Privacy Policy & Data Protection

Last Updated: October 2026

Welcome to Christmas Timer (christmastimer.com). We are committed to providing a joyful, festive, and privacy-first holiday celebration for visitors worldwide. This Privacy Policy informs you about the nature, scope, and purposes of the collection and processing of personal data when using our website and digital holiday services in full compliance with modern data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Name and Contact Details of the Data Controller

The Controller responsible for data processing on this website (pursuant to Article 4 No. 7 GDPR) is:

2. Web Hosting & Server Infrastructure (STRATO AG)

Our website is hosted on high-availability, secure dedicated server clusters provided by:

3. Collection of Server Log Files

When you visit christmastimer.com, the web servers at Strato AG automatically collect and temporarily store information transmitted by your web browser in server log files. This data includes:

• Browser type and browser version
• Operating system used by your device
• Referrer URL (the previously visited web page)
• Hostname of the accessing device (IP address)
• Date and exact time of the server request
• HTTP status code and volume of data transferred

Legal Basis: The processing of server log data is carried out pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR based on our legitimate interest in ensuring technical stability, operational integrity, server performance, cybersecurity defense, and prevention of denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Retention Period: Server log entries are retained for a maximum duration of 7 to 14 days for security auditing purposes and are subsequently deleted automatically, unless retention is required for investigative evidence following a specific cybersecurity incident.

4. 100% Self-Hosted Local Typography & No External CDNs

In full adherence to European data protection standards and German case law (including LG München I, Az. 3 O 17493/20), christmastimer.com does not load Google Fonts or icon libraries from external US servers. All font files (Playfair Display and Outfit) and Lucide icon scripts are hosted directly on our secure, ISO/IEC 27001-certified Strato server infrastructure in Berlin, Germany. When you navigate our pages, your IP address is never transmitted to Google, Cloudflare, or external content delivery networks for typography rendering.

5. Terminal Equipment Access & Local Storage

In accordance with statutory telecommunications and digital service privacy regulations (including § 25 TDDDG), information stored on or retrieved from your terminal equipment is categorized as follows:

Strictly Necessary Functional Storage: Our countdown uses client-side HTML5 Local Storage solely to store technical preferences requested directly by you. This information is saved solely in your browser memory and is never transmitted to our servers:

• Sound & Ambience Preferences: Remembers your crackling fireplace toggle, background video choice, and audio volume across page views.
• Advent Calendar Doors: Saves your opened advent door numbers locally so you can continue your December countdown without losing progress.
• Letters to Santa: Stores your written holiday wishes directly in your browser session for personal festive fun (COPPA and GDPR-K child privacy compliant).
• Music Preferences & Favorites: Stores your favorite songs, rerolled selections, and queue history locally.

Under statutory privacy laws (§ 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG), user consent is not required for storage activities that are strictly necessary to provide a digital telemedia service explicitly requested by the user.

6. Zero Personal Data Sale & No Commercial Tracking

We do not engage in behavioral advertising, third-party user profiling, or automated decision-making. We do not sell, rent, license, or monetize your personal data. You can explore our countdown, listen to holiday songs, discover Christmas recipes, and enjoy our Advent Calendar without creating an account or providing your name, email, or physical address.

7. Third-Party Media Integrations & Embeds

To provide high-quality Christmas music, audio playlists, and movie trailers, our website integrates official public embeds from recognized media services:

• Spotify: Embedded track players and the Spotify Web Playback SDK operate under Spotify's official developer terms. Spotify AB (Regeringsgatan 19, 111 53 Stockholm, Sweden) processes data in accordance with Spotify's Privacy Policy.
• YouTube: Curated movie trailers and official music videos are embedded using YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com), which prevents setting tracking cookies until the user initiates video playback. Service provided by Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland).

8. Children's Online Privacy Protection (COPPA & GDPR-K)

Christmas Timer is an all-ages, family-safe holiday celebration destination. We do not knowingly solicit, collect, or store personal identifiable information from children under the age of 16. All festive interactions, including the interactive Letter to Santa, operate entirely on the client side in local browser memory without server-side data collection or transmission.

9. Data Subject Rights Under the GDPR

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you possess comprehensive statutory rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access (Article 15 GDPR): You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you is being processed, and where that is the case, access to the personal data and specific processing details.
• Right to Rectification (Article 16 GDPR): You have the right to request the rectification of inaccurate personal data or completion of incomplete personal data without undue delay.
• Right to Erasure / Right to be Forgotten (Article 17 GDPR): You have the right to obtain the erasure of your personal data where one of the statutory grounds applies.
• Right to Restriction of Processing (Article 18 GDPR): You have the right to demand the restriction of processing where statutory conditions are met.
• Right to Data Portability (Article 20 GDPR): You have the right to receive personal data concerning you in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to Object (Article 21 GDPR): You have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of personal data concerning you which is based on Article 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR.
• Right to Withdraw Consent (Article 7(3) GDPR): Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time with future effect.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint with a Supervisory Authority (Article 77 GDPR): Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if you consider that the processing of personal data relating to you infringes data protection regulations.

10. SSL / TLS Data Encryption

For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, this website utilizes 256-bit SSL/TLS encryption. You can recognize an encrypted connection by the change in the address line of the browser from "http://" to "https://" and by the lock symbol in your browser line.

11. Contact Us Regarding Data Protection

If you have any questions, suggestions, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your data protection rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer at:

Email: contact@christmastimer.com