Privacy policy

1. Controller

The controller within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is: Felix Valentin Herwig, c/o Impressumservice Dein-Impressum, Stettiner Str. 41, 35410 Hungen.

E-mail: admin@klango.online, phone: +49 156 30118893.

No data protection officer has been appointed, as there is no obligation to do so. Please send questions about data protection to the e-mail address above.

2. What runs through our server — and what does not

Almost everything you do in Klango runs through the Klango server: your account, messages, forums, groups, chat, blogs, e-mail, conferences, the phone chat, translation and the voice assistant. Sections 3 to 14 describe this processing.

Some features, however, connect your program DIRECTLY to other providers, without the data passing through our server: internet radio, podcasts and web pages from the media catalogue, YouTube, Spotify, Mastodon, Wikipedia, the Internet Archive, the Google web search, and Klango Telefon with your own SIP provider. The respective provider is responsible for that; section 15 lists what is transmitted.

3. Hosting and server logs

All Klango services run on a single dedicated server that we rent from OneProvider (oneprovider.com). The server is located in a data centre in Düsseldorf, Germany; its network addresses belong to myLoc managed IT AG. The provider supplies the machine, power and network connection; we run the software on it ourselves. The database, recordings, mailboxes, blogs and the conference server are stored there; nothing is outsourced to a cloud.

Every access to the server technically produces log data: IP address, time, requested address, status code and the identifier of the program or browser; for the e-mail service also sender and recipient addresses, for the phone chat the caller's phone number, for conferences calls (who called whom) and connection errors. They serve security and troubleshooting (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) and are deleted automatically after 14 days.

Before maintenance work we make backup copies of the database. They are deleted after 30 days at the latest.

4. Account and sign-in

For an account we store your KlangoID (your user name), your password, your e-mail address, the time you registered, your acceptance of the terms of service and the time of your last activity. The password is never stored in plain text, only as a verifier (scrypt with a random salt). We need the e-mail address to send you a password reset link and important notices about the service.

After you sign in, your program receives a sign-in key that expires after 30 minutes; we store only its verifier. When you reset your password we store the verifier of the link (valid for 30 minutes) and the IP address of the request to prevent abuse (deleted after one hour).

Two-factor sign-in (optional): if you turn it on, we store the method you chose and, for text messages, your phone number, for Telegram the identifier (chat_id) of your chat with our Telegram bot, plus the language of the bot messages. Sign-in codes, backup codes and the identifiers of trusted devices are stored only as verifiers, together with a name for each trusted device (such as "Browser") and the time it was last used. If you choose "Trust this browser", we set a cookie with a device key there (180 days).

Text-message codes are sent and checked for us by Prelude (Prelude Technologies): our server passes on your phone number and the code you enter; Prelude generates the code itself and delivers it through telephone carriers. Prelude and the carriers involved may also process the data outside the EU; details are in Prelude's privacy notice. If you use Telegram, our server sends the code as a message via Telegram to your chat; Telegram is a provider based outside the EU and its own privacy policy applies. Telegram learns that the Klango bot sends you a message and knows its content (the code).

To limit abuse (at most one text message per minute and five per day), we record for each account when text messages were sent and delete these entries after two days. Pending codes expire after 10 minutes, Telegram link codes after 15 minutes. All other two-factor data is deleted as soon as you turn it off or delete your account.

The legal basis is the performance of the user relationship (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) — including two-factor sign-in, which you turn on yourself —, and for abuse prevention our legitimate interest in a secure service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

5. Profile, presence and contacts

You may add a business card (introduction text), a status line, a greeting text and an audio avatar. The business card and the audio avatar are visible to all signed-in members, the status line to your contacts; earlier status lines are kept with their date. Nobody but you sees the greeting text.

While you are signed in, other signed-in members see you in the list of members who are online. For this we store only the time of your last activity, which is overwritten each time; there is no history.

Your contact list, block list, notes, ratings of other members, points and roles are stored with your account.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

6. Messages, attachments and voice messages

We store private messages with sender, recipients, subject, text, time and read status so that they can be delivered and read. Voice messages, attachments and other recordings are kept in the Klango storage on our server; the message contains only their address. Only someone who is signed in and knows the address can play them. Messages you send to an e-mail address go out as e-mail (section 9).

Messages and files are kept until you delete them. A delivered message stays with the recipient until they delete it. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

7. Forums, groups, polls, chat and games

Posts in forums and groups — as text or as a recording — are visible to everyone allowed to read that forum. The general forums, the forums of the official communities (such as "Klango in Deutsch", "English Klango") are public: anyone can read and listen to them without an account, on the web (web.klango.online) as well as in Klango and Klangten, with your KlangoID as author and the time. Because these pages can be retrieved without signing in, search engines and other third parties can read and store them too. The forums of non-official groups remain reserved for their members, personal boards for signed-in accounts. We store author, time and content, and also which posts you have read, which topics you follow, memberships and roles in groups, reports to the moderators and a moderation log.

