Privacy policy

As of October 2026 · Deutsche Fassung

This is a translation of our German privacy policy (Datenschutzerklärung). The German version is authoritative (Maßgeblich ist die deutsche Fassung).

This policy describes which personal data we process when you use the website landstimme.de, the Landstimme app and the pages behind our QR codes (at api.landstimme.de). We want to collect as little data as possible. At its core the app works without an account and without you revealing who you are, and you need neither the app nor an account for a story behind a QR code.

1. Controller

2. Website landstimme.de

Visiting the site (server logs)

When you visit the website, your browser transmits technically necessary data (IP address, time, requested page, browser identifier). This data is needed to deliver the site and to keep it secure. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a secure, working website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Server logs are deleted after 30 days at the latest and are not combined with other data.

Audience measurement (Pirsch Analytics)

To see how often our pages are visited and which of them people look for, we use Pirsch Analytics by Emvi Software GmbH (Nickelstraße 1b, 33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany). The service works on our behalf (Art. 28 GDPR) and processes the data on servers in Germany and the EU.

Pirsch sets no cookies and stores no IP addresses. From your IP address, your browser identifier, the date and a random value valid only for this website, a number is formed that cannot be reversed. Because the date is part of it, this number changes after 24 hours at the latest; because the random value belongs only to landstimme.de, your visit cannot be tracked across other websites. What is recorded is the page view, the referring source and, roughly, country, device type and browser. No profile of you is created from this.

In addition we count three events on the home page: a click on a store link (App Store or Google Play, with whether it was in the header or the footer), paging through the audio samples (with the direction) and playing an audio sample (with the name of the sample). We want to know whether the page leads to the app and whether, and which, audio samples are looked at and listened to. All that is stored is that such an event happened — the same non-reversible number as for the page view, no additional attribute about you.

The legal basis is our legitimate interest in knowing whether and how our service is used (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You can object to this processing at any time — informally by email to hallo@landstimme.de.

The website uses no tracking cookies and no advertising networks.

3. The Landstimme app

Location

Landstimme plays audio stories that match your position — on the road by car as well as on foot, for example on a walk through a town. To do this the app processes your location on the device to find out which place is nearby. Your route — driven or walked — is only recorded continuously if you expressly agree (see “Your route”). Without that consent your exact route does not leave the device.

Anonymous usage data

To understand whether stories are triggered at the right place and at the right time, we record to a limited extent which story was played when, as well as some technical details for troubleshooting (app version, operating system and its version, and the rough type of surroundings at the moment of triggering — motorway, built-up area or country road —, the search radius derived from it, what triggered the story — a sign, the place itself, entering an area or the motorway you are driving on — and how far away this trigger point was, and — if a story did not come about — the technical reason, such as “being created”, “no text available” or “no connection”, together with the player's error message verbatim, so that such cases can be fixed at all; this message comes from your device and the player, not from you, and contains nothing you entered). This data is linked to a random installation number, not to you as a person, and contains no continuous location trail. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a working app (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). This data is deleted after twelve months.

For every story that was played or failed we also record in which language it was played or requested. This shows us how often stories are heard in a language other than German and whether they arrive late or not at all more often there — in other languages they are only created when needed. The same link to the installation number, the same legal basis and the same period of twelve months apply.

App language

The app is available in several languages. After a new installation it follows the language of your phone; you can change it in the settings. So that stories, announcements and texts come in your language, the app sends the language it is running in when it fetches content. This information is only processed for that purpose and not stored: our application removes it from its access logs, and in normal operation requests to the app's interface are not logged at the entrance to our servers. Only if a request is refused there (for example because of too many requests in a short time) or fails with an error is an entry with the IP address and the full request, including the language, created — solely to fix the fault. These entries are kept in our operational logs and deleted after 30 days at the latest. The language is stored only where this policy says so: with the anonymous usage data (above) and with support requests (below). The legal basis is our legitimate interest in delivering content in your language (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Your route (only with consent)

To improve how accurately stories are triggered, the app can send the route you have travelled (GPS points) to our server — whether driven or walked makes no difference: walks are covered by the same consent, the same purpose and the same retention period as drives. This happens only if you agree in the app (“Save route”, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). If you do not agree, no such data is transmitted or stored. The transmitted route, too, is linked only to a random, replaceable installation number, not to you as a person; you can reset this number by reinstalling the app. You can withdraw your consent in the settings at any time; from then on no further route data is transmitted. Stored route data is deleted after twelve months.

