Privacy Policy

This English translation is provided for convenience only. The German version is legally binding.

Note: This site is a static business card without a contact form, without tracking and without cookies. No personal data is collected through active input on the website itself. This policy also explains how I process personal data in the course of my business, for example for enquiries, projects, clients and business partners (section 4).

1. Controller

Michael Bortlik, Software Architecture & Engineering
Hochstraße 2a, 93152 Nittendorf, Germany
Email: [email protected]

No data protection officer has been appointed, as there is no legal obligation to do so.

2. Hosting & server log files

When you visit this website, the hosting provider automatically processes information in so-called server log files that your browser transmits. This typically includes: browser type and version, operating system used, referrer URL, host name of the accessing computer, time of the server request and the IP address. This data is technically required to deliver the website and to ensure its stability and security (legal basis: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR).

This website is hosted on Cloudflare Pages, a service provided by Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA; the contact in the EU is Cloudflare Germany GmbH, Rosental 7, 80331 Munich, Germany. Cloudflare delivers the content via a global server network (CDN); in doing so, a transfer of personal data (in particular the IP address) to the USA cannot be ruled out. Cloudflare is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Art. 45 GDPR); in addition, standard contractual clauses apply (Art. 46 (2) lit. c GDPR). A data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR) is in place with Cloudflare. Further information: Cloudflare privacy policy.

To preselect the site language (German/English) automatically, the country of origin of your request, which Cloudflare derives from the IP address, is evaluated on the server when you first visit. The country is not stored; your language choice is then remembered only by your browser (localStorage).

3. Web fonts

The fonts used (Inter, Space Grotesk and JetBrains Mono) are stored locally on this website's server and are loaded directly from there. No connection to external font servers (such as Google Fonts) is established; your IP address is not transmitted to third parties in this context.

4. Contact, project enquiries and business relationships

What data I process and where it comes from. When you contact me by email, by phone or via professional platforms and project marketplaces (for example LinkedIn, freelancermap, GULP or Hays), or when we work together, I process the information you provide: in particular name, company, role, business contact details, the content of your enquiry, a project or a contract, the history of our communication and factual notes on the matter (such as the status of an enquiry, terms discussed, availability). I may also obtain contact details of contact persons from publicly accessible project postings and professional profiles, from project notifications these platforms send me, or from third parties, for example agencies that name contact persons to me.

Purposes and legal bases.

• Handling enquiries and project offers, preparing and performing contracts: Art. 6 (1) lit. b GDPR.
• Maintaining business contacts for future projects and organising my business correspondence efficiently: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. My legitimate interest is acquiring and carrying out assignments.
• Invoicing, bookkeeping and statutory retention obligations: Art. 6 (1) lit. c GDPR in conjunction with Section 147 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) and Section 14b of the German VAT Act (UStG).

You are not legally or contractually required to provide your data. Without it, however, I cannot handle your enquiry or enter into a contract with you.

Service providers. I use service providers that process data solely on my behalf and on my instructions. A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is in place with each of them:

• Email, calendar and document storage: Google Workspace (Google Cloud EMEA Limited, Ireland)
• AI assistant for text processing: Claude (Anthropic Ireland Limited, Ireland)
• Bookkeeping and invoicing: sevdesk (sevDesk GmbH, Offenburg, Germany)
• Hosting of this website: Cloudflare (see section 2)

Beyond this, I only disclose data where required by law (for example to tax authorities) or where necessary to perform a contract (for example to my bank for payment processing). The platforms and marketplaces mentioned process your data under their own responsibility and privacy policies.

Use of an AI assistant. I use an AI assistant (Claude by Anthropic), in particular to handle enquiries, correspondence and documents. It summarises and categorises incoming messages and prepares drafts. I use the service under a business customer agreement (Anthropic Commercial Terms); under these terms, Anthropic does not use the processed content to train AI models. I make all decisions myself, for example whether and how to respond to an enquiry. No decision based solely on automated processing within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place.

Transfers to third countries. Google and Anthropic may also process data outside the EU, in particular in the USA. Google LLC is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR). In addition, and for Anthropic, EU Standard Contractual Clauses apply (Art. 46 (2) lit. c GDPR, Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914), which form part of the respective data processing agreements. You can obtain a copy of the clauses from me on request or at eur-lex.europa.eu.

Retention.

• I store enquiries, contact details and related emails for as long as they are needed to handle the enquiry and maintain the business relationship. Data no longer needed for these purposes is deleted or anonymised, as is data whose processing you object to.
• Tax-relevant contract documents and correspondence are kept for 6 years, invoices and supporting accounting documents for 8 years, books, records and annual accounts for 10 years, each counted from the end of the calendar year (Section 147 AO, Section 14b UStG).
• Other correspondence with clients and business partners is kept until the limitation periods expire (generally 3 years from the end of the year, Sections 195, 199 of the German Civil Code).
• After that, the data is deleted unless longer retention is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

5. Your rights

You have the right at any time to access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20 GDPR).

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The authority responsible for me is the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA), Promenade 18, 91522 Ansbach, Germany, www.lda.bayern.de.

6. No cookies, no tracking

This website does not set any tracking cookies and does not use any analytics or marketing services. Only your locally selected light/dark preference and your language choice (German/English) are stored in your browser (localStorage); this information never leaves your device.

Last updated: October 2026