Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026

Summary: Neither the browser extension nor the Windows application collect, store or transmit personal data to us or third parties. There are no analytics/tracking tools, no cookies for this purpose and no server that the extension or app communicates with. The only exception: if you voluntarily use our support form, we process the data entered there to answer your request (see section 3).

1. Data controller

Responsible under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is:

As a free, non-commercial project without advertising or paid offerings, no postal address is required for this under GDPR Art. 13 - a name and a reachable email address are sufficient as contact details. A legal notice ("Impressum") with a summonable address would only be required for a commercial offering (e.g. with advertising or paid features).

2. This website

This website is a purely static information page without forms, login or user accounts. No cookies are set and no analytics or tracking services (e.g. Google Analytics) are embedded.

When you visit the site, the respective hosting provider technically processes server log files (e.g. IP address, date/time of access, page requested, browser used) for technical reasons. This is necessary for the technical operation and security of the website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) and is outside our control, as it is standard web server functionality. These log files are not combined with other data and not used to evaluate individual persons.

The download files (browser extension as ZIP, Windows app as MSI) are provided as plain file transfers; it is not recorded who downloads a file.

3. Support form

If you create a ticket via our support form, we process the data you voluntarily enter (email address, selected reason, optionally an affected URL, your description) to process your request and reply to you. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (fulfilling a request you make to us).

When submitted, two emails are sent: a notification to our support mailbox (support@gambling-blocker.de) and an automatic confirmation to the address you provided. Your data is used exclusively to process your request, is not passed on to third parties and is not used for advertising purposes. Transmission takes place directly from this website's server (no external form service).

A hidden "honeypot" field in the form serves solely as spam protection (automated bots often fill it in, real users don't see it) and is not evaluated or stored.

4. Browser extension

All extension settings (password hash, lock mode, custom/automatically detected blocked domains) are stored exclusively locally in the browser (chrome.storage.local). This data never leaves your device, is never transmitted to any server and is not accessible to anyone but you. A password you set is never stored in plain text, only as a salted hash (PBKDF2/SHA-256).

The extension requires the following permissions, exclusively for its core function:

• Access to all websites / tabs / navigation: to detect domains when visited and redirect to the block page if needed.
• declarativeNetRequest: to intercept requests to blocked domains at the network level.
• storage: to store your settings locally.
• notifications: to inform you when a new site has been automatically detected and blocked.

None of these permissions are used to collect or transmit browsing history, form input or other content.

5. Windows application

The Windows app stores its configuration (password hash, lock mode, blocked domains) locally in %ProgramData%\GamblingBlocker. There is no telemetry, no automatic error reporting to us and no communication with an external server. The local web server included in the app (127.0.0.1) is only reachable on your own device and serves only to display the block page.

6. Linked external help services

On the block page and this website we link to independent, free counselling services (among others GamCare, National Council on Problem Gambling). These are independent third-party offerings with their own privacy policies; we have no influence over their data processing. Please check directly with these providers if needed.

7. Your rights

Under Art. 15-21 GDPR you have the usual data subject rights (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, data portability). Since we generally do not permanently store personal data from you outside of a support request, these rights are in most cases moot for lack of stored data. Regarding a request made via the support form, you can request access, rectification or deletion at any time - simply contact us using the contact address given above. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.

8. Changes to this policy

This privacy policy may be updated if the website, extension or app is extended with features that would require data processing. The version published on this page at any given time applies.