Legal notice / Privacy policy
Legal notice
This is a courtesy translation. In case of any discrepancy, the German version of this legal notice and privacy policy prevails.
Information pursuant to Section 5 DDG (Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz – the German Digital Services Act)
Michael Ahr
C/O GfV Gesellschaft für Verwaltungsberatung
Hansaring 145-147
50670 Köln
Germany
Contact
Telephone: +49 221 63060491
E-mail: autor(at)michael-ahr.de
Responsible for the content pursuant to Section 18(2) MStV (Medienstaatsvertrag – the German Interstate Media Treaty)
Michael Ahr, address as above
Consumer dispute resolution
I am neither willing nor obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
Liability for content
The content of this website is compiled with care. I cannot, however, guarantee that it is correct, complete or up to date. As a service provider I am responsible for my own content under the general laws, but I am not obliged to monitor third-party information that is transmitted or stored.
Liability for links
This website contains links to external websites of third parties over whose content I have no influence. Responsibility for that content always lies with the respective provider. The linked pages were checked for possible legal infringements at the time of linking; no unlawful content was apparent. Permanent monitoring of the content of linked pages is not reasonable without concrete indications of an infringement. If I become aware of any infringements, I will remove such links immediately.
Copyright
The content and works created by me on these pages are subject to German copyright law. Reproduction, adaptation, distribution and any kind of exploitation outside the limits of copyright require my written consent. Downloads and copies of this site are permitted for private, non-commercial use.
Privacy policy
1. Controller
The controller for the data processing on this website is Michael Ahr, C/O GfV Gesellschaft für Verwaltungsberatung, Hansaring 145-147, 50670 Köln, Germany, telephone +49 221 63060491, e-mail autor(at)michael-ahr.de.
This policy describes which personal data are processed when you visit this website, for what purpose and on what legal basis. The relevant law is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG – the German Digital Services Act), and, for access to your device, Section 25 of the Telekommunikation-Digitale-Dienste-Datenschutz-Gesetz (TDDDG – the German Telecommunications and Digital Services Data Protection Act).
2. Your rights
You have the right at any time to obtain information about the data stored about you (Art. 15 GDPR), to have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16 GDPR), to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR) and to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR). You may object to processing based on a legitimate interest under Art. 21 GDPR. Any consent you have given may be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR); this does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out up to that point.
An informal message to the address above is sufficient. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR). The competent authority here is the Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (the data protection commissioner of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia), Kavalleriestraße 2–4, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany.
3. Hosting and server log files
This website is hosted by STRATO AG, Pascalstraße 10, 10587 Berlin, Germany. The hosting provider processes the data arising in the course of this on my behalf.
Each time the site is accessed, data transmitted by your browser are automatically recorded in what are known as server log files: the name of the file retrieved, the date and time of the request, the volume of data transferred, notification of successful retrieval, browser type and version, operating system, the page visited previously (referrer) and the IP address. These data are technically necessary for operating the website and serve the security and stability of the service. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in secure and trouble-free operation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The log files are kept by the hosting provider for a short period and deleted regularly; they are not merged with other data sources.
4. Cookies and consent
Cookies are small text files that your browser stores on your device. This website uses cookies that are necessary for its operation and – only with your consent – cookies for audience measurement.
Consent is obtained through the consent tool Complianz. It stores your decision in cookies named cmplz_functional, cmplz_preferences, cmplz_statistics, cmplz_marketing and cmplz_consent_status (lifetime up to 365 days) so that you are not asked again on every visit. Storing them is necessary for the service you have requested and is therefore exempt from consent under Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG; the legal basis for the processing is Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR in conjunction with the obligation to demonstrate consent under Art. 7(1) GDPR.
You can change or withdraw your choice at any time using the “View preferences” link in the consent banner. No audience measurement cookies are set before you have given consent; the corresponding services are set to “denied” by default via Consent Mode.
5. Language selection and country of origin
This website is offered in German and in English. On your first visit, the website checks which language your browser prefers. Only if no German-language setting is apparent does it additionally check, on the basis of your IP address, whether the access takes place from Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Liechtenstein, in order to show you the English version if this is not the case. This check takes place exclusively on the server of this website: the IP address is compared in the working memory only with a locally stored list of country IP ranges – it is not logged, not stored and not transmitted to third parties.
The result of this country check is stored on your device in a cookie (ma_geo, lifetime 30 days), so that the check does not have to be repeated on every page call; if your browser language is already German, no country check is carried out and no such cookie is set. If you select the language yourself via the DE/EN switcher, this choice is stored in a further cookie (ma_lang, lifetime 12 months); the automatic detection is then permanently omitted. Both cookies serve solely the language presentation you have requested and are necessary for it; storing them is therefore exempt from consent under Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG. For the evaluation of the IP address, the legal basis is my legitimate interest in a linguistically appropriate presentation of the website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
6. Fonts
The typeface used, “Plus Jakarta Sans”, is delivered by this website itself. No connection to Google or to any other provider is established when a page is opened, so your IP address is not transmitted to third parties. The typeface is licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.
7. Audience measurement with Google Analytics 4
This website uses Google Analytics 4, a service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. It is integrated via the Google tag with the identifier GT-PBCT4GDD and the Site Kit plugin.
Google Analytics records how this website is used – for example the pages visited, time spent, approximate region of origin, the device used and the page visited previously. IP addresses are truncated by Google Analytics 4 and are not stored. The data are not used to identify you personally and are not merged with other data.
This processing only takes place if you have given your consent in the consent banner. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, Section 25(1) TDDDG). You can withdraw it at any time via the consent banner. As long as no consent has been given, the corresponding access to storage is blocked via Consent Mode.
Google processes the data as a processor. Transfer to the USA is possible; Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The user and event data stored in Google Analytics are deleted automatically after the retention period set there (default 2 months, configurable up to 14 months). Further information: https://policies.google.com/privacy. Using the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout you can also prevent collection permanently.
8. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is used to evaluate how visible this website is in Google search. It provides me with aggregated information about the search terms through which this website is found. I do not receive personal data about individual visitors in this process. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in the findability of my website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
9. Search function
The search function of this website processes your search query on the server in order to show you matching content. Beyond the server log files mentioned under number 3, no data are stored in the process. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in a usable website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
10. Contacting me
If you contact me by e-mail or telephone, I process the information you provide in order to answer your enquiry. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR where your enquiry serves the initiation or performance of a contract, otherwise my legitimate interest in answering enquiries (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Your information remains with me until the reason for storing it no longer applies and no statutory retention obligations prevent deletion. There is no contact form on this website.
11. Links to other providers
This website links to third-party services, for example to the publishers’ bookshops, to Amazon, to statistical sources and to my profiles on LinkedIn and Instagram. These are plain links only. Data are transmitted to the respective provider only once you click such a link; that provider’s privacy policy then applies. Content from these providers is not embedded in this website, and no social media plugins are integrated.
12. What does not happen on this website
This website offers no comment function, no newsletter, no registration and no ordering process. There is no advertising delivery, no retargeting and no automated decision-making, including profiling. Your data are passed on to third parties only as described in this policy or where I am legally obliged to do so.
13. Data security and backups
The website is transmitted exclusively in encrypted form (HTTPS). Encrypted backup copies of the website are created regularly and kept on a server operated by me in Germany. These backups also contain the technical data mentioned under number 3 and are overwritten automatically after a defined number of backup runs. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in the availability and recoverability of the website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
14. Changes to this policy
I adapt this privacy policy whenever the processing described here changes. The version published here is the one that applies.
Last updated: 28 July 2026
Image credits
Midjourney, pixabay