Privacy Policy

Information on how we handle your data

1. Data Controller

The data controller for this website is:

Timo Schwertfeger
c/o IP-Management #11071
Ludwig-Erhard-Straße 18
20459 Hamburg
Germany
Email: hello@chatstonks.com

A Data Protection Officer is not appointed, as the requirements under Art. 37 GDPR are not met.

2. Data We Collect

  • Account data: Username, email (provided by Twitch for Twitch sign-in, entered directly by you for email sign-in), profile picture, Twitch ID (if available)
  • Usage data: Trades, portfolio, posts, comments, votes
  • Technical data: IP address, browser type, access times
  • Content data: User-generated posts and comments

3. Legal Bases

  • Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR): Twitch OAuth login
  • Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR): Platform services, account management, trading, posts
  • Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR): Abuse prevention (including storage of a peppered SHA-256 hash of your email address to enforce sign-up limits), server logs, platform stability

4. Processing Details

Registration (Twitch OAuth)

We collect: username, email, profile picture, Twitch ID, and followed channels. Legal basis: consent. Retention: until account deletion.

Email Sign-In

When you sign in via email, you provide us with your email address and optionally a desired username. We deliver a sign-in link to that address through our processor Brevo (Sendinblue, France). The email address is stored in Supabase for account management. Legal basis: contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). Retention: until account deletion.

For abuse prevention, we also store a peppered SHA-256 hash of your email address in a separate table (signup_attempts). The email address cannot be reconstructed from this hash. The hash is retained after account deletion so that sign-up limits remain effective. Legal basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Platform Usage

We store: trades, portfolio data, posts, comments, and votes. Legal basis: contract performance. Retention: until account deletion.

Technical Data

Automatically collected on each visit: IP address, browser type, access time. Legal basis: legitimate interest. Retention: 30 days (Vercel server logs).

Server-Side Analytics

We use PostHog server-side in our data pipeline for operational monitoring. No user browsing data is collected. Legal basis: legitimate interest.

5. Cookies and Local Storage

We use only technically necessary cookies and local storage. A cookie consent banner is therefore not required (Section 25(2) TDDDG).

StoragePurposeDuration
Supabase Auth CookieSession authenticationUntil logout
sidebar-* (localStorage)Sidebar layout preferencePermanent
pending_consent (localStorage)Consent state during sign-inCleared after login

6. Third-Party Services

ServicePurposeLocationSafeguard
SupabaseDatabase and authenticationEU (Frankfurt)DPA
Twitch (Amazon)OAuth login and API dataUSAEU-US DPF
Brevo (Sendinblue)Sign-in email deliveryFrance (EU)DPA
VercelWeb hostingUSAEU-US DPF, DPA
HetznerPipeline serverGermanyDPA
PostHogServer-side operational analyticsEUDPA

7. International Data Transfers

Data is transferred to Twitch (Amazon, USA) and Vercel (USA). These transfers are covered by the EU Commission's adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF) of July 10, 2023.

8. Your Rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights:

  • Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR)
  • Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR)
  • Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR): you can delete your account at any time in your settings
  • Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
  • Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR): a data export is available in your settings
  • Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR)
  • Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7(3) GDPR): you can revoke Twitch OAuth access at any time in your Twitch settings

To exercise your rights, contact hello@chatstonks.com.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR). The competent authority for us is the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Der Hamburgische Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit), Ludwig-Erhard-Straße 22, 20459 Hamburg.

9. Data Retention

  • Account data: until account deletion
  • Usage data (trades, portfolio, posts): until account deletion
  • Hashed email address (signup_attempts): retained after account deletion (abuse prevention)
  • Server logs (Vercel): 30 days
  • Pipeline analytics (PostHog): per PostHog retention policy

10. Automated Decision-Making

No automated decision-making or profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place.

11. Minors

Use of ChatStonks requires a minimum age of 16 (Section 7 BDSG). We do not knowingly collect data from persons under 16.

12. Changes

We may update this privacy policy as needed. Material changes will be communicated via the platform.

Last updated: 16 July 2026