files) apply accordingly, in particular regarding the transfer of data to a third country based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC).

9. Overview: Recipients and Data Processors

10. Storage Duration

• Server log files: automated deletion/overwriting after 7 days
• Backups: deletion of individual data generally only occurs upon routine overwriting of the backup copy
• Comments: until deleted by you or the controller
• Newsletter data: until consent is withdrawn or you unsubscribe
• Email inquiries: until conclusive processing, then deleted unless legitimate grounds for further storage exist

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 11, 2026