Privacy Policy

For the cafepurla.app website. Last updated: September 17, 2026.

This policy covers both the cafepurla.app website and the Café Purla iOS app. The two have different responsible parties and process different data, so they are described separately. The website part comes first, the app part follows at the end and opens with a button. The German version remains the legally binding one.

1. Responsible party

For this website

Potthast Online-Marketing GbR, represented by Constanze Potthast and Christopher Potthast
Zeissring 9c
37603 Holzminden, Germany
Phone: +49 176 47624350
Email: info@cafepurla.app

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the responsible party (controller) is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data.

2. Data collection when you visit the website

When you use this website only to browse it, meaning you do not register or otherwise send us information, we collect only the data that your browser transmits to our server, the so-called server log files:

  • the page requested
  • date and time of the request
  • amount of data transferred, in bytes
  • the referring page, if any, that led you here
  • browser used
  • operating system used
  • IP address used, anonymized where applicable

This processing takes place under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, based on our legitimate interest in the stability and functionality of the website. We do not pass this data on or use it for any other purpose. We reserve the right to review the server log files afterward if there is concrete evidence of unlawful use.

All connections to this website are encrypted with TLS, the successor to SSL. Whatever is exchanged between your browser and our server is protected in transit from being read or altered. This applies to every page request, and in particular to information you knowingly send us, for example through a request on the support page or by email.

You can tell that encryption is active by the string "https://" at the start of the address and by the lock icon in your browser's address bar. If you request the page unencrypted over "http://", we automatically redirect you to the encrypted version. In addition, the website instructs your browser to only ever request it encrypted from then on (HTTP Strict Transport Security).

3. Hosting and delivery of content

This website runs on a virtual server at Hostinger. Our contracting partner is Hostinger International Ltd., 61 Lordou Vironos str., 6023 Larnaca, Cyprus. Depending on the specific contractual relationship, Hostinger UK Limited or Hostinger Global S.a r.l. may also be the contracting partner.

The server we use is operated in a data center in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. All data collected on this website is processed on that server, unless a different data recipient is named below. The processing is governed by the underlying contract, the data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR, and the subprocessors and processing locations named in that agreement. The processing serves our legitimate interest in a secure and reliable website, under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Fonts, images, stylesheets, and scripts are delivered exclusively from this website's own server. We do not use a content delivery network or an external font provider, so simply loading these files does not transmit your IP address to any third party. The exception is the analytics described in section 5, which runs only after your consent.

4. Contacting us through the website

When you contact us, for example by email or through a contact form, personal data is collected. Exactly which data depends on the form used. We store and use this data solely to respond to your request and for the related technical administration.

The legal basis is our legitimate interest in responding to your request under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. If your contact aims at concluding a contract, Article 6(1)(b) GDPR is an additional legal basis. We delete your data once your request has been fully handled, unless a statutory retention obligation requires us to keep it longer.

5. Cookies and analytics

No ads run on this website and no ad networks are integrated. For traffic and usage analytics we use PostHog, but only once you have given your consent beforehand. Without your consent, PostHog does not start, no cookies are set, and no data leaves your browser.

We collect and manage your decision using the consent management platform of Usercentrics GmbH, Sendlinger Strasse 7, 80331 Munich, Germany. When you visit the website, a consent banner is loaded; in doing so, Usercentrics processes your IP address and information about your browser and device, and it stores your decision together with a timestamp so that we can demonstrate it later. The legal basis is our statutory obligation to be able to demonstrate consent under Article 6(1)(c) GDPR in conjunction with Article 7(1) GDPR. The consent management platform itself is technically necessary and cannot be turned off. You can change your choice at any time: open privacy settings.

The analytics provider is PostHog, Inc., 2261 Market Street #4008, San Francisco, CA 94114, USA. We use PostHog's EU instance, so your data is processed and stored in a data center within the European Union. Access from the United States by the provider cannot be fully excluded; this is governed by a data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR and the Standard Contractual Clauses of the European Commission.

The following is collected: pages visited and time spent on them, clicks and interactions with controls, the referring page, information about browser, operating system, and screen size, an approximate location derived from your IP address at the level of country and region, and a recording of your session. Input fields are masked in this recording; whatever you type into a try-it-out field is neither transmitted nor stored. To recognize you across multiple visits, PostHog sets cookies and uses entries in your browser's local storage.

