Privacy policy
Last updated: October 10, 2026
Controller
The controller responsible for processing personal data at BibleClue is: Peter Garthe Feldweg 20a 26802 Moormerland Germany Email: info@bibleclue.de For privacy matters, please contact Peter Garthe at the postal or email address above.
Scope of this policy
BibleClue is a free Bible quiz with user accounts, saved games, leaderboards, and shared quiz rounds. This policy describes how your data is processed on bibleclue.de and bible-clue.com. Linked external services operate their own websites and provide separate privacy information.
Website access and hosting
When you access the website, the server processes connection data required for its operation, particularly your IP address, the time, the requested resource, and browser and operating system information. This data is used to deliver the website, investigate errors, and defend against attacks. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is secure, reliable operation.
Our own IIS access logs are cleaned up automatically each day: log files last modified more than seven days ago are deleted. This cleanup covers the access logs of our BibleClue websites.
Our hosting provider is STRATO GmbH, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, Germany. STRATO states that it retains visitors’ IP addresses for attack detection and prevention for a maximum of seven days (https://www.strato.de/faq/vertrag/fragen-zur-auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag-avv-und-der-neuen-eu-datenschutzgrundverordnung-dsgvo/). The seven-day period refers to STRATO’s stated security logging policy.
Registration and user account
You need a free account for account-based games; the daily puzzle can also be played without an account. We store your chosen display name, email address, a securely generated password hash, preferred language, registration time, and account status. Your password is not stored as plain text. You may choose a display name that does not reveal your legal name.
If email confirmation is enabled, you receive a confirmation link. For confirmation and forgotten-password resets, we process time-limited verification codes in hashed form, expiry and sending times, and sending counters. Failed login attempts and temporary login locks help protect your account. A password reset link is valid for 30 minutes and can be used once. After a successful reset, existing sign-ins are invalidated.
Processing to create and use your account is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Measures to prevent misuse are based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Without an email address, display name, and password, registration and account-based games are not possible; public information pages and the daily puzzle are available without registering.
Saved games and daily puzzles
We store started and completed rounds, their questions, your answers, hints and revealed image tiles, scores, difficulty levels, and timestamps. For shared rounds on one device, entered team names and their results are also stored. Daily puzzles played in an account are associated with a calendar day and your account, providing progress and a daily streak. This data enables scoring, resuming, and reviewing your rounds. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Leaderboards and visibility
Signed-in players can see display names, points, and the number of counted rounds in the weekly and all-time leaderboards. Your email address is not shown there. The leaderboard is part of the game; we base this processing on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR and our interest in a shared, comparable playing experience. If you object to this display, contact info@bibleclue.de.
Online presence, invitations, and shared rounds
When you use the online feature, we store the time of your latest activity. Other signed-in players see recently active accounts by display name in the online selection and can invite them. This display does not mean that someone is actively using the website at that moment. The legal basis for the online selection is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR; our interest is enabling spontaneous shared rounds.
For online rounds, we store the title, inviting player, participants, invitation addresses and delivery status, round settings, answers, scores, timestamps, and chat messages, among other things. Participants see the names, contributions, and results intended for shared play. Round organizers may additionally see information used to manage their invitations. Please do not share sensitive personal information in the chat. Processing for the round features you use is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR; protection against misuse is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
If someone invites you by email or recommends BibleClue to you, that person may have supplied your address to us even if you do not yet have an account. We use it to send the requested invitation or recommendation and prevent misuse, not for a newsletter. Please send invitations only to people who have agreed to receive them. If you received an unwanted invitation, contact us at info@bibleclue.de.
Feedback on questions and contact
When you submit feedback on a question, we send your contribution and the question reference by email to info@bibleclue.de. New comments are not stored in the application database. These comments are intended for the editorial team and are not published as public comments below questions. If you contact us by email, we process the contact details and content you provide to handle your request. Depending on the request, the legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) or (f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is answering inquiries and improving question quality.
Email service provider and other recipients
Our email provider STRATO GmbH (address under Hosting) processes sender and recipient addresses, timestamps, delivery information and message content for delivery. Privacy information: https://www.strato.de/datenschutz/. Only authorized people responsible for operation, support and editorial work can access stored data, to the extent required for their duties. Authorities may receive data where a legal obligation applies.
Cookies and similar functions
BibleClue uses technically necessary cookies for sign-in and to protect forms against unauthorized requests. A player's sign-in may remain valid for up to 14 days and is extended through continued use. You can sign out at any time and remove cookies in your browser. Without necessary cookies, sign-in and protected forms do not work reliably.
When you change language, the .AspNetCore.Culture cookie stores your choice on the respective domain for up to one year. Its purpose is to retain the German, English or Hindi display you requested. For signed-in players, the preferred language is also saved in the account, for example for emails. Without a stored choice, the domain you visit determines the initial language; you can change language at any time.
