Privacy Policy

The short version: visualOS is built so that everything you create — boards, notes, images, documents — stays on your own device. No accounts, no cookies, no tracking, no analytics, and no servers of ours that could ever receive your content.

The one exception: when you add a link, the app fetches a small preview (title and thumbnail) from the site that link points to. That’s it — your boards never go anywhere. Details in section 5.

1. Controller

The controller within the meaning of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is:

Dorweiler & Reimertz GbR
Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 20
10315 Berlin, Germany
Email: info@dorweiler-reimertz.com

2. Core principle: local-first — we never process your content

visualOS follows a local-first architecture. All content is stored exclusively on your device: in your browser (IndexedDB) or — if you choose — in a folder on your own disk that you select yourself. The app never transmits this content to us — we have no access to it at any time, and no way of obtaining it. The only thing that ever leaves your device is a link you add yourself, when the app fetches its preview (section 5).

3. Sync through your own cloud provider

If you place your visualOS folder inside a cloud storage service (e.g. iCloud Drive or Dropbox), synchronisation happens exclusively through your own account with that provider and is governed by that provider’s privacy policy. We are not involved and receive no data whatsoever. Whether and which cloud service you use is entirely your decision.

4. Visiting this website (hosting)

When you visit this website or load the web app, your browser technically transmits connection data to the server that delivers the static files (in particular your IP address, date and time of the request, the requested file, the amount of data transferred, and your browser type). This processing is technically necessary to deliver the website (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR — legitimate interest in providing the site securely and reliably). We do not combine this data with any other data sources and do not use it to identify individual visitors. Any server log files kept by our hosting provider are automatically deleted after a short period.

5. Link previews — the one time the app fetches something

When you add a link to a board, visualOS shows it as a preview card with a title and a thumbnail — exactly like the link previews in WhatsApp, iMessage or Slack. To build that card, it asks the site the link points to for those details. This means the link and your device’s IP address reach that site (for example YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify or a normal web page), where they may be logged under that site’s own privacy policy; some of these sites are based outside the EU. No cookies are sent, and none of your board content is ever included — only the single link you added (legal basis: our legitimate interest in a useful preview, Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR).

A thumbnail, once fetched, is stored locally and not requested again.

6. No cookies, no tracking

This website and the web app set no cookies and use no analytics, tracking or advertising services. No consent is required — which is why you won’t find a cookie banner here. It also loads no fonts, scripts or images from anyone else — everything comes from our own server. The app stores what it needs on your device (IndexedDB or the folder you connect), and that stays there.

One note on deleting: so you can undo mistakes, the app keeps recent versions and copies of deleted items in your connected folder (.versions, .trash, .originals). Something you deleted may therefore still be there for a while. You can clear those folders yourself at any time.

7. Contacting us by email

If you contact us by email, we process the data you provide (email address, content of your message) solely to handle your enquiry (Art. 6 (1) (b) or (f) GDPR). This data is deleted once it is no longer needed to deal with your enquiry, unless statutory retention obligations require otherwise.

8. App Store (native app)

If you obtain the native app through the Apple App Store, Apple processes data as an independent controller in the course of the purchase and download. Apple’s privacy policy applies. Like the web app, the native app itself transmits no content to us.

9. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the following rights:

access to the personal data concerning you (Art. 15 GDPR),
rectification (Art. 16 GDPR),
erasure (Art. 17 GDPR),
restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR),
data portability (Art. 20 GDPR),
objection to processing based on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (Art. 21 GDPR).

Since — apart from the technically necessary connection data described above and any email correspondence — we store no personal data about you, these rights will usually come to nothing in practice: there is simply nothing there. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at info@dorweiler-reimertz.com.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR). The authority responsible for us is the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit), Alt-Moabit 59–61, 10555 Berlin, Germany.

10. Changes to this privacy policy

Should we extend the website or the app with features that require different data processing in the future, we will update this privacy policy accordingly. The current version can always be found on this page.

Last updated: July 2026