The legal basis is your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and section 25(1) of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG). You can withdraw it at any time with effect for the future, at no disadvantage to you: open privacy settings and withdraw your consent there. No further data is collected after that.

Data is stored at PostHog for a maximum of twelve months and then deleted. Session recordings are deleted sooner, after thirty days at the latest.

6. Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights against us:

  • the right of access under Article 15 GDPR
  • the right to rectification under Article 16 GDPR
  • the right to erasure under Article 17 GDPR
  • the right to restriction of processing under Article 18 GDPR
  • the right to notification under Article 19 GDPR
  • the right to data portability under Article 20 GDPR
  • the right to withdraw consent already given under Article 7(3) GDPR
  • the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority under Article 77 GDPR

Right to object: Where we process your personal data based on a balancing of interests under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, you have the right to object at any time, for reasons arising from your particular situation, to that processing with effect for the future. If you do so, we will stop processing the data concerned. Continued processing remains possible where we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where the processing serves to assert, exercise, or defend legal claims.

The supervisory authority responsible for us is the Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Niedersachsen (the data protection authority of Lower Saxony, Germany). You may also contact the supervisory authority of the country where you live.

7. Storage period

How long we store data depends on the applicable legal basis, the purpose of the processing, and, where relevant, statutory retention periods, for example under German commercial and tax law. Data based on consent is stored until you withdraw it. Data based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR is stored until you exercise your right to object under Article 21 GDPR, unless compelling legitimate grounds require otherwise. Beyond that, we delete personal data as soon as it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.

8. Changes to this policy

We update this policy whenever the app or the website changes. The current version is always available at cafepurla.app/en/privacy.

Part A · The Café Purla app

Applies to the iOS app, however you installed it. The German version of this text is the legally binding one.

Everything you write in Café Purla stays on your iPhone. We run no server for the app, you need no account, and we never see your entries. The full description follows.

Read the full app privacy policy

A1. In short

  • Everything you write in Café Purla (moods, moments, wishes, letters, things you let go of, dreams) stays exclusively on your iPhone.
  • We run no server, you need no account, and we do not see your entries.
  • The app contains no advertising. It includes two third-party components: the TikTok SDK, used to measure the success of our own ads and only with your explicit permission (A2.6), and an anonymous usage statistic you can switch off at any time (A2.7).
  • Purchases (regulars card, decoration sets) run entirely through Apple. We receive no payment data and no name.
  • You can export or fully delete your data in the app at any time (counter menu, then Your data).

A2. What data the app processes, and where

A2.1 Your entries (local). Mood check-ins, moments, wishes, letters to yourself, the counter for things you let go of, dreams on the dream wall, decaffeinated thoughts and your settings (name of the café, your name, appearance of your character, music, sounds, decoration, onboarding status) are stored in a file in the app's protected storage area on your device. This data leaves your device only if you share it yourself through the export function. Legal basis: the processing takes place exclusively on your device and we have no access to it. To the extent that any processing by us occurs at all, it rests on performance of the contract of use, Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

A2.2 iCloud backup (Apple). If you have iCloud backup enabled on your iPhone, Apple backs up the app's data together with your device. Apple controls this, not we, and Apple's privacy policy applies. You can exclude Café Purla from the backup in the iOS settings.

A2.3 Purchases through the App Store. In-app purchases and the regulars subscription are handled by Apple through StoreKit. From Apple we receive only the information whether a purchase or subscription is valid. No payment data, no address, no name. Apple Distribution International Ltd. is responsible for payment processing, and Apple's privacy policy applies.

A2.4 Crash reports and usage statistics (only with your consent to Apple). If you have agreed in the iOS settings to share analytics data with developers, Apple may provide us with anonymized crash reports and usage statistics. These contain no content from the app and no identification of you as a person. You can switch this off at any time under Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Analytics and Improvements.

A2.5 Support contact. If you write to us by e-mail, we process the information you send us (e-mail address, content) in order to answer your request, Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR. We delete the messages once the request is closed and no statutory retention obligations apply.

A2.6 Measuring the success of our ads (TikTok, only with your permission). We run ads for Café Purla, among other places on TikTok. To learn whether an ad led to an installation, the app contains the software component TikTok Business SDK of TikTok Technology Limited, 10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland, jointly responsible with TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, London.

This component only becomes active if you explicitly agree at first launch to the iOS prompt asking whether Café Purla may track your activity. Without your consent it is not started and transmits nothing.

