Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal data is processed when you visit thesymbolcode.world, why, and what rights you have. We collect as little as possible. You can browse the site and listen to the song without giving us any personal data; the free preview chapters are unlocked with your email address.
1. Who is responsible
Tribue Francis
Norderstraße 50
24939 Flensburg
Germany
Email: hello@tribuefrancis.com
We are not required to appoint a data protection officer. For any privacy question or request, write to the address or email above.
2. Overview
| What | When | Legal basis (GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and server logs (Netlify) | Every visit | Art. 6(1)(f), legitimate interest |
| Saving your cookie choice | When you choose in the banner | § 25(2) TDDDG; Art. 6(1)(f) |
| Google Tag Manager / Google Analytics 4 | Full measurement only after you click “Accept & Remember” | § 25(1) TDDDG; Art. 6(1)(a), consent |
| Campaign links to Amazon | When you arrive from one of our ads | Art. 6(1)(f), legitimate interest |
| Free song & sample chapters form (HubSpot) | Only if you submit the form | Art. 6(1)(b), your request; Art. 6(1)(a) for optional emails |
3. Hosting and server log files
Fonts and all other files are served from our own hosting; the site does not load fonts from Google or other third parties. This website is hosted by Netlify, Inc., San Francisco, USA. When you open the site, your browser automatically sends technical information that Netlify processes in order to deliver the pages and keep the service secure. This includes your IP address, the date and time, the page requested, the referring page, and your browser and operating system.
We have a legitimate interest in a secure, working website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Netlify processes this data as our processor under a Data Processing Agreement. Data may be processed in the USA. Transfers rely on the safeguards in Netlify's Data Processing Agreement, including the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 GDPR). See Netlify's privacy statement at netlify.com/privacy.
4. Cookies, local storage and your consent
When you first visit, a banner asks how we may remember your visit.
- Your choice itself is saved in your browser's local storage (
tsc_cookie_consent), so the banner doesn't reappear. This is strictly necessary to respect your decision (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG). It stays until you clear your browser data. - After you sign up for the free preview, your browser remembers that the preview is unlocked (
tsc_preview_unlockedin local storage, no personal data), so you can read it again without signing up twice. This is strictly necessary to provide the service you requested (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG). You can remove it by clearing this site's data. - “Only Essentials”: no analytics or advertising cookies are set.
- “Accept & Remember”: you allow the analytics described in section 5. We also remember, for the current browser tab only, which of our ad campaigns brought you here (
tsc_paid_touchin session storage). It is deleted when you close the tab, and after 24 hours at the latest.
Changing your mind: to withdraw consent at any time, delete this site's data in your browser settings (cookies and site data). The banner will then appear again. Withdrawal does not affect processing that took place before it.
5. Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4
We use Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4, services of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, to understand how visitors use the site. For example, we see which sections are read, how many people open the free chapters, and how many click through to Amazon. Tag Manager itself only loads other tools and doesn't create user profiles.
We use Google Consent Mode. Without your consent, Google Analytics sets no cookies and receives only limited, cookieless signals. With your consent, Analytics uses cookies (for example _ga, kept for up to 2 years) to recognise your browser and record your visit. This includes the pages viewed, the clicks on buttons such as “Buy on Amazon”, the campaign you came from, your approximate location, and your device and browser type. IP addresses are not stored by Google Analytics 4.
Legal basis: your consent (§ 25(1) TDDDG, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). Google may process data in the USA. Google LLC is certified under the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework. We keep Analytics data for 14 months. Analytics never receives your name or email address.
6. Links to Amazon and our ad campaigns
We advertise the book on Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Google. If you arrive through one of these ads, the web address contains campaign tags, for example utm_source=meta. The site reads these tags in your browser to choose the right link for the paperback button. That link includes an Amazon Attribution tag, which tells Amazon only which campaign (Meta or Google) sent a visitor. We don't send Amazon your name, email or any identifier.
All “Buy on Amazon” buttons lead to Amazon. Once you're on Amazon, Amazon is responsible for what it processes. See Amazon's privacy notice at amazon.com. Amazon only reports aggregate campaign results back to us, such as total page views and purchases per campaign, never individual buyers.
Legal basis: our legitimate interest in measuring which advertising works (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). If you accepted cookies, the campaign is also remembered for the current tab as described in section 4.
7. Free song and sample chapters form
If you choose to request the free downloads (the official song of The Symbol Code as an MP3 and three sample chapters as a PDF), we process:
- your email address (required) and, if you enter it, your first name;
- whether you ticked the optional box to receive occasional emails, and which version of the wording you saw;
- which of our campaigns brought you to the site, if any (campaign source, medium and name);
- the date and time of your request, the page you signed up on, and technical data HubSpot receives when your browser sends the form (such as your IP address).
Purpose and legal basis: to unlock the online preview and provide the downloads you asked for, which may include sending them to you by email, and to document your request (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). We also use the campaign information to count, in aggregate, how many readers each campaign brings (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
Where it is stored: the form sends your details directly to our customer-relationship management system HubSpot (HubSpot, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; in the EU, HubSpot Ireland Ltd., Dublin). HubSpot processes the data on our behalf under its Data Processing Agreement. HubSpot also records your consent choices (the exact wording you agreed to and the time). HubSpot may process data in the USA. HubSpot, Inc. is certified under the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework and also relies on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable. See legal.hubspot.com/privacy-policy. We do not use HubSpot's website tracking code or cookies on this site.
How long: if you only requested the downloads, we delete your data no later than 6 months after your request. If you agreed to receive emails, we keep your address until you unsubscribe. After that we keep proof of your consent for up to 3 years, in case we ever need to show that it was given.
8. Emails about The Symbol Code (only with your consent)
We email you only if you ticked the optional box (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). Before the first email, we send you a confirmation email (double opt-in), and you'll only receive emails after you confirm. You can unsubscribe at any time through the link in every email, or by writing to hello@tribuefrancis.com. These emails are sent through HubSpot (see section 7).
9. Links to social networks
Our pages link to Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. These are plain links. No data is sent to those networks unless you click one, after which the network's own privacy policy applies. The trailer and song on this site are hosted on our own website, not embedded from YouTube.
10. Your rights
You have the right to:
- access the data we hold about you (Art. 15 GDPR);
- have it corrected (Art. 16) or deleted (Art. 17);
- restrict processing (Art. 18);
- receive it in a portable format (data portability, Art. 20);
- withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3)).
Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR): where we rely on legitimate interest, you can object at any time for reasons arising from your particular situation.
To exercise any right, email hello@tribuefrancis.com. You also have the right to complain to a data protection supervisory authority. Ours is the Unabhängiges Landeszentrum für Datenschutz Schleswig-Holstein (ULD), Kiel, Germany (datenschutzzentrum.de).
11. Do you have to provide data?
No. You can use the website without giving us any personal data. Your email address is needed only if you want to unlock the free preview and its downloads.
12. Changes
We will update this policy if the website or the services we use change. The current version is always available on this page.