From this route data, already transmitted, the app derives on request the start and end places of a trip (the name of the town or of a nearby place), so that your past drives and walks are shown in the history with a place name such as “Berlin → Leipzig” instead of only a date. No new data is collected for this; only the position data already available with your consent is used, and the query is limited to your own installation number. These derived place names are stored for display on your device and are excluded from device backups — see “Device backup (iCloud and Google)” below.

Map in walking mode

When you set off on foot in a town, the app shows you a map. The map sections (“tiles”) come from our own service on our servers — deliberately not from a third-party map provider: it would see your IP address and the requested section and would thus know roughly where you are. So no further service provider is involved for the map.

Your map requests are not logged: neither at the entrance to our servers nor in the map service itself is it recorded which section someone requested. In normal operation no record of where you have been is created. Only if a request fails with a server error is an entry with the IP address and the requested path created — solely to fix the fault. These entries are kept in our operational logs and deleted after 30 days at the latest. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a working service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

The map data comes from OpenStreetMap; the attribution is shown in the map.

Support requests (Feedback & Support)

When you write to us via “Feedback & Support” in the app, we process the text you voluntarily enter, some technical details (app version, operating system and version, the language you use the app in — so that we can reply in that language) and your IP address, in order to handle your request and reply to you. The text may contain personal data if you write it in (such as your name or contact details) — only give what your request needs. The IP address is used to protect against misuse (limiting the number of requests). The legal basis is the handling of your request (Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR). Requests are matched through a random identifier of the request stored on your device, not through a user account. Support requests are deleted after 90 days.

Requested city tours

If you are in a place for which there is no city tour yet, the app offers to let you wish for one. If you tap it, we store: the place name, the district, a location rounded to about one kilometre, the anonymous device identifier mentioned above and the time. This shows us for which places tours are wanted, and we decide on that basis which ones to create next. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in developing the app further (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

This information remains stored and is not deleted after a fixed period. The reason is the purpose itself: we want to see over years for which places tours are wanted and decide which ones to build. A number that disappears again after a year does not measure that.

The anonymous device identifier is not in the record to recognise you, but to prevent double counting: a second wish from the same device for the same place does not count again. Without it the number would be worthless, because a single person could wish for a town any number of times. Neither a name nor an exact location is in the record — the location is rounded to about one kilometre.

You can have this information deleted: informally to hallo@landstimme.de, stating your installation number from the app settings. You can also object to the processing at any time (Art. 21 GDPR).

To recognise which place you are in at all, your location is sent to our server and compared with the place boundaries there. This exact location is not stored and not logged — it is only processed for the duration of the request. Only the rounded value is stored, and only once you actually wish for a tour.

If you correct the recognised place, we store the name you entered. In that case we store no location. Please only enter the place there, no names or addresses.

Notice about a new version of the app

When it starts, the app checks whether a newer version is available in the store it came from. If there is one, a dismissible notice appears with a button to the store. The check happens at most once every 24 hours and only after you have completed the introduction.

On the iPhone this sends a request from your device directly to Apple. Transmitted are your IP address and the fact that exactly this app is being looked up in the German store. No identifier of your installation and not your location are included. The request does not go through our servers; we store nothing about it. Apple processes it as an independent controller — according to Apple's own privacy policy, Apple Distribution International Ltd. (Ireland) is responsible for users in the European Economic Area. Processing outside the EU cannot be ruled out; there is therefore a third-country link. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in you using a current version with bugs fixed (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

On Android devices the app asks the Play Store installed on the device whether an update is available. This adds no recipient: Google already knows which apps are installed on the device and which version they are on. Here, too, no identifier and no location are included, and we store nothing.

Device backup (iCloud and Google)

If you have device backup switched on — iCloud Backup on the iPhone, Google backup on Android — your phone copies the data of installed apps to your own cloud account and restores it on a new device. The same data moves along when you switch from one phone to a new one.

Excluded from this backup are: your consent decision, your installation number, the route recorded on the device, usage events not yet sent, your past trips including place names, the exact location the app briefly holds for a city tour wish, and the access credentials of your support requests.