With your consent, the following is transmitted to TikTok: the advertising identifier of your device (IDFA), a vendor identifier (IDFV), details about the device (model, iOS version, language, time zone), your IP address, from which TikTok can derive an approximate location, and app events: installation, app start, completion of onboarding, viewing the regulars card, and a purchase, trial or subscription including amount and currency. The content of your entries (moods, moments, wishes, letters, dreams, thoughts) is never transmitted.

TikTok also processes this data in the United States. The transfer is based on the standard contractual clauses of the European Commission and, where applicable, on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Details are in TikTok's privacy policy for the EEA.

Legal basis: your consent, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and Section 25(1) TDDDG. You can withdraw it at any time: Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Tracking, then switch off Café Purla. From the next launch the component stays off. Data already transmitted is deleted by TikTok according to its own periods.

Independently of this, Apple uses its own procedure, SKAdNetwork: Apple reports to the ad network anonymously and without a device identifier that an ad led to an installation. The app is not involved in this, and it cannot be traced back to you.

A2.7 Anonymous usage statistic (can be switched off). So that we can see which paths through the app people take and where guests get stuck, we use PostHog. For users in the EEA the provider is PostHog BV, Keizersgracht 555, 1017 DR Amsterdam, Netherlands, and the data is processed on servers in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. A data processing agreement is in place with the provider.

Transmitted are: a randomly generated identifier that exists only within our project (no advertising identifier, no device identifier from Apple), the app version, the device type (for example iPhone), the iOS version, and events without content: app started, onboarding page reached, onboarding completed or skipped, a place in the café opened, the daily question answered, a feature used, purchase page viewed, purchase completed.

What is never transmitted: anything you write. No moods, moments, wishes, letters, dreams or thoughts, no name, no answer to Milo's question. The statistic only knows that something happened, not what. The IP address is not stored on the servers in Frankfurt.

Legal basis: our legitimate interest in an understandable, working app, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. You can object at any time: counter menu, then Settings, then switch off the anonymous usage statistic. From then on nothing further is transmitted.

A3. What the app does not do

This section describes the app. For the website, see the sections above.

  • No user account, no registration, no login.
  • No transmission of your entries to us or to third parties.
  • No advertising in the app. The advertising identifier (IDFA) is used only with your explicit permission and only to measure the success of our own ads (A2.6).
  • The only third-party components in the app are the TikTok SDK for ad measurement (A2.6) and the anonymous usage statistic (A2.7).
  • No access to your device location, contacts, photos, camera, microphone or health data. With your permission, TikTok can derive an approximate location from the IP address, see A2.6.
  • No processing of health data within the meaning of Art. 9 GDPR by us: your mood entries are free text or selected values that only you store on your device.

A4. Access and permissions

The app makes two system requests. You can decline both and the app stays the same. First, iOS asks at the first launch, after onboarding, for permission to track for ad measurement (A2.6). Second, the optional quiet invitation (counter menu, then Settings): if you switch it on, the app asks for permission to send notifications. These are scheduled exclusively on your device, at most two a day, in the morning and in the evening, and only on days when you have not been in the app. They contain no content from your entries and can be switched off at any time in the app or in the iOS settings. No data is transmitted to us or to third parties for this.

A5. Storage period and deletion

Your data stays on your device for as long as you keep it. You can delete it completely at any time: counter menu, then Your data, then Delete everything, or by removing the app from your device. An iCloud backup is deleted in the iOS settings.

A6. Children and young people

Café Purla is rated 12+ in the App Store. Because the app transmits no data to us and needs no account, no personal data is collected by us from younger users either. For support contact by e-mail we ask minors to check with a parent or guardian first.

A7. A note on health

Café Purla is a self-help app. It is not psychotherapy, not a diagnosis and not medical treatment. If you are in crisis in the United States, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is free and open around the clock: call or text 988, or chat at988lifeline.org. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Outside the United States, the app shows the crisis numbers for your region; the German version of this policy lists the German ones. These notices are available in the app at any time through the counter menu.

The binding version of this app section is Part A of theGerman privacy policy.

One more thing

About the imprint.

Our legal notice (Impressum) fulfills a German legal requirement under section 5 of the German Digital Services Act (DDG) and exists only in German, since a translation would not serve that purpose. You can find it here:Legal notice (German).