In polls your vote is stored together with your KlangoID so that you can vote only once. Other members see only the results as numbers. "Anonymous" in Klango polls means that the author of the poll is not shown.

In the chat, the last 500 messages of each room are kept. When the founder closes the room or is no longer connected, the room is deleted with all its messages.

Anyone can browse the media catalogue without an account; the KlangoID of whoever added an entry and ratings with comment and KlangoID are visible there as well. Game results for the high score lists, your favourites and ratings in the media catalogue, and entries in other programs (such as the prompter, the knowledge base or mathematics) are stored with your account.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR; for reports and the moderation log our legitimate interest in working moderation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); for making the forums and the catalogue publicly readable our legitimate interest in opening the community's conversations to interested people without an account (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) — you may object (section 19).

8. Blogs

Klango blogs run on a WordPress installation on our server at <name>.klango.online. Like the public forums, blogs are public web pages: anyone on the internet can read them. For your blog we create a WordPress account with your e-mail address.

For comments, WordPress stores the commenter's name, e-mail address and IP address as well as the comment. For the visitor counter we store which member visited a blog how often. WordPress sets its own cookies when you sign in and comment. Access to the blogs is logged as described in section 3.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR, for the logs Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

9. E-mail address and mailbox

Every account gets an e-mail address at klango.online or sixdots.it. The mail server (Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM) runs on the same server. Incoming e-mails are stored in your mailbox and additionally placed in your Klango inbox as a message (sender, subject, text). Attachments of incoming e-mails are stored under an address that cannot be guessed, so that your program can play or save them; anyone who knows that address can retrieve the attachment.

We hand outgoing e-mails to the recipient's mail server; voice messages go along as attachments. The webmail interface (Roundcube, webmail.klango.online) stores your settings and its address book on our server and sets a session cookie.

E-mails are kept until you delete them or your account (section 17). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

10. Conferences and calls

Conferences and calls run through a conference server on our own machine. While you are signed in to the program, it keeps a background connection to this server; through it you learn about new messages and calls immediately, and the server reports your presence (section 5). For this your program receives a short-lived access permission (valid for 10 minutes) containing your KlangoID and your moderation rights.

Speech is relayed to the participants in real time and is NOT recorded on the server. What is stored are files someone uploads to a room, and text messages to participants who are away, until they are delivered. Please note: participants can record a conversation on their own computer.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

11. Phone chat

You can use Klango by phone via the Klango phone number. Calls reach us through the telephone provider sipgate GmbH, Düsseldorf. We process the transmitted phone number to match it to your account. The match exists only if you confirm it yourself with a code from the web interface, and it is kept until you remove it there or delete your account.

What you record on the phone (voice messages, voice posts) is stored as in the program. If you switch on "speak instead of typing", your recording is sent to Google Gemini to be turned into text (section 12).

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

12. Features using Google Gemini

For some features OUR SERVER sends data to Google's Gemini interface (Google LLC or Google Ireland Ltd.). Your program never talks to Google itself:

Voice assistant "Hey Klango" (switched off by default): the wake word is detected on your computer only. Only then is your utterance recorded (at most 12 seconds) and sent to Gemini together with the recognised text, the earlier questions of the conversation and the list of available commands; Gemini may use Google Search for its answers. We keep the conversation history for two hours; you can have it deleted earlier.

Translation (Ctrl+T in a text field): the text you have translated. Elbot: your chat messages, without your KlangoID; the history is deleted after six hours. Phone chat: recordings, if you have switched on "speak instead of typing".

Transcripts of voice posts: the title recording of a new voice topic in the forum is turned into text automatically, so that the topic has a name in lists and in search. A voice post is transcribed when a member requests the transcript. The transcript is stored with the post.

For the features you call yourself, the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. Transcribing voice posts is based on our legitimate interest in making voice forums findable and readable for everyone (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); you may object to it (section 19).

We use the Gemini interface on a paid plan, not the free tier. Under Google's terms for such paid use, Google does not use the inputs sent and the responses to improve its products. Google does, however, keep them for a limited period to detect abuse and to meet legal obligations.

Google may also process the data in the USA. The transfer is based on the European Commission's adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, in which Google LLC participates (Art. 45 GDPR).

13. Web interfaces, Klangten and cookies

The web interfaces (web.klango.online, chat.klango.online) and the interface for the Klangten client (ten.klango.online) work with the same data as the program; no additional profiles are created.

We only set technically necessary cookies (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG): a session cookie that keeps you signed in ("klangoweb" on the web interfaces, "session" on klango.online; at most 30 days), which also holds a protection against forged forms and your language choice. Only if you choose "Trust this browser" for two-factor sign-in, a cookie "klangotfa_<KlangoID>" with a device key is added (180 days, section 4). There are no advertising or analytics cookies.

