I care about your privacy, just like I care about my own privacy. So on this page, I’m going to explain how things work on The Hidden Things, and how that affects your privacy.
On The Hidden Things, the main topic is to develop yourself, to live according to your true self, and to find the path in life which is right for you. The purpose of any data processing related to The Hidden Things is thus running a website around these topics, and offering services or products related to these topics. In order to do all that, I need to process some data:
Hosting
My server is hosted by a German company, and is physically located in a German data processing center. I have closed a data processing contract with the hosting provider according to German law, Art. 28 DSGVO.
What is personal data?
In simple terms: Personal data is information which is tied to your identity, i.e. to you as a person. This includes e.g. your real name, your address or your phone number.
Thus, non-personal data is all data which can not directly be connected with your identity. This includes statistical data like the most viewed articles on this site, or the number of visitors.
You can use a lot of stuff on The Hidden Things without me learning who you are. (Read on to learn which personal data might still be processed, though, and why.)
On the other hand, some things can only be used if you give me access to some of your personal data.
I mean, that’s pretty obvious, right? Without giving me your email address, it would be difficult for you to subscribe to my emails…
Still, it seems that I have to warn you about this, tell you that it’s completely optional, and also add the disclaimer that if you don’t give me that data, you won’t be able to use these things. Well. You’ve been told.
IP Addresses
When you visit this website (like right now), some data is transferred to my webserver, in particular your IP address. This is technically necessary in order for you to even see this page in your browser.
For legal or security reasons, my hosting provider can store such information in their log files. I don’t have any access to the server log files.
If you leave a comment at any of my articles, your IP address is going to be stored for 30 days for security reasons. This is necessary so that I can take action against illegal content, offences etc. I might also use this information to fight spam on The Hidden Things.
If you subscribe to my email newsletter, I have to document that it really was you who subscribed. In order to do that, your IP address and the time/date of your subscription will be stored. The same might apply if you close a contract with me, e.g. by buying a product, or ordering a consultation or a reading.
Emails
If you send me any emails, they will be processed and stored on my mail server and on local devices.
Please be aware that non-encrypted emails can be read by other people, i.e. you shouldn’t put confidential information into a non-encrypted email.
Email Notifications and Mailing List
If you sign up to receive email notifications, your email address is added to my mailing list. This mailing list is managed and sent via MailerLite. I have closed a data processing agreement with MailerLite, and they store all data in the European Union.
By using a specialized email provider, I ensure that my emails are being reliably sent (and received!), and that they are less likely to mistakenly get caught in a spam filter. Sending email notifications via my own mailserver is not a viable option.
If you want to subscribe to my mailing list on The Hidden Things, I’ll need your valid email address (surprising, I know! 😉 ). To make sure it’s really you who subscribed, I use a double optin process, i.e. you need to confirm your subscription by clicking on a link in an email.
I also store the topics for which you want to receive emails, as indicated by you during the subscription process, to make sure you only get emails related to the topics which are relevant to you.
For spam protection, MailerLite records your time and date of subscription and your IP address. For each sent message, they also record whether you open the email and click any links.
With your signup, you give me your consent to receive the requested emails, and to process and store your data as explained. (I’m sorry. It’s a sad state of affairs that I even need to spell this out for legal reasons, isn’t it?). You can revoke your consent by unsubscribing from my mailing list at any time. An unsubscription link is at the bottom of each such email.
Note that you might still get other emails from me after unsubscribing, though: e.g. personal replies to emails you send to me, or legally required emails when you purchase something from me.
Purchases
If you purchase something from me, I need to process and save the necessary data.
This could e.g. be personal data of yours which the payment processor (e.g. paypal) transfers to me, or data I need to generate invoices or to communicate with you. In order to perform readings, coachings, etc, I also need the relevant background information – otherwise I can’t perform these services. Of course, you can at any point ask me to delete this data, and I’ll happily do so, unless I’m legally required to store it.
Please feel welcome to use a pseudonym or alias in your communication with me, and to “encrypt” references to your life (e.g. by talking about “colleague A” and “colleage F” instead of using their real names). It’s solely up to you, what and how much information you share with me – but please note that it’s a bit hard for me to perform certain services if I know nothing about you at all…
Contact forms
I use contact forms in some places, and you can use them to send me a note.
Obviously, I need the data in these forms to process your request. It will be stored on my webserver, and (depending on your request) potentially also on local devices. If I reply by email, the emails will be processed and stored as explained above.
Blog comments and user profiles
When you write a comment to one of my articles, this comment with all corresponding data will be stored infinitely. (Or, well, as long as The Hidden Things exists.)
This allows me to recognise future comments from you, and to publish them automatically. (Otherwise each of your comments would have to wait for moderation.) I use this way of dealing with comments to handle the inevitable spam.
Your rights
In decent human connections, your rights should be pretty much self-evident… But to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s, here we go again:
You can, at any time, request information about your data which I’ve stored. You can also ask for a correction or completion of your data if it’s wrong or incomplete.
You can ask me to delete your personal data. Data for tax or accounting purposes, and data which I’m legally required to store, can only be deleted once the relevant timeframes are over, or once I’m done with the required processing.
You can ask me to transfer your data to other people.
You can complain with the responsible supervisory authority.
You can at any time revoke your consent for data processing and storage which you’ve given to me, with effect for the future.
And you can, at any time, object to the future usage of your data, in particular with regards to direct marketing.
Translated into simple terms, this means:
Get in touch with me if you have any questions, concerns, or if you need help regarding your data – I’ll be happy to help. If you’d like to have any data deleted, or if you don’t want me to use your data any longer, get in touch, too. I’ll be happy to do that (unless I need to store it e.g. for legal reasons). Of course, you still have the option to complain to the relevant authorities.
But as I said, in a decent human contact, all of this should be self-evident…
Responsible with regards to privacy is
Dr. Regine Becher
Mittelweg 14
76307 Karlsbad
Phone: +49 (0)7248 / 926713
Email: mail@thehiddenthings.com
Get in touch if you have any questions!
Last updated: Feb 11th, 2025