Privacy policy

Last updated October 22, 2026

This is a translation; the German version is legally binding. Read the German version

In short: this website uses no tracking, analytics or advertising; member features use necessary sign-in cookies. All fonts are served from this server. Other providers’ services (Ko-fi, Apple song previews) load only when you explicitly click them. Pressing “Like” records only that the page got one more like, not who pressed it. Comments store only the name and text you enter. Site search runs in your browser.

1. Controller

Shaochen Ji
Kleihook 9
49688 Lastrup
Deutschland
Email: hello@niuance.com

2. Hosting and server logs

This website consists of static pages delivered by Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107, USA). On every request Cloudflare processes technically necessary data: your IP address, date and time, the address requested, browser and operating-system details (user agent) and the referring page. This is needed to deliver the pages and to protect the website against attacks. I keep no access logs myself and do not analyse visitor data.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; my legitimate interest is a secure, working website. Cloudflare processes the data on my behalf under its Data Processing Addendum. Cloudflare is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework; transfers to the USA rely on the European Commission’s adequacy decision of 10 July 2023 (Art. 45 GDPR). See Cloudflare’s privacy policy.

Searching the site happens entirely in your browser: the search index loads from this website’s own server like the pages do, and what you type is not sent to me or anyone else.

3. Cookies and local storage

Necessary session cookies are shared between niuance.com and learn.niuance.com for member sign-in. Other features use local storage. Only when you use certain features does the website store entries in your browser’s local storage (localStorage): your choice between the light and dark theme and, in the 24 Points game, your card set, best score and solved hard hands; and the articles and works you have liked. This data stays on your device and is never sent to me. The legal basis is Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG, because storing it is strictly necessary for a feature you asked for. Details, and how to delete the entries, are in the cookie policy.

4. Fonts

All fonts on this website, including those in the embedded works, are loaded from this server. No connection is made to Google Fonts or any other font service.

5. Contact by email

When you write to hello@niuance.com, Cloudflare (Email Routing) receives the message and forwards it to my personal mailbox. I use your details (email address, name, content) only to answer you. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, or Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR for enquiries about a contract. I delete the messages once the conversation is finished, unless the law requires me to keep them.

6. Tips via Ko-fi

The “Leave a tip” and “Buy me a coffee” buttons open a window. Only then does it load Ko-fi’s page (Ko-fi Labs Limited, United Kingdom). Your IP address and browser details are then sent to Ko-fi, and Ko-fi may set its own cookies. Ko-fi handles payments through PayPal or Stripe. Whatever you enter there is processed by Ko-fi under its own responsibility; see Ko-fi’s privacy policy. The legal basis is your consent given by the click (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, Section 25(1) TDDDG); without a click nothing is loaded. The European Commission has issued an adequacy decision for the United Kingdom.

If you send me a tip, Ko-fi tells me about your payment, for example the name you chose, your message and the amount. I use this only to thank you and to keep proper accounts (Art. 6(1)(b) and (c) GDPR).

7. Likes

Articles and project pages have a “Like” button. Opening a page connects to no outside service; the number next to the button is the count as of the last site update. Only when you press the button does your browser send one request to Supabase (Supabase, Inc., USA; the data is stored on servers in Frankfurt, Germany), which adds one to that page’s count. Supabase stores only the total per page, not who pressed it. While handling the request, Supabase and the Cloudflare service it uses briefly process your IP address and browser information to deliver the request and prevent abuse; Cloudflare may set a security cookie on the supabase.co domain for this (see the cookie policy). Which pages you have liked is kept only in your own browser’s local storage (see section 3), so that you do not like a page twice.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; my legitimate interest is letting readers show in a simple way that they liked something, and showing that number. Supabase processes this data on my behalf under its data processing agreement; transfers to the USA rely on the EU standard contractual clauses in that agreement (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). See Supabase’s privacy policy.

8. Comments

You can leave a comment under articles and project pages. Opening a page connects to no outside service; the comments shown are those that were public at the last site update. Only when you fill in the form and press “Send comment” does your browser send the name you entered, your comment, the page and its language to Supabase (see section 7), which also records the time. No email address is needed, and the name can be a nickname. I do not store your IP address; Supabase and the Cloudflare service it uses process it briefly while handling the request, as described in section 7.