If you sign in through Klangten, we store the IP address, the computer name and the language with every sign-in key, so that you can see and sign out your devices; the entries expire with the key. We count failed sign-ins per account and per IP address for 15 minutes to protect against password guessing. Voluntary profile details in Klangten (such as name, date of birth, place of residence) are visible to whomever you allow in your settings.

14. Crash reports, feedback and usage data

If the program crashes, it asks whether it may send a crash report. Only if you agree does it send the program and operating system version, the error message and the end of the program log (which may contain personal details) to our server (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).

Feedback to the developer (Help -> Send feedback) contains your text, your KlangoID, the program version and, if you choose, the program log. We keep crash reports and feedback until they have been dealt with and delete them afterwards.

At start-up the program transmits usage counters (how often programs and catalogue entries were used, which programs are installed). Our server does not store this information. To check for updates, the program sends its version number.

15. Direct connections from your program to third parties

The following features connect your program directly to the respective provider; the provider receives at least your IP address and the program identifier and is itself responsible for the processing:

Internet radio, podcasts and web pages from the media catalogue: the respective broadcaster or web server. YouTube: Google, via the bundled yt-dlp (search terms, videos played); updating yt-dlp downloads from GitHub. Spotify: Spotify AB (sign-in, search, playback). Mastodon: the instance you choose. Wikipedia: the Wikimedia Foundation. Internet Archive: archive.org. Google web search from the catalogue: Google (search term). Klango Telefon: the SIP provider you enter yourself (credentials, call data, voice).

Some of these connections (Internet Archive, Google web search, some broadcasters) are not encrypted.

16. Data on your computer

The program stores settings, caches and a log in your user folder (~/.klango or the corresponding folder on Windows). If you use them, this also holds the saved password for automatic sign-in, the credentials for Klango Telefon, Mastodon and Spotify, and the call list — unencrypted. This data does not leave your computer except as described above. If you share your computer with others, better not save your password.

Speech output (eSpeak, OpenEVV, the operating system's voices, screen reader mode) runs entirely on your computer.

17. Storage period and account deletion

Unless stated otherwise above, we keep your data for as long as your account exists.

You can delete your account yourself at any time: web.klango.online -> Settings -> Delete account. This deletes your profile, contacts, notes, settings, sign-in keys, points, game results, the link to your phone number, your two-factor sign-in data and your chat messages. Your mailbox is deleted as well: all your e-mail addresses, the e-mails stored in it, the e-mails received from outside in your Klango inbox and their attachments. Your e-mail addresses are switched off from the moment of deletion: e-mails to them are rejected and no longer delivered. We keep the bare addresses (without any content) blocked for six more months so that they are not given to anyone else during that time — this way mail still meant for you does not reach a stranger. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is protection against misdirected mail. After six months we delete this entry too, and the address becomes available again. Your forum posts and recordings remain as part of the discussions, but instead of your KlangoID they carry a random placeholder name ("ghost" with a number); the same applies to messages you sent to others that are in their inboxes.

Your blog, your votes in polls and the settings and address book of the webmail interface are currently not removed automatically when you delete your account. Write to us (section 1) and we will delete them — as well as individual recordings or posts you want removed rather than anonymised.

18. Recipients

Posts in public forums and entries and ratings in the media catalogue can be read by anyone, even without an account (section 7). Other members see your remaining data to the extent the respective feature provides (see above), and so do the operator and the moderators appointed by the operator, as far as needed for running and moderating the service. The only other recipients are the hosting provider (section 3), Google for the Gemini features (section 12), the mail servers of the recipients of your e-mails (section 9), sipgate for the phone chat (section 11) and Prelude and Telegram for two-factor sign-in (section 4). Authorities receive data only where we are legally obliged to provide it.

19. Your rights

You have the right of access to your stored data (Art. 15 GDPR), to rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20). You may withdraw consent you have given at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3)).

Right to object: where we process data on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), you may object at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation (Art. 21 GDPR) — for example to the transcription of your voice posts.

An informal message to the address in section 1 is enough for all of this. We compile information or a copy of your data on request; there is no automatic export function yet.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), in particular in the country where you live or work.

20. Children and young people

Klango is intended for people who have reached the minimum age for online social services in their country (16 in Germany, Art. 8 GDPR). Anyone younger needs the consent of a parent or guardian (terms of service, section 2).

21. Obligation to provide data, no automated decisions

An account cannot be created without a KlangoID and a password; registration through the web interface also requires an e-mail address. All other details are voluntary. There are no automated decisions or profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR.

22. Changes

When a feature is added or processing changes, we update this policy. The version in force is always available in the program under Help -> Privacy policy and at klango.online/privacy.