Privacy Policy

We take the protection of your personal data very seriously. This Privacy Policy informs you in accordance with Art. 13 GDPR about the type, scope, and purpose of processing personal data within our website, the app "ViPDashPlayer Pro", and our support forum.

1. Data Controller (within the meaning of the GDPR)
ViPDashPlayer (owner: Thorsten Burmann), Lüneburger Str. 23a, 21368 Dahlenburg, Germany
E-mail: vipdashplayer@web.de

2. Website Hosting (Data Processing Agreement)
This website is hosted by STRATO AG, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, Germany. A Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under Art. 28 GDPR is in place with Strato. All data is processed exclusively on servers located within the European Union. Strato privacy policy: strato.de/datenschutz

2a. Content Delivery Network & security proxy (Cloudflare)
Our website is delivered via the content delivery network of Cloudflare, Inc. (101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA). Cloudflare is placed in front of our server as a proxy in order to protect the site (including against overload/DDoS attacks) and to deliver it faster. For technical reasons, Cloudflare processes each visitor's IP address as well as connection and security data on every page request. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in security, availability and performant delivery). A Data Processing Agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is in place with Cloudflare. Third-country transfer to the USA: Cloudflare, Inc. is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; in addition, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) under Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR are in place. Privacy policy: cloudflare.com/privacypolicy

2b. Database backups (server)
To ensure resilience and recoverability (integrity and availability pursuant to Art. 32 GDPR), we occasionally create backups of the database operated on the server mentioned above (Strato, EU). Such backups may contain personal data (e.g. activation codes, e-mail addresses, device and payment metadata). They are created exclusively by the operator within the password-protected admin area and only over an encrypted connection (HTTPS), can additionally be stored end-to-end encrypted (RSA-3072 + AES-256-GCM), and every backup operation is logged (accountability, Art. 5(2) GDPR). They are not shared with any third party. Backups are deleted as soon as they are no longer required for the backup purpose, and at the latest upon expiry of the retention periods applicable to the respective data. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in data security and business continuity) in conjunction with Art. 32 GDPR.

2c. Verification of our own installation files (VirusTotal)
On our download page we show, for every installation file (APK) we offer, its checksum (SHA-256) together with the virus-scan result from VirusTotal, operated by Chronicle Security Ireland Limited (Ireland), a company of the Alphabet group. This allows anyone to verify independently of us that the file they downloaded is unaltered and harmless.

No data of our website visitors is transmitted to VirusTotal. The request is made solely by our own server, not by your browser. Only the checksum of our own file and – once after each release – the installation file itself are transmitted. Neither contains personal data. Your IP address, your browser or any other details of your visit are not passed on.

No content from VirusTotal is embedded in our pages – no scripts, images or fonts. Loading our page therefore does not create any connection from your device to VirusTotal. Only if you click the link shown do you leave our website; from that point the privacy policy of VirusTotal applies.

The legal basis for this verification is our legitimate interest in the integrity and security of the software we provide (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

