Privacy policy

1. Summary

This website is a static information page. We use no cookies, put nothing on your device to recognise you, use no tracking or web analytics and embed no third-party content (no videos, maps or social media plugins). The site contains no JavaScript, no forms and no user accounts. Fonts come from your own device; images and files are served only from our own server.

Personal data is only processed where technically necessary to deliver the website, and when you contact us by email or phone.

For our interactive livestreams (Fish & Chat), a program on our own computer reads the public chat of our streams on Twitch, YouTube and Kick to count votes; for YouTube it uses YouTube API Services. What reaches us, how long we keep it and how to have it deleted is explained in section 8.

2. Controller

3. Hosting and server logs

This website is hosted by IONOS SE, Elgendorfer Str. 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany (product: IONOS Web Hosting). IONOS processes data on our behalf as a processor (Art. 28 GDPR); a data processing agreement is in place.

When you open the website, your browser necessarily transmits data to the server. The following data is processed: IP address, date and time of access, requested page or file, previously visited page (referrer), browser type and version, operating system and device type. According to IONOS, the IP address is anonymised as soon as the log data is collected.

• Purpose: delivering the website and ensuring its security and stability (e.g. defending against attacks, troubleshooting).
• Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is the secure and stable provision of our website.
• Retention: according to IONOS, log data is stored for eight weeks and then deleted.

Data is not passed on to other third parties and is not transferred to countries outside the EU/EEA.

In addition, IONOS creates anonymous statistics from this access data (IONOS SiteAnalytics). No cookies are set; the IP address is anonymised immediately after transmission. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is evaluating our reach in anonymous form.

4. Encryption

For security reasons this website uses TLS encryption (recognisable by “https://” and the padlock symbol in your browser’s address bar).

5. No cookies, no storage on your device

We use no cookies or similar technologies (such as local storage) and do not read information from your device (Section 25 of the German TDDDG; Art. 5(3) ePrivacy Directive). A cookie banner is therefore not required.

As with any website, your browser merely keeps images and the style sheet in its cache and remembers to open this site only over an encrypted connection (HSTS). Neither contains any information about you, and both are strictly necessary to provide the website (Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG).

6. Contact by email and phone

If you contact us by email or phone, we process the details you provide (e.g. name, email address or phone number, content of your message) to handle your request.

• Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR where your request relates to a contract or pre-contractual steps, otherwise Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest in answering enquiries).
• Retention: we delete your request once it has been dealt with, unless statutory retention obligations apply (in particular under German commercial and tax law, e.g. Section 147 AO).

Our mailbox is provided by IONOS SE (see above), acting as our processor.

From there, we forward emails to a mailbox at Google (Gmail) and answer from there. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Data may also be transferred to the USA; Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision of the European Commission, Art. 45 GDPR).

7. Links to other websites and platforms

Our website contains plain links to our channels and profiles on Twitch, YouTube, Kick and other social networks, to the website byteling.app and to the terms and privacy policies of other providers. Simply visiting our website does not transmit any data to these providers. Only when you click a link do you open the provider’s site; its privacy policy then applies. Our links are configured so that your browser does not send a referrer.

8. Livestreams (Fish & Chat) – chat processing and YouTube API Services

Under the name “Fish & Chat” we broadcast interactive livestreams on our channels on YouTube (landscape, and portrait in the Shorts feed), Twitch and Kick: chess nights (“Platform Cup”) and, from 19 November 2026, a show in which a virtual fish and the chat play an open-world game together. Viewers play along by typing commands in the chat. Playing along is voluntary; you can watch without chatting. We also publish clips on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. This section explains which data reaches us and what we do with it. The rules for taking part are in our livestream terms.

What the platforms process themselves

When you watch a stream, chat, follow, subscribe or send Bits, Kicks or Super Chats, this happens on the platform and under its own privacy policy: YouTube (Google Ireland Limited, Google Privacy Policy), Twitch (Twitch Privacy Notice) and Kick (Kick Streaming Pty Ltd, Australia, Kick Privacy Policy). This also applies to the recordings the platforms keep after a broadcast (for example Twitch VODs and YouTube live archives) and to moderation in the chat. From the platforms we see aggregated statistics from which we cannot identify individuals. Like every channel owner, we also see the public names of people who follow, subscribe to or support us.

