Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Spermageddon ("we", "us", or "our") operates this website. We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Dutch UAVG, and other applicable data protection laws.

This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights regarding that data.

2. Data Controller

The data controller for this website is Spermageddon. For any privacy-related enquiries, contact us at hello@spermageddon.com.

3. What Data We Collect

Account registration: When you create an account we collect your name, email address, username, and an encrypted password. Optionally, you may provide a phone number.

Study submissions & enquiries: If you submit a research study or contact us, we collect the information you provide (name, email, message content) along with your IP address and browser details for security purposes.

Newsletter subscriptions: We collect your email address when you subscribe to our newsletter, along with the date and source of subscription.

Site usage: We log basic page view data including the page visited, a timestamp, your IP address, and browser user agent. This is stored in our own database — we do not use third-party analytics services.

Cookies: We use strictly necessary cookies only. See Section 8 below.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the GDPR, we process your data on the following bases:

Consent — for newsletter subscriptions and cookie acceptance. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Contract — for account creation and management, where processing is necessary to provide the service you requested.

Legitimate interest — for basic site analytics (page view counting), site security, and fraud prevention, where our interest does not override your rights.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use collected data to provide and maintain the site, authenticate users, send newsletters you have opted into, review and publish submitted research, respond to enquiries, monitor site performance through aggregate page view statistics, and protect the site against abuse.

6. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We may share data in the following limited circumstances:

Hosting provider: Our web hosting provider processes data on our behalf under a data processing agreement.

Google Fonts: We load fonts from Google's servers. Google may collect your IP address when fonts are requested. See Google's privacy policy.

Google Maps: Our Global Map page embeds Google Maps, which may set its own cookies and collect usage data. See Google's privacy policy.

Legal requirements: We may disclose data if required by law, court order, or to protect our rights and safety.

7. International Transfers

Some third-party services (Google Fonts, Google Maps) may transfer data outside the EU/EEA. Where this occurs, we rely on the service provider's compliance mechanisms such as Standard Contractual Clauses or adequacy decisions.

8. Cookies

We use only the following cookies:

Session cookie (PHPSESSID) — essential for login and security features. Expires when you close your browser.

Cookie consent (cookie_consent) — remembers your acceptance of this cookie notice. Expires after 365 days.

Google Maps cookies — set by Google when you visit the Global Map page. These are third-party cookies governed by Google's policies.

We do not use advertising, tracking, or analytics cookies.

9. Data Retention

Account data is retained until you request deletion. Newsletter subscriptions are retained until you unsubscribe. Page view logs are retained for up to 12 months and then automatically purged. Enquiries and study submissions are retained for up to 24 months.

10. Your Rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to access your personal data, request correction of inaccurate data, request erasure of your data, restrict or object to processing, request data portability, and withdraw consent at any time. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@spermageddon.com. We will respond within 30 days.

11. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encrypted password storage, CSRF protection, input validation, and secure session management. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure.

12. Children

This site is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be indicated by the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

14. Supervisory Authority

If you are unsatisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) at autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl, or with your local supervisory authority if you are in another EU member state.

15. Contact

For any questions about this privacy policy or your personal data, contact us at hello@spermageddon.com.