Privacy Policy – WriteZone Community

Last updated: July 2026

This privacy policy applies to the optional community area of WriteZone / WordTracker (hereinafter the “Service”), provided via our server backend at api.writezone.app (account, friends, activity feed, motivations, competitions/“challenges”, push notifications).

Use of the community area is voluntary and disabled by default. Without signing up, none of the server-side data described here is processed. The privacy policy of the app applies to local use of the app (writing statistics, projects, iCloud/cloud sync, purchases).

1. Controller

Mathias Todisco
Schleswiger Ufer 5
10555 Berlin
Germany

Email: hello@writezone.app
Phone: +49 179 8174113
Legal notice: Legal Notice

2. What data we process

To use the community area you create an account. In doing so we process:

Email address (for sign-up, verification, and account-related communications)
Password – stored solely as a cryptographic hash (never in plain text)
Display name (nickname)
Language preference (for communications in your language)
Timestamps of registration and activity

Alternatively, you can sign up via Sign in with Apple; in that case we receive an identifier provided by Apple and – depending on your choice – your email address (possibly an anonymized relay address from Apple).

Registration, sign-in, verification, password reset: For these processes we log the IP address, timestamp, and technical details of the browser/client (user agent) to prevent abuse. From the IP address we derive an approximate location (country and city) and the network operator (autonomous system, ASN and provider name) using locally operated geo databases (MaxMind GeoLite2); your IP address is not transmitted to third parties in the process. When you change your email address, the previous address is retained in a history record.

2.2 Profile & uploads

Profile picture: an optional emoji or a photo you upload (stored on the server as an image and delivered in resized versions).
Competition images: challenge avatars and project-template covers you upload as a creator.

Friends: friend requests and relationships, search by display name.
Activity feed: system-generated posts (e.g. daily goal reached, streak/word milestone, project completed) including the visibility you choose (public / friends / selected friends / competition) and optionally a project name; reactions (“cheers”).
Motivations: predefined messages to friends.
Competitions (challenges): competitions you create or join, title, description, period, word goal, participation status, daily word counts, and – for project-bound competitions – the frozen project default configuration (name, description, color, icon, genres, goals, cover image).

2.4 Push notifications

If you enable push notifications, we store your device token and deliver notifications via the Apple Push Notification service (APNs).

2.5 Security & abuse prevention

Reporting & blocking: When you report content or users, we store the report, the reason, an optional comment, and a snapshot of the reported content for processing. Blocks are stored to hide content in both directions.
Rate limiting / technical logs: To defend against abuse we temporarily process technical connection data (including IP address).

2.6 Transactional emails

For verification, password reset, and email changes we send emails via an email delivery provider (processor).

2.7 Website analytics (Matomo)

On our website (writezone.app) we use the self-hosted analytics software Matomo to statistically evaluate and improve the use of our offering. Matomo runs on our own server (i.writezone.app); no data is transferred to third parties. The measurement is deliberately privacy-friendly:

without cookies – no cookies are set and no identifier is stored on your device;
your IP address is anonymized (truncated) before storage and can no longer be attributed to you;
your browser’s “Do Not Track” setting is respected: if it is enabled, no measurement takes place.

We record anonymized information such as the pages visited, approximate origin (country/region based on the anonymized IP), the referring page, and technical details about your browser and device. This is not combined with your community account, nor is it used to identify you.

The legal basis is our legitimate interest in data-minimizing, cookieless analytics (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). As no cookies are used and processing is anonymized, no consent is required; you can object to the measurement at any time via your browser’s “Do Not Track” function.

3. Legal bases

Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract): provision of the account and community features.
Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent): optional activation of the community area, push notifications, photo uploads.
Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest): security, abuse and fraud prevention, moderation of reported content, stability of the Service.

4. Recipients / processors

We only share data insofar as necessary for operation:

Hosting/server provider (operation of the backend and database), server location: Germany (EU).
Email delivery provider (transactional emails).
Apple (APNs) for push notifications; Apple for Sign in with Apple.

Data processing agreements pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR are in place with processors.

Transfer to the USA (Apple): When using push notifications (APNs) and Sign in with Apple, personal data is transferred to Apple Inc., USA. Apple is not certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework; the transfer therefore takes place on the basis of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). Despite these safeguards, access by US authorities cannot be entirely ruled out. You can obtain a copy of the safeguards on request at hello@writezone.app.

5. Retention & deletion

We process personal data only for as long as necessary for the respective purpose:

Account and profile data as well as your content (feed, competitions, relationships): for the duration of your account.
Technical logs (IP address plus the approximate location and network operator derived from it, for registration, sign-in, verification, and password reset): the IP event history is stored for at most 180 days and then deleted automatically. Rate-limiting data only for the short period required for abuse prevention.
Reports and moderation data: until processing is complete and beyond, insofar as required for abuse prevention or for legal reasons.

You can remove individual posts, competitions, and relationships in the Service at any time and request the deletion of your account and all associated server data.

Account deletion: You can delete your community account directly in the app or request deletion by email to hello@writezone.app. Competition contributions already transmitted to other participants are not retroactively withdrawn for consistency reasons.

6. Your rights

You have the right to access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20), and objection (Art. 21 – in particular to processing based on legitimate interests).

Where we process data based on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time with effect for the future; the lawfulness of processing carried out up to the withdrawal remains unaffected.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The authority responsible for us is the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BlnBDI), https://www.datenschutz-berlin.de.

7. Data security

Transmission is encrypted (TLS/HTTPS); passwords are stored exclusively as hashes. We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data.

8. No profiling / minors

There is no automated decision-making or profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR. The community area is not directed at children. Use requires a minimum age of 16 years (Art. 8 GDPR); younger persons may only use the community area with the consent of their legal guardians.

9. Changes

We reserve the right to adapt this privacy policy to changes in the law or in features. We will communicate material changes within the Service.

10. Contact

For questions about data protection: hello@writezone.app, Mathias Todisco