sitemartensarchive
Privacy Policy
Effective date: 10 July 2026
The short version
- This is a personal, non-commercial reading archive. We do not sell anything, we show no advertising, and we never sell or rent your data.
- Everything we collect is used to run this website and for nothing else.
- Optional statistics run only if you allow them on the cookie banner, and they are fully anonymous: daily counts, never profiles.
- You can change or withdraw your cookie choice at any time via the small cookie button in the lower left corner of every page.
- You have the full set of GDPR rights: access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, objection, and complaint.
1. Who is responsible (the controller)
The controller within the meaning of Art. 4(7) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for this website is:
Marten Saunders
Email: info@martensarchive.com
This is a privately run site. No data protection officer is required, and none has been appointed. For every privacy question or request, the email address above is the fastest way to reach us.
2. Your rights
Regarding your personal data, you have the right to:
- access the data we hold about you (Art. 15 GDPR),
- have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16 GDPR),
- have your data erased (Art. 17 GDPR),
- restrict processing (Art. 18 GDPR),
- receive your data in a portable format (Art. 20 GDPR),
- object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21 GDPR), and
- withdraw any consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR). Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at the address in section 1. We answer within one month.
If you believe we handle your data unlawfully, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR).
3. Hosting and server logs
This website is hosted on a server rented from Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany, in Hetzner's data centres in the European Union. When you open a page, the web server automatically processes technical data that your browser transmits: the requested address, date and time, the transferred amount of data, the referring page, your browser type and operating system, and your IP address.
This data is needed to deliver the page, to keep the site secure and stable, and to investigate abuse. It is used for nothing else. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in a working, secure website). Log files are routinely rotated and deleted after a short period, and are not merged with any other data or used to identify visitors.
Hetzner acts as our processor (Art. 28 GDPR) and may not use this data for its own purposes.
4. Cookies and consent
We use cookies in two categories. Strictly necessary cookies are required for the site to function (session, security, remembering your cookie choice). They are used on the basis of s. 25(2) TDDDG and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Optional analytics cookies are set only after you actively allow them on the banner; the legal bases are s. 25(1) TDDDG and Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent).
These are the cookies in use:
Strictly necessary (always on)
Required for the site to work, such as your session, basic security, and remembering this choice. They do not track you and cannot be switched off.
| Name | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|
ma_consent | Remembers your cookie choice. | 1 year |
wordpress_*, wp-settings-* | Keeps you signed in and stores editor preferences (only if you have an account). | Session to 1 year |
PHPSESSID | Server session, used briefly for things like forms. | Session |
Analytics (only with your consent)
Lets us count visits and see which pages are read, so we can improve the archive. First-party only. No advertising and no third-party trackers.
| Name | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|
ma_stats | Counts a visit and which pages are viewed. Set only if you allow analytics. | 13 months |
You can change or withdraw your choice at any time: click the round cookie button in the lower left corner of any page, or use this link: open cookie settings. Withdrawing is as easy as consenting was.
5. Reading statistics (our own, anonymous)
If, and only if, you allow analytics on the banner, we count your visit with our own small counter that runs entirely on this website. No third-party analytics service is involved.
What we store are daily totals only: how many visits and page views happened, which pages were opened, which buttons or links were clicked, the coarse device class (desktop, mobile or tablet), the referring website domain, and the hour of day. These are plain numbers added up per day.
What we never store: your IP address, your name, precise timestamps tied to you, or any identifier that could single you out. The stored figures cannot be traced back to any person, and no profiles are created.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (your consent). You can withdraw it at any time via the cookie settings; counting stops immediately.
6. Reader accounts
If you register as a reader, we store the username and email address you provide and a securely hashed password. New registrations are reviewed by the editor before activation. We use this data solely to operate your account.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performing the agreement to provide the account). Your data is kept for as long as the account exists. You can delete your account yourself at any time: open your profile page and choose Delete account. This removes the account and your letters immediately. You can also simply email us and we will do it for you.
7. The monthly letter (newsletter)
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we use your email address to send you the letter and for nothing else. We use double opt-in: you receive a confirmation email, and only after you confirm is your address added to the list. The time of sign-up and confirmation is logged so that consent can be documented.
The newsletter is sent through Brevo, a service of Sendinblue SAS, 106 boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris, France, acting as our processor (Art. 28 GDPR). Brevo processes your email address on servers in the European Union and may not use it for its own purposes.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (your consent). Every letter contains an unsubscribe link; unsubscribing takes effect immediately and your address is removed from the list.
8. Writing to us
If you contact us by email or through the contact page, we process the details you send (your address and the content of your message) to answer you. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR where your message relates to an agreement, otherwise Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest in answering correspondence). Messages are deleted once the matter is settled, unless a statutory retention duty applies.
9. Who else receives data
Everything we collect is used to run this website and for nothing else. Only two outside services are involved: Hetzner, which hosts the site, and Brevo, which sends the newsletter. Both act on our instructions as processors. Beyond that, data leaves us only if the law requires it. We do not sell or rent personal data, we do not analyse it for other purposes, and we show no advertising and use no advertising trackers.
10. How long we keep data
- Server logs: deleted after a short rotation period.
- Cookie choice: stored in your browser for up to 1 year, or until you clear it.
- Statistics: anonymous daily totals with no personal reference; kept as archive history.
- Accounts: until you delete the account or ask us to.
- Newsletter: until you unsubscribe.
- Correspondence: until the matter is settled.
11. Security
The site is delivered exclusively over encrypted connections (TLS/HTTPS). We collect as little data as possible in the first place; what does not exist cannot leak.
12. No profiling, no automated decisions
We use no automated decision-making and no profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR.
13. Changes to this policy
We update this policy when the site or the law changes. The current version is always available on this page, with the effective date shown at the top. If a change affects processing based on consent, we will ask for your consent again.