Privacy

This translation is provided for information. The German version is legally binding.

Who is responsible

wallPen GmbH
Werkstraße 15, 57537 Wissen, Germany
Phone: +49 2742 966 800
Email: info@wallpen.com

In short

GET VERTICAL is wallPen's magazine and media archive. We use no advertising or analytics cookies, embed no content from other providers and even serve the fonts from our own server. We only process what is needed for the site, for signing in and for your submissions.

Visiting the site

When you visit, our server processes technically necessary data: IP address, time, requested address and browser identifier. We use the IP address briefly to prevent abuse (limiting excessive requests, protecting passwords). The legal basis is our legitimate interest in secure operation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We count how often a share link was opened and how often files were downloaded from it without storing IP addresses.

Hosting

The site, the database and all media are hosted on a server of netcup GmbH, Daimlerstraße 25, 76185 Karlsruhe, Germany. The data does not leave Germany for this.

Cookies and browser storage

We only set cookies that are needed for a feature you use yourself (§ 25(2) TDDDG):
- Signing in: a session cookie for 12 hours while you are signed in.
- Password-protected share links: one cookie per link for up to 7 days, so you do not have to enter the password every time.
- Submission links: one cookie per link for 7 days, so you can continue your submission.

In your browser's storage (localStorage) we keep your language and your saved items while you are not signed in. This information stays on your device.

Signing in with the wallPen ID

Partners, customers and staff sign in with the wallPen ID (id.wallpen.com, our own sign-in service). We receive your name, email address and role, and store your saved items and your language. The legal basis is our contractual or business relationship with you (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

Submitting photos and videos

If you send us photos or videos, we process your name, email address, message, the files and the record of your consent to the transfer of rights (version, time, whether you want to be credited; no IP address). You receive a copy by email and our editorial team is notified. We send these emails through our own mail server. If the editorial team accepts your media, we show them with your name if you chose so. The legal basis is the agreement on the transfer of rights (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). Submissions that are not completed are deleted after 3 days.

Image descriptions with AI

To give photos and videos titles, descriptions, tags and translations, we send images (for videos, individual stills) and existing texts to Claude, a service of Anthropic, PBC, San Francisco, USA. This also applies to submitted media. Names and email addresses are not included. Anthropic does not use this data for training. The transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the European Commission. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a well-maintained archive (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Our editorial team reviews the AI's suggestions before they appear.

Share links

If someone at wallPen sends you a share link, the link may be connected to a record in our customer system (Odoo). When the link is first opened, we note there that it was opened, without an IP address. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in following up on enquiries (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

VERTICAL Notes newsletter

When you subscribe to VERTICAL Notes, you give us your email address and the language of the page. We send an email with a confirmation link through our own mail server; only after the click do we add the address to the recipient list in our customer system (Odoo). As proof we store the text of the consent and the time of subscription and confirmation, no IP address. Unconfirmed subscriptions are deleted after 7 days. The newsletter is sent from Odoo through the delivery service Mailjet SAS, 13–13 bis Rue de l’Aubrac, 75012 Paris, France. Odoo records whether an email was opened and which link was clicked. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw it at any time with the link at the end of every email or by writing to info@wallpen.com; the address then receives no further newsletters.

Your rights

You have the right of access, rectification, erasure and restriction of processing, the right to data portability and the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interest (Art. 15 to 21 GDPR). Write to us at info@wallpen.com. You can lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority; the authority responsible for us is the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Storage period

We keep data only as long as we need it for the respective purpose or as required by statutory retention periods. Submitted media remain in the archive as long as we show them; we remove them on request.

The German version of this privacy notice is authoritative.