Privacy Policy — Zählwerk

Last updated: 24 August 2026 · Deutsche Fassung

This is a translation for your convenience. In case of doubt, the German version is the legally binding text.

Sections 1 to 11 cover the Zählwerk iPhone app. Section 12 covers this website.

1. Controller

The controller within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the “Zählwerk” app is:

Ronny Saar
Saarbrücker Straße 77
66564 Ottweiler
Germany

Email: ronny@rapidspark.de
VAT ID: DE457674550

2. Overview — why this policy is so short

Zählwerk is deliberately built as an offline-first app with no backend of its own:

There is no server operated by the provider that data is transmitted to.
There is no tracking, no analytics software, no advertising and no third-party SDKs.
There is no registration and no user account, and no way to contact the provider from inside the app.
All data you enter in Zählwerk stays on your device or — if you enable it — in your own private iCloud account.

The provider has no access to your meter readings, photos or any other entries at any point. Apart from the optional iCloud synchronisation described below, no personal data is processed by the provider.

3. What data is processed

3.1 Meter readings and consumption data

When you create meters (electricity, optionally gas or water) and record readings, the app processes the following data:

meter number/name, meter type, tariff details (e.g. price per kWh)
meter readings with their date
values calculated from them: monthly consumption, estimated electricity costs

These calculations happen exclusively on your device. None of this data is transmitted to the provider or to any third party.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of the contract on the provision of the app’s functions, entered into by installing and using the app); in the alternative Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in a working app).

3.2 Camera and meter reading recognition (text recognition)

Zählwerk optionally lets you capture a meter reading with the camera. In that case:

Text recognition happens entirely on the device using Apple’s built-in technology (Vision framework / VisionKit “Data Scanner”). Nothing is transmitted — neither the camera image nor the recognised text — to the provider, to Apple’s servers or to any other third party.
A receipt photo, if you choose to store one, is kept locally on your device or in your private iCloud (see section 4).
The camera is only accessed after you have granted the corresponding iOS system permission; you can withdraw it at any time in the iOS settings.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (your consent, given by granting the camera permission) in conjunction with Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (provision of the function you requested).

3.3 Technically necessary local data (app settings)

To operate the app, settings (e.g. the selected unit, the meter you used last, display options) may be stored locally on the device. This data does not leave your device.

4. Optional iCloud synchronisation (CloudKit)

If you are signed in with your Apple ID in the iOS settings of your device and iCloud is enabled, Zählwerk can store your data (meters, readings, receipt photos) in your private iCloud database via Apple’s CloudKit service and keep it in sync between your own devices.

What matters here:

This is your private iCloud database. It is tied to your Apple ID and can only be reached from your own devices signed in with that Apple ID.
The provider of Zählwerk has no way of accessing this data — neither technically (no server of its own, no interface to your private database) nor legally (Apple provides developers with no access to private CloudKit databases).
In technical terms, processing by Apple as part of iCloud is a continuation of your own private storage — comparable to a cloud backup of your device. To that extent you, as the user, decide on the purposes and means of this storage (enabling or disabling iCloud in the system settings); the app provider does not co-determine this and does not act as a controller in that respect.
Transfer to a third country: Apple runs iCloud globally. Data may therefore also be processed outside the European Union, in particular by Apple Inc. in the United States. For such transfers Apple states that it relies on the European Commission’s adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and — where that does not apply — on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). Which safeguard applies in a given case, and where you can obtain a copy of it, is set out in Apple’s privacy policy; whether a company is certified under the Data Privacy Framework can be checked in the official list: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/list
Apple’s privacy terms for iCloud apply in addition: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/

You can disable iCloud synchronisation at any time in the iOS settings (Settings → [your name] → iCloud). Your data is then stored only locally on the respective device.

5. No disclosure to third parties

The provider does not pass on any data from Zählwerk to third parties. There are no advertising partners, no analytics or tracking services and no other third-party SDKs embedded in the app.

6. Retention period

Your data stays on your device or in your private iCloud until you delete it in the app or uninstall the app. On uninstalling, locally stored data is removed from the device; data stored in your private iCloud remains under your own control via your Apple ID (e.g. deletion via the iCloud settings).

7. Your rights as a data subject

Because all processing takes place on your device or in your own private iCloud, and the provider has no access to your data, you will normally exercise the following rights directly yourself — by editing or deleting the data in the app or through your iCloud / Apple ID settings:

Access (Art. 15 GDPR) — through the app itself
Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR) — by editing the entries in the app
Erasure (Art. 17 GDPR) — by deleting the entries in the app or uninstalling it
Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
Data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
Objection (Art. 21 GDPR)

Should you still have questions about privacy in Zählwerk, you can contact the controller by email (contact details in section 1).

Independently of this, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), for example with:

Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit des Saarlandes
Fritz-Dobisch-Straße 12, 66111 Saarbrücken, Germany
https://www.datenschutz.saarland.de

or with the supervisory authority responsible for your place of residence.

8. Data security

Even without a server of its own, the provider maintains an appropriate level of protection for the app — among other things by using the encrypted local storage provided by Apple and Apple’s secured CloudKit infrastructure when iCloud synchronisation is enabled.

9. Minors

Zählwerk is not specifically directed at children. Since there is no registration, no age verification and no transmission of data to the provider, no additional data protection risks arise for underage users.

10. Changes to this privacy policy

This privacy policy may be adjusted if the scope of Zählwerk’s functions changes (for example when new features are introduced that involve data processing). The current version is always available inside the app and on the product page.

11. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact:

Ronny Saar
Email: ronny@rapidspark.de

12. This website (zaehlwerk.rapidspark.de)

Sections 1 to 11 describe the app. The following applies additionally when you visit this website.

12.1 Hosting and server log files

This website runs on a server operated by the provider, located in a data centre of IONOS SE, Elgendorfer Straße 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany. IONOS processes the data as a processor under Art. 28 GDPR.

When a page is requested, the following access data is — unavoidably — written to log files: shortened or full IP address, date and time, the address requested, amount of data transferred, status code, referring page and details about browser and operating system.

This data serves solely the secure and trouble-free operation of the website and the defence against attacks. It is not combined with other data sources, not evaluated to recognise you, and is deleted after 30 days at the latest.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in a secure, functioning website).

12.2 What this website does not do

It sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser.
It contains no JavaScript, no analytics or audience measurement and no advertising tools.
It loads no resources from external servers — no web fonts, no maps, no videos, no images from content delivery networks. Everything this page displays comes from this domain’s own server. A connection to a third party is only made if you click one of the few outgoing links yourself.
It contains no contact form. Contact goes through the email address and phone number given in the legal notice.

12.3 Contacting us by email or phone

If you contact us by email or phone, your details (name, contact data, content of your enquiry) are stored in order to handle your request and are not passed on without your consent. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR where the enquiry relates to a contract, otherwise Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in handling enquiries). The data is deleted once your request has been dealt with, unless statutory retention periods apply.

Email delivery uses Google Workspace (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland). The contracting party is therefore a company based in the EU; Google may nevertheless process email data outside the European Union as part of the service, in particular through Google LLC in the United States. For such transfers Google states that it relies on the European Commission’s adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and, in addition, on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). The details are set out in Google’s privacy policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy); the certification can be checked in the official list: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/list.

12.4 Encryption

This website is served exclusively over a TLS-encrypted connection (recognisable by https:// and the padlock icon in your browser). Requests over http:// are redirected automatically to the encrypted address.

Note: this privacy policy was drafted with AI assistance as a qualified template and does not replace legal advice in an individual case.