Data Privacy Information
Last updated: 18.04.2023
The purpose of this document is to explain to every reader in a transparent, simple, and understandable way:
- What data is collected and stored when using RoboStreamer.com
- What is the purpose of collecting this data
- How and where exactly the data is collected and stored
When developing a system like RoboStreamer, it is unavoidable to collect certain data and use external services that are necessary for the operation of the site.
The goal is to collect only as much data as necessary. RoboStreamer, for example, does not use cookies at all.
All visitors to the site
The web server of RoboStreamer creates an anonymized log entry for each request. The last block of the IP address is removed before storing (example: 84.221.156.*). Additionally, the user agent, requested path, HTTP method, and response code are logged.
This logging allows for error analysis, usage analysis, and thread analysis, which are essential for the service operation.
The anonymous log data is automatically deleted after 14 days.
Registered users
If you create a user account, the provided email address and password will be stored in a database.
The password is stored in hash form using bcrypt and a random salt. This means that even an administrator cannot read the password, and if it should be stolen, it is worthless to the thief. They cannot decrypt it and use it elsewhere. Please keep in mind: passwords should never be “recycled” for multiple services on the web!
After registration, a confirmation email is sent, see Email Delivery.
The account email address will never be published on the website.
Contact details for invoices
If you want to receive an invoice as a PDF after making a purchase, you must provide the company name and address. Optionally, a tax number can be provided as well.
The provided data will not be published on the internet and will only be inserted into the PDF invoices.
Email delivery
The RoboStreamer system sends an email to the account address on various occasions.
Currently, this happens when:
- Registering a new account (confirmation email)
- Using the “Forgot password” function
In the future, other events may be added here - I may also add an option to unsubscribe from notification emails only.
It is important to note that the confirmation email is sent in any case to better protect RoboStreamer against fake accounts.
The sending is done through the SendGrid product from Twilio. To send an email, the target address must be transmitted to SendGrid.
According to their privacy policy, the addresses are only used for delivering the email and not for any other purposes.
RoboStreamer explicitly refrains from using any form of tracking in any emails.
Here is the explanation of the company: How Twilio processes end users personal information (English)
Additionally, I personally send notification mails in case you have a running broadcast and the streaming time in your account runs short. This is done over my own mail account.
Collection of User Statistics
To operate a website, it is extremely important to know whether and how it is being used. Which pages are heavily used by users, which ones are not - where do users come from? Are there still many users accessing the site from their PCs, or are most of them using their mobile devices?
Answers to all these questions help in further developing the service in the best interest of the users.
Often, developers rely on Google Analytics for this purpose - however, Google collects a huge amount of data through Analytics and across the web - including a lot of personal data of users - and sends it to the USA, where it can be accessed legally by the US government and intelligence agencies at any time.
Therefore, I have refrained from using Google Analytics, even though it is free.
I have looked for a service that allows me to track the usage of the site, but completely excludes individual visitors.
I believe I have found this service in Plausible Analytics, which I use for RoboStreamer. Plausible advocates for privacy, only collects anonymous usage statistics, and hosts everything in the EU.
More information: # Plausible: Privacy focused Google Analytics alternative
And of course, the data policy of Plausible: Plausible.io Data Policy (English)
Hosting and CDN
The actual hosting of RoboStreamer is done in the data center of Hetzner Online GmbH. Here, I have rented servers in Nuremberg and Falkenstein - which means that all data processing and storage is done in Germany and by a German hosting company.
Hetzner Online GmbH Privacy Policy
To reduce the load on my server, increase protection against attacks, and deliver data faster to visitors, I use the Content Delivery Network (CDN) of Cloudflare.