Storage of and access to strictly necessary information are based on Section 25(2), point 2, of the German TDDDG. Associated processing of personal data is based on Article 6(1)(b) or (f) GDPR. The application currently embeds no analytics or advertising tracking services. The player sign-in cookie is named BibleClue.Player. Form protection uses an ASP.NET Core antiforgery cookie. Restricted test access may also use an essential access cookie.
External Bible passages and images
References in German questions link to the Elberfelder 2006 on ERF Bibleserver; English questions link to the NASB 2020 on Bible Gateway. Hindi reading links open HINOVBSI on Bible.com. Only when you open such a link do you visit the external website, where its own privacy information applies. The game images displayed in BibleClue are served by the application server. No complete Bible text from an external provider is embedded in the game page.
Voluntary support through PayPal
If PayPal is displayed as a support option, the button opens an external PayPal payment page in a new tab. The game page does not embed a PayPal payment form or PayPal script. You contact PayPal only when you open the link; the privacy information and payment terms provided on its website apply there. You check the recipient, amount, and currency there and confirm the payment. BibleClue does not ask for your PayPal password or card details in its own form. A payment link does not give consent to public acknowledgment as a supporter.
PayPal processes payment data under its own responsibility; its privacy notice is available at https://www.paypal.com/de/legalhub/paypal/privacy-full. Payment information we receive is used to match and document the contribution and to meet applicable accounting obligations. We do not receive your PayPal password or full card details.
Retention and deletion
Account data and saved games are retained for use of your account. You can request deletion at info@bibleclue.de. Before providing information or deleting data, we may request reasonable evidence that the request comes from you. Data still needed to comply with legal obligations or to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims is retained only to the extent necessary for those purposes.
No automatic expiry period is currently applied to accounts, saved games, messages or feedback. Deletion requests and data that are no longer required are reviewed individually; records needed for legal obligations or an ongoing dispute are restricted to that purpose.
The BibleClue database and its application files are backed up daily so they can be restored after technical failures. Backups may contain personal data. Backups older than seven days are automatically deleted after a successful new backup. If a backup fails, existing backups are retained until the next successful run to prevent data loss. Only people and services authorized to operate the system can access the backups. Deletion requests also need to be taken into account when restoring a backup. Backups are not used as an active source of player profiles or for advertising.
Your rights
Subject to the relevant legal conditions, you have rights of access to your personal data, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, and data portability. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time with effect for the future; the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal is unaffected.
You may object to processing under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR on grounds relating to your particular situation. For direct marketing, you have a right to object without giving such grounds. To exercise your rights, contact the privacy contact identified above.
You may also complain to a data protection supervisory authority, in particular where you habitually reside, work, or believe an infringement occurred. You can contact the State Commissioner for Data Protection of Lower Saxony: Postfach 221, 30002 Hannover, Germany; visiting address: Prinzenstraße 5, 30159 Hannover; https://www.lfd.niedersachsen.de/.
Automated decisions and sensitive information
There is no automated decision producing legal or similarly significant effects within the meaning of Article 22 GDPR. Automatic scoring of quiz answers is used only for the game. The application does not transmit user data for model training and does not use AI to analyze user contributions. Quiz participation and answers are not used to create a religious personality profile. Please do not include unnecessary information about personal beliefs or other sensitive circumstances in display names or messages.
Children should use the service together with a parent or guardian and should not post personal contact details in names or messages.
Optional profile details and email offers
Name, age, gender and place of residence are optional details for personalizing your account. They are not shown to other players. You can change or delete them under My profile. Authorized administrators can view them for account management. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR for the profile feature you request.
With your separate, optional consent, BibleClue, Peter Garthe, may email you recommendations and relevant offers about the Bible and puzzles. We use your email address, language preference and consent; optional profile details are not used to select recipients. We record the time, language, wording and version of consent. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. You can play without giving this consent. Addresses are not shared with partners for their own advertising.
You may withdraw consent at any time by unchecking the box and saving under My profile or by emailing info@bibleclue.de. No further offer emails will then be sent on this basis. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
A limited record of your email address, consent time, language, wording and version, and the time consent ended is retained separately from the active profile until the end of the third calendar year after consent ends. It is used only to meet evidence obligations and defend legal claims, never for advertising, and is then automatically deleted. The legal bases are Article 6(1)(c) in conjunction with Articles 5(2) and 7(1) GDPR, and Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The legitimate interest is demonstrating lawful processing.
Book series early-interest registration
When you register to hear about the launch of our book series, we process your email address, language preference, and the time, version and wording of your consent. We email a confirmation link after registration; your registration becomes active only after you confirm. We store only a cryptographic hash of the link and its expiry time. The legal basis is your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. Registration is optional, requires no player account and does not place an order. It covers information about the start of ordering, not a general newsletter subscription.