What our program reads from the chat

A program on our own computer reads the public chat of our own streams through the platforms’ official interfaces: on Twitch with the “read chat” permission (EventSub), on YouTube through the YouTube Data API (YouTube API Services, see below) and on Kick through notifications (webhooks). It reads only the chat of broadcasts on our own channels. From each chat message it keeps only the text, the account ID, the message ID and the time. It discards display names, profile pictures and badges that the platforms send along as soon as the message has been read.

The program only checks whether a message is a valid command – for example a chess move such as “13 e4” – and counts the votes: one vote per account. It does not evaluate other messages. Text and account ID stay in working memory only and are gone at the latest when we close the program after the broadcast. The exception are blocks in the GTA show (see “Moderation”). Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in running an interactive show and counting votes fairly (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

In the chess cup, the program stores only a pseudonymous key on our computer: a checksum (SHA-256) calculated from the team and the account ID, without any name. With it, the program does not count a vote twice after a restart, counts how many different people played along, and keeps blocked accounts blocked. The key is not a name, but it can be recalculated from the matching account ID, so it still counts as personal data. In the GTA show it stores no such key; there it counts players in working memory only, and our session statistics contain counts only. Our logs contain moves, results, counts and clip markers, but no names, account IDs or chat texts.

Our program itself sends no chat texts and no names to any AI service; what the AI assistant can see on screen is explained under “AI assistance while running the broadcast”. Our host BigHead speaks fixed lines written in advance. Our program stores and reads nothing on viewers’ devices and shows no advertising.

YouTube API Services

For the YouTube chat our program uses YouTube API Services. If you play along in our YouTube streams, you are bound by the YouTube Terms of Service; the Google Privacy Policy applies.

• What we access: read-only, with an API key and only for broadcasts on our own channel. The program looks up the live chat of our broadcast (videos.list) and then receives its chat messages (liveChatMessages), including notices of deleted messages and blocked accounts. If it receives notices of Super Chats or memberships, it keeps at most the fact that such an event happened – without name, amount or message.
• What we use: only the message text, the YouTube channel ID of the author, the message ID and the time, as described above. It never writes to YouTube: it posts no messages, changes no videos and does not ask viewers to sign in with their Google account.
• Sharing: we do not sell or pass on data from YouTube API Services. Votes appear on stream only as counts and moves, without names.
• Storage and deletion: data from YouTube API Services stays in working memory, except the pseudonymous keys and observed blocks described here, which we delete after 30 days at the latest. On request we delete the data we hold about you as soon as possible: within 7 days for data obtained through the YouTube API Services and within 30 days for all other data; just write to the email address in section 2. This only affects our data, not the data at YouTube, which you manage in YouTube itself.
• Access to your Google account: our program never asks for it. If you have given other applications access, you can review and revoke it in the Google security settings.

Kick and the ngrok service

Kick sends chat messages as notifications to an internet address. The ngrok service provides this address for us (ngrok, Inc., 548 Market St, PMB 26741, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA). The messages pass through ngrok’s servers to our computer; ngrok acts on our behalf; the data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR) is part of ngrok’s terms of service. For the transfer to the USA, ngrok states that it relies on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

Moderation

If a moderator on YouTube or Twitch deletes a message, or a moderator on any of the platforms blocks an account, our program removes that account’s votes and accepts no more votes from it until the end of the tournament or broadcast. In the GTA show it stores the account ID for this and, where the platform provides it, the length of the block – never messages. On Twitch and Kick the block therefore also applies in the following broadcasts, on YouTube in the current broadcast. We delete these entries 30 days after the broadcast in which we observed the block at the latest.

What you see on stream

The picture shows the game, our host BigHead, team names and counts, but no viewer names and no chat texts. Accepted moves and commands appear without names.

The exception are short alerts: if you follow us, subscribe or join as a member, send Bits, Kicks, a Super Chat or a tip, or visit us with your channel (raid), an alert shows your public name on the platform for a few seconds, the amount where there is one and, for a tip, the message you write with it. A filter replaces rude words with asterisks. These alerts come from the Streamlabs service (Logitech group; EU representative: Logitech Ireland Services Limited, Cork, Ireland), which is connected to our channels for this and receives the events from the platforms (Streamlabs privacy policy). The alerts are part of the broadcast and so also of recordings and clips.

