Privacy Policy

We at etke.cc are a small group of private individuals who care deeply about privacy and decentralization.

We do not track people. We do not collect unnecessary data. We just want to help others run privacy-respecting Matrix infrastructure.

This page explains what data we collect, what we do as part of our services, and your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Who We Are¶

etke.cc helps people self-host Matrix infrastructure with automation and support.

We are not a company or corporation - just a small group of developers based in different European countries, including Moldova and Bulgaria. We work together to make privacy-first tools and services for others.

If you ever have questions, just contact us. We’re happy to help.

2. What Data We Collect (and Why)¶

We collect as little as possible. Here’s what we collect and how we use it:

a) Visiting the Website¶

Our website (https://etke.cc) is static and hosted on BunnyCDN.

• No tracking
• No cookies
• No IP address logging (Bunny replaces it with 0.0.0.0)
• Temporary logs (without IPs) kept for 3 days to detect abuse or troubleshoot

b) Analytics¶

We use self-hosted Plausible Analytics:

• No personal data
• No cookies or tracking
• All data is anonymous and aggregated

c) Email and Support¶

Automated Emails¶

When our system sends you messages (for example, alerts about your Matrix server):

• Your email address and the message go through Postmark
• Postmark stores them for up to 45 days
• Used only to deliver updates you asked for

Support Requests¶

When you email us or use the helpdesk:

• Email is handled by Migadu and turned into tickets in our self-hosted FreeScout helpdesk
• We keep these tickets for reference
• You can ask us to delete them at any time

We do not use your email for marketing. We never share or sell it.

d) Orders and Payments¶

If you order something or subscribe via:

• Ko-fi
• PayPal

We store your email address only, so we can:

• Manage your subscription
• Handle billing and support

We never receive or store your payment details. All of that is handled directly by Ko-fi or PayPal.

3. Matrix Hosting and Server Management¶

When you use our services, we may set up or manage a Matrix server for you.

This server can be:

• Hosted on our infrastructure (via Hetzner, a GDPR-compliant provider in Germany), or
• Deployed to infrastructure you provide (your own VPS or physical machine)

In both cases:

• You are the owner and controller of the Matrix server and the data on it
• We are just the tech team - we set things up, keep them running, and help when needed

We do not process or inspect your Matrix user data (like messages, files, or user accounts). We may technically have system access (for setup or updates), but we do not use it to read or analyze private data.

You decide how the server is used and who can access it. You are responsible for letting your users know how their data is handled.

4. What We Can Access (and What We Don’t)¶

To manage and automate servers, we may have:

• Root/SSH access (to run updates and configure services)
• Database access (to set up tables for Matrix and related tools like bots)
• Logs and monitoring (to help detect issues)

This access is used only for technical reasons - like installing or fixing things. We never read your Matrix content unless you ask us to during support or migration.

We are not users on your Matrix server. We do not join your rooms or access user data unless you request it.

5. If You Use Our Help On Your Own Server¶

If we manage Matrix services on infrastructure you provide:

• You still control everything
• We still don’t touch your user data
• You are fully responsible for legal compliance and for informing your users

We provide setup, monitoring, updates, and support. That’s it.

6. Legal Basis (GDPR)¶

We handle your data based on:

• Legitimate interest (running our website, helping customers)
• Consent (when you contact us or subscribe)
• Contractual need (providing services you ordered)
• Legal obligation (accounting and billing)

We do not use sensitive personal data and do not profile or automate decisions.

7. Data Retention¶

We delete data when no longer needed. You can always request removal unless we are legally required to keep it. Some records, such as those related to billing, may be required by law to be retained for a set period even if you ask for erasure.

8. Providers We Use¶

We only use providers we trust, and we picked them for their privacy focus.

• BunnyCDN – Static site hosting and CDN (no IPs logged) (privacy policy)
• Plausible – Self-hosted analytics with no personal data (privacy policy)
• Postmark – Email delivery for alerts and system messages (privacy policy)
• Migadu – Email provider for support, based in Switzerland (privacy policy)
• FreeScout – Self-hosted helpdesk for support (we control all data)
• Hetzner – Server hosting in the EU for Matrix infrastructure
• Ko-fi and PayPal – Payment processing platforms (Ko-fi privacy policy, PayPal privacy policy)

We do not share your data with third parties beyond what’s needed to provide services. We never sell or resell any information.

9. Your Rights (GDPR)¶

You can always:

• Ask what data we have about you
• Correct anything that is wrong
• Ask us to delete your data (if we legally can)
• Object or restrict how your data is used
• Withdraw consent
• File a complaint with a data protection authority

Just contact us - we will respond quickly, usually within 2 days.

We’re not lawyers or a business. We are just people trying to help others run secure, privacy-friendly Matrix setups.

We will honor your requests unless we are required by law to retain certain information (for example, for tax or accounting rules).

10. Data Transfers¶

Most data is processed in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Some services (like PayPal or Ko-fi) may process data outside the EEA. We only use providers with strong privacy protections in place and who comply with international standards.

Our email is hosted in Switzerland (Migadu), which meets EU privacy requirements.

If anything ever changes significantly about data handling or transfers, we will update this page.

11. Changes to This Policy¶

If we update this Privacy Policy, we will keep the current version at etke.cc/privacy.

If anything important changes, we will notify active users directly.

12. Summary¶

• We do not track you
• We do not collect IPs or use cookies
• We do not process your Matrix data
• We keep only the data needed to provide the services
• We never sell your data
• You control your Matrix server and its contents

Contact¶

etke.cc/contacts

Last updated: 31 July 2025