Supabase is only an inbox: three times a day, comments are moved to Notion (Notion Labs, Inc., 2300 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA), where I manage this website’s content, and deleted from Supabase. In Notion a comment waits until I have read it and set it to be shown; it then appears on that page with the next site update, showing the name, date and text. Comments I hide are moved to Notion’s trash after 30 days, comments never reviewed after 90 days, and the trash is emptied 30 days later. Published comments stay until you ask me to remove them or I remove them. To delete or change your comment, email me (see section 1) with the page and the name you used.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR: by sending a comment that you want to be published, you consent to this processing. You can withdraw your consent at any time, and I will then delete the comment; processing before the withdrawal remains lawful. Supabase and Notion process this data on my behalf under their data processing agreements; transfers to the USA rely on the EU standard contractual clauses in those agreements (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). See Notion’s privacy policy.

9. Song previews in the Graphic Style Atlas

Some pages of the Graphic Style Atlas offer a song preview. Only when you click “Play song preview” does your browser load the audio file from Apple (iTunes), which sends your IP address to Apple (in the EU: Apple Distribution International Ltd., Ireland). The legal basis is your consent given by the click (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). See Apple’s privacy policy.

The website links to other services, such as Etsy, Ko-fi and Wikimedia Commons. The share buttons under articles and project pages (X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Weibo on Chinese pages) are plain links too; no code from these networks is loaded on the page. No data is sent to them unless you follow a link; after that, their privacy policies apply.

11. Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20). You may object to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (Art. 21) and withdraw any consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3)). An email to hello@niuance.com is enough.

You may also lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), in particular in the member state where you live or work.

12. Other points

There is no automated decision-making or profiling. You are not obliged to give me any data; you can use the website without doing so. I update this policy when the website or the law changes.

9. Member accounts and content

Membership uses the Supabase project described in section 7; the website itself remains static. Opening the member area, registering or signing in, or explicitly loading a member article connects your browser to Supabase and sends the email, one-time code or session token needed for that request. Supabase stores your account ID, email if supplied, basic profile data from the identity provider, account creation and sign-in timestamps, and necessary authentication security logs. Registration does not subscribe you to a newsletter. Social sign-in is used only after a provider is enabled and you choose it: Google or WeChat processes sign-in under its own privacy notice and provides the account identifier and authorized basic profile to the authentication service. We do not request contacts or chat histories.

Sessions are stored in your browser to keep you signed in as requested (see the cookie policy); session cookies accompany requests to niuance.com and its subdomains; the application server at learn.niuance.com and Supabase use them to verify identity and access. Ordinary public pages do not initialize member authentication. Private bodies and files are delivered only after authorization and are excluded from public pages and the search index. Titles, summaries and explicitly public preview covers remain public.

Account processing provides the member access you request under Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR; necessary abuse prevention relies on Art. 6(1)(f). Accounts are kept until you request deletion or the service ends. To delete your account, contact hello@niuance.com; after verifying ownership, I delete the account and revoke its sessions. Statutory retention and provider security-log retention still apply. See section 7 for Supabase processing and international transfers.

Stargazer weather, aurora and reference images

Stargazer (/stargazer) contacts external services only after you request forecasts, refresh, search for a city or authorise location. Open-Meteo receives selected coordinates for weather requests and your search text for city searches. Precise location requires separate browser permission and is not persistently stored by this site. NOAA receives space-weather requests without your coordinates; matching the grid and calculating sky positions happen in your browser.

After loading, reference images may load from NASA Image and Video Library and ESA/Hubble. The providers receive your IP address and browser information needed to deliver these requests. Opening the work alone does not initiate external requests. You can stop further use by closing it. Observation plans are written to localStorage (stargazer-plan) only when you save them and are not uploaded.

External requests rely on your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)); you may stop requesting them without affecting completed processing. Provider information: Open-Meteo, NOAA, NASA, ESA/Hubble.

Deutschlerner learning tool

Deutschlerner at learn.niuance.com is hosted by Vercel. Its application server handles sessions and learning requests. Learning preferences, cards and review records are stored by account in the same Supabase Frankfurt project and are not public to other members. Related learning records are deleted with the account. Source and license information is linked in the tool footer.