The reason is the same as for the identifier itself: consent you gave on one device should not apply to a second one without asking, and a movement trail should not leave your phone at all — not even into your own cloud account. The price for this is intended: after switching devices the app asks for consent again, and the list of your past trips starts afresh.

Your settings are backed up — chosen voice, short or long version, minimum pause, categories — together with the lists of places heard, saved and visited in walking mode, so that your history survives the switch. This data is then in your own Apple or Google account; we have no access to it.

4. QR codes and short links (api.landstimme.de)

In magazines, on notices, on flyers or in emails we hand out QR codes. They lead either to exactly one recorded story or — as a short link — to another page, such as a campaign page or an app store listing. Both are at api.landstimme.de. You need neither the app nor an account, and we set no cookie.

Visiting the page (server logs)

As with every page visit, technically necessary logs are created (IP address, time, requested page, browser identifier). They are needed to deliver the page and keep the service secure; the legal basis is our legitimate interest in a secure, working service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The code's short key is removed from the log — it only shows that a code page or a short link was called, not which one. So the log cannot reveal who listened to which story or scanned which flyer. The logs are collected centrally and remain retrievable beyond updates of the service; they are deleted after 30 days at the latest. We do not combine them with other data.

Counters per code

For each code we hand out, we count how often its page was opened and how often Play was tapped, plus the first and the last call. Calls after a code has expired are counted separately. This shows us whether a cooperation is used at all — the legal basis is our legitimate interest in this evaluation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Only these numbers are stored: no IP address, no device identifier, no cookie and no record per individual call. Two calls therefore cannot be attributed to the same person, not even afterwards. The numbers remain stored as long as the code exists.

Short links (flyers, notices, campaign pages)

A short link has no page of its own: when you open it, we forward you directly to the stored target address — without an intermediate page, without a click, without a cookie and without a consent prompt. The same applies to the call as above: the logs are created, the short key is not in them.

For each short link we count how often it was opened per day, plus the total and the first and last call. This shows us whether a flyer achieves anything — the legal basis is our legitimate interest in this evaluation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Only these numbers are stored: no IP address, no device identifier, no referring source and no record per individual call. Two calls therefore cannot be attributed to the same person, not even afterwards. The stored time of the last call is overwritten each time; for a short link opened only once on a day it is in effect the time of that call.

When forwarding, we usually append an identifier of the printed code to the target address (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign). It is visible in your browser's address bar. The operator of the target page sees it together with your IP address and the time and processes this information as an independent controller; with a small print run they could derive a recognition value from it. We can switch off the appendix per short link and do so where it serves no purpose. You can remove it from the address bar before the page loads.

Playing the story

When you tap Play, our server forwards you to the audio file in the storage service Cloudflare R2. In doing so your IP address is transmitted to Cloudflare so that the file reaches you. The operator is Cloudflare, Inc., based in the USA; there is therefore a third-country link. More below under “Hosting and processing on our behalf”.

A partner's logo on the page is fetched by our server itself and delivered with the page. Scanning therefore sends no request to the partner — they learn neither your IP address nor when you scanned.

5. Hosting and processing on our behalf

The website and server service are operated by netcup GmbH (Karlsruhe, Germany) on servers within the EU. The audio files delivered are kept in the storage and delivery service Cloudflare R2 (Cloudflare, Inc.). These providers process data on our behalf (Art. 28 GDPR) and are contractually bound. Cloudflare, Inc. is based in the USA: when an audio file is fetched — in the app as well as via a QR code — your IP address is transmitted there, so there is a third-country link.

The map service for walking mode runs on the same servers and is operated by us; no third-party map provider is involved.

Audience measurement for the website runs via Pirsch Analytics (Emvi Software GmbH, Rheda-Wiedenbrück) on servers in Germany and the EU; more above under “Audience measurement”.

Support requests from the app are processed via our own support service thredbox, which is operated with the same netcup GmbH in Germany.

To create the audio texts and voices — including the translations into other languages — we use service providers for speech synthesis and text generation. They process place content (names and facts about sights), not your personal data.

6. Your rights

You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability, and the right to object to processing. You can withdraw consent you have given at any time with effect for the future. To do so, contact hallo@landstimme.de.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.

7. Changes

We adapt this policy when the app or legal requirements change. The version published here applies in each case; if the English and the German version differ, the German version prevails.