Confirmation and notification emails use BibleClue's configured email provider. Only authorized administrators can access registrations. Details are not displayed publicly or shared with partners for their own advertising. You can withdraw consent at any time using the cancellation link in the confirmation email or by emailing info@bibleclue.de. Your registration is then deleted. Processing before withdrawal remains lawful. Unconfirmed registrations are deleted after seven days; confirmed registrations for this campaign are deleted no later than 1 February 2027. To prevent abuse, we limit requests, temporarily processing the IP address in memory without storing it in the registration list.
Email notifications to the administration
For new question reports and feedback, the responsible administrator receives an email containing your submission and the question reference. Once a book-series registration is confirmed, the administrator is informed of the registered email address and confirmation time. These internal notifications use our email provider and help us process your request. New question reports and website feedback are sent directly by email and are not stored in the application database or delivery queue. For book registrations and existing notifications, the queue stores only a reference to the original record and technical delivery information, not an additional copy of the content or confirmation link. Removing a registration discards any notification that has not yet been sent; messages already delivered to the administrative mailbox are considered when handling erasure requests.
Public acknowledgment on the supporter page
If you would like to be publicly acknowledged as a supporter, we store your chosen name or pseudonym, your bank transfer matching code, and the time, content, language, and version of your consent. This information enables us to match your contribution and review your request for publication. Only your chosen name appears publicly, after receipt of payment has been confirmed and we have approved the entry. Amounts, bank details, and matching codes are not displayed on the supporter page. We generate the bank transfer QR code directly on our server without using an external QR service.
Public acknowledgment is based on your voluntary consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. You can support us without being named and may withdraw your consent at any time for the future by writing to info@bibleclue.de. Please include your chosen name and, if available, the matching code so that we can find the entry. After processing the withdrawal, we remove the public acknowledgment. The information in this privacy policy applies to your further rights and to the responsible operator. To protect against automated requests, the number of submissions is temporarily limited using the IP address.
Partnership contact form
The contact form on the Advertising & Partnerships page collects your name, email address, publisher or organization name, and message. Providing a website is optional. We send this information through our configured email provider to info@bibleclue.de to handle your inquiry and reply to you. No user account is required, and you are not subscribed to a newsletter.
Depending on the inquiry, processing is based on taking steps before entering a contract under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR or our legitimate interest in answering inquiries under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. To protect against automated requests, we temporarily limit submissions using the IP address. The form uses technically necessary protection against unauthorized submissions. The information above about recipients, retention periods, and your rights also applies to this correspondence.
Changes to this policy
We update this policy when features, service providers, or processing change. The current version is available on this page.
Technical sessions for online presence
To display online presence correctly, we distinguish signed-in browser sessions using a technical identifier. We store the account reference, most recent activity time and logout status. Logging out ends that session's online presence; another active login can remain online. The account's latest activity time is retained for daily statistics. Inactive session records are regularly cleaned up after 30 days while the application is running. The technical identifier is not used for advertising or tracking across other websites.
General website feedback without an account
You can use the feedback form without an account to report errors, give praise or criticism, and share ideas or improvements. We send the selected category, your message and any optional contact details by email to info@bibleclue.de. New feedback is not stored in the application database. Your name and email address are optional; you can submit feedback without them. The information is visible only to the administration and is used to handle your request. If you provide an email address, we can reply. The administrator receives an internal email with your message and any contact details you chose to provide. No automatic reply is sent to that address, and you are not subscribed to a newsletter. To limit automated submissions, the IP address is temporarily used in memory for a submission limit and is not stored permanently. The information above about contact inquiries, recipients, retention and your rights also applies to this form.
Personal Bible study notes
If you use the notes feature, we store your text on the BibleClue server together with your player account ID, the associated question, its language, Bible references and the last update time. In the game interface, notes can only be accessed through your account. They are not published, shared with other players or emailed to the editors. Under My profile → My Bible study, you can view, edit and delete them. Deleting your account also removes its notes from the active database. The general information in this privacy policy about operation, backups, recipients and your rights also applies to this content.
Teaching resource requests
You can request teaching resources on the “For teachers & churches” page without a user account. We store the topic, resource type, description, age group, email address, language and receipt time, along with any optional name, group size and available time. These details are visible only in the protected administration and are used to process your request and reply personally by email. Internal processing notes and a request status may be added. You are not automatically subscribed to a newsletter. The information above about contact inquiries, recipients, retention and your rights also applies to this form.
Personal Bible reading plans
When you create a Bible reading plan while signed in, we store its name, settings, passages, dates, progress and optional notes in your account. This information is not displayed publicly. It allows you to continue your plans across devices. You can delete a plan and its notes at any time; deleting your account also removes your plans.