We show the alerts to say thank you for support (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). If you do not want to be named, write to us: we take your name out of our own recordings and out of clips we cut afterwards, and on request we take down, trim or replace clips and recordings on our channels (such as Twitch VODs and YouTube live archives) already published with your name.

Recordings and clips

The platforms keep broadcasts as recordings according to their settings. In addition, we record our YouTube outputs (landscape and portrait) on our computer to cut clips and recaps from them. We delete these recordings and the working files taken from them, such as single frames, once the clips are cut, at the latest 30 days after the broadcast. We publish clips and recaps on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

AI assistance while running the broadcast

The AI assistant Claude helps us prepare and run the broadcast. It sees our program’s counts and status and the live picture of the broadcast, including alerts with names where they are shown. When it checks picture and sound, it also sees the platforms’ pages and our channel management (such as YouTube Studio or the Twitch and Kick dashboards) as screenshots and text, which includes chat messages and notices of follows, subscriptions or support with the names shown. It may point out problematic messages to us; deleting messages and blocking accounts is done by us. For troubleshooting, our program can save single frames of the broadcast picture on our computer (switched off by default, at most one per minute); during the broadcast the assistant reads one frame that is overwritten regularly. We delete these frames 30 days after the broadcast at the latest.

For users in Europe the provider is Anthropic Ireland, Limited (6th Floor, South Bank House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, D04 TR29, Ireland). It processes this content as a separate controller under its privacy policy; data may be transferred to the USA, according to Anthropic, safeguarded by standard contractual clauses. We have turned off the use of our content for training AI models in our account; according to Anthropic, content flagged as violating its policies may still be used to improve its services. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in a stable, well-run broadcast (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Tips

You give a tip voluntarily through the Streamlabs tip page; payment is handled by PayPal (PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22–24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg). There you enter a name of your choice, the amount and, if you like, a message. For card payments, Streamlabs or PayPal may ask for further details such as email address, phone number or postal address. Streamlabs and PayPal process the payment under their own privacy policies (Streamlabs, PayPal). We receive the name, amount and message, plus the details PayPal passes on to payees about a payment, such as the payer’s name and email address.

A tip is a thank-you. It gives no votes and no control over the game. We process these details to accept the tip and display it as you wish (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and keep the accounting records as long as tax law requires (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR, Section 147 AO).

How long we keep what

• Chat texts and account IDs: in working memory only, until we close the program after the broadcast (exception: blocks in the GTA show).
• Pseudonymous keys of players and blocked accounts in the chess cup, in backup copies too: at most 30 days after the broadcast.
• Observed blocks in the GTA show (account ID and, where provided, length of the block): at most 30 days after the broadcast in which we observed them.
• Our own recordings and working files taken from them, and saved frames of the broadcast picture: at most 30 days after the broadcast.
• Logs without personal data (moves, results, counts): as long as we need them for recaps and troubleshooting.
• Published clips: as long as they are online.
• Checks by the AI assistant: at Anthropic: according to Anthropic, 30 days, because we have turned off the use for model training; content flagged as violating Anthropic’s policies may be kept longer. We keep the local copy of these working conversations on our computer only as long as we need it to run, troubleshoot and document the project; we do not deliberately record viewer names in it.
• Tip records: for the periods required by law.

Your rights for stream data

We store no names from the chat. So we can only find you in our data if you tell us on which platform you played along and what your account is called (Art. 11 GDPR). We then delete your key and any entries about your account and take your name out of our recordings – within 7 days for data obtained through the YouTube API Services and within 30 days for all other data. Where we process data on the basis of legitimate interests, you can object (Art. 21 GDPR, section 10); an email to the address in section 2 is enough. What the platforms store, such as your chat messages, you manage with the platform itself.

Our GTA livestreams are labelled “18+” and are meant for adults only.

9. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right of access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18) and – where applicable – data portability (Art. 20). Just contact us using the details above. For data from our livestreams, see section 8.

11. Right to lodge a complaint

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR). The authority responsible for us is the one of the German state of Hessen:

12. No obligation to provide data, no automated decisions

You are not obliged to provide personal data. Without the technically necessary processing of your IP address, however, the website cannot be delivered. Playing along in our livestreams is voluntary. No automated decision-making within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR, including profiling, takes place; counting votes in our livestreams follows fixed game rules and has no legal or similarly significant effect on you.

13. Changes

We update this privacy policy when the website, our livestreams or the legal situation change. The version published here applies.

Last updated: 15 November 2026