3. What Data We Process and Why

• Server log files (IP addresses): Every time you visit our website or trigger the online activation flow of the app, your device automatically transmits technical data (IP address, date, time, user agent, requested resource). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in stability and security). Retention period: a maximum of 14 days, then automatic deletion.
• Activation code & device ID: When you activate the Premium version, we store an anonymized device identifier generated locally on the device (Device ID, no real name, no hardware serial number) together with your activation code. This is used to enforce the contractually agreed device limit. On each (online) activation the app additionally transmits a non-reversible device check value (hw_fingerprint – a truncated, non-reversible SHA-256 hash, not a plaintext identifier) and a device-integrity status (security flag – the result of local checks for tampering, e.g. root, emulator, debugger, hooking/clone environments or a modified app signature). These serve to enforce the device limit and to protect against multiple use, tampering and license abuse; the hw_fingerprint is stored linked to the respective device. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of contract) and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (protection against abuse/tampering). During the online check, the app also receives a server-signed offline ticket bound to the device ID with limited validity (currently up to 12 months), which is stored locally on your device only and enables use without a permanent internet connection; no additional personal data is stored on the server for this purpose. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of contract). Retention period: for the duration of the license plus statutory commercial retention periods; the local offline ticket remains on the device until the next online check or until sign-out.
• License-abuse & sharing detection: To enforce the contractually agreed device limit and to defend against license abuse, we automatically analyse the already-mentioned pseudonymous activation data (device ID, device check value/hw_fingerprint, security flag, app version, salted IP hash, country code) for anomalies – for example one activation code on an unusually large number of devices, one device check value across several codes, or a conspicuous country/IP spread. No additional personal data is collected and no plaintext data is stored; the result is solely internal, pseudonymous indications for manual review. Any blocking is always carried out by a natural person and never by a solely automated decision (Art. 22 GDPR therefore does not apply). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of contract) and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in defending against license abuse). Retention period: the internal indications a maximum of 180 days, then automatic deletion. In the event of such a measure, we may inform you about it via the e-mail address you provided at purchase (a contractual notice, not advertising); you can object to the assessment at any time at vipdashplayer@web.de.
• Pseudonymized app identifier (demo abuse prevention): When activating the free 7-day demo mode, the app additionally transmits a locally computed cryptographic hash (16 hex characters, truncated SHA-256) derived from Android's own pseudonymous App Set ID (Settings.Secure.ANDROID_ID) and immutable device model properties (manufacturer, model name, board, hardware variant). We expressly use no MAC address, no IMEI, no hardware serial number (Build.SERIAL) and no memory-chip identifier. The input data cannot be reconstructed from the hash. Purpose: preventing the same device installation from circumventing the 7-day demo period by repeated reinstalling or changing codes. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in abuse prevention). Retention period: 30 days after the end of the demo period, then automatic deletion. The ANDROID_ID is regenerated when your device is factory-reset; after a reset the device is treated as a new device for our demo purposes.
• Demo reuse prevention (device hash): To prevent the free 7-day demo mode from being started again on the same device after it has expired, we store in a separate blocklist exclusively a one-way, salted SHA-256 hash of the device identifier – no IP address, no device model, no other data. The input data cannot be reconstructed from the hash. Purpose: preventing repeated demo use. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in abuse prevention). Retention period: a maximum of 12 months, then automatic deletion.
• Audit log of rejected demo requests: If a demo request is refused on suspicion of multiple use, we log the date/time, device ID, the pseudonymized app identifier described above, app version, security flag and a cryptographic SHA-256 hash of the IP address (12 hex characters, salted) — never the IP address in plaintext. The IP address cannot be reconstructed from the hash. This information serves solely for traceability in support requests ("why was my demo rejected?"). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in abuse prevention and support). Retention period: 90 days, then automatic deletion.
• Device change log: When you remove (delete) a device in the customer portal or in the device manager app, we log the type of change (delete), the affected device ID and a cryptographic hash (SHA-256) of your IP address — never the IP address in plaintext. This serves traceability for support requests and protection against misuse. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in traceability and abuse prevention). Retention period: change entries for the duration of the license; IP hashes are automatically anonymized after 90 days.
• Protection against unauthorized login attempts (login throttling): To prevent the systematic guessing of activation codes in the web customer portal and in the device manager app, on failed login attempts we briefly store a salted SHA-256 hash of your IP address and a salted SHA-256 hash of the entered code together with a timestamp — never the IP address or the code in plaintext. The original inputs cannot be reconstructed from the hashes. Purpose: defending against automated login/guessing attacks (brute force). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in IT security). Retention period: a maximum of 24 hours, then automatic deletion.
• Page view statistics: For anonymous analysis of our website usage, we store a SHA-256 hash of your IP address, the page visited and a timestamp per page view. Your IP address is never stored in plaintext. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in website usage analysis). Retention period: a maximum of 180 days, then automatic deletion.
• Download statistics (app downloads): When you download one of our Android apps – the player (demo) or the Device Manager app – we store, for anonymous reach and abuse analysis, a salted SHA-256 hash of your IP address, the country or city derived from the country code, the downloaded variant (32-bit, 64-bit or Manager), the transmitted user agent and a timestamp. Your IP address is never stored in plaintext and cannot be reconstructed from the hash. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in reach measurement and abuse prevention). Retention period: a maximum of 180 days, then automatic deletion.
• Consent documentation: When purchasing a license, we store the timestamp of your agreement to our Terms and Privacy Policy, the timestamp of your waiver of the right of withdrawal (§ 356(6) no. 2 BGB), the PayPal transaction ID as proof, and your e-mail address. In the forum, we store the timestamp of your privacy consent as well as the timestamp of your acceptance of the board rules, each together with a SHA-256 hash of your IP address. This serves our accountability obligation under Art. 5(2) GDPR. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR (legal obligation). Retention period: for the duration of statutory retention periods (at least 3 years after the end of the contract pursuant to § 195 BGB, up to 10 years pursuant to § 147 AO for tax-relevant transactions).
• Technical PayPal webhook log (payment & refund security): When automatically processing PayPal payment and refund notifications (webhooks), we keep a technical server log to make payments, cancellations and refunds traceable and to detect abuse (e.g. forged or duplicate notifications). It stores only pseudonymous PayPal event and transaction identifiers, a salted SHA-256 hash of the IP address and, in error cases, a masked e-mail address (e.g. "a***@provider.com") — no plaintext master data and no payment-method or account data. The binding purchase/transaction records themselves are held in the customer database (see "Consent documentation") and at PayPal. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in IT security and traceability of payments). Retention period: the log is automatically discarded and started anew once it reaches 5 MB; it serves solely for short-term technical traceability.
• Deletion log (accountability record): When an administrator or the system deletes an account, license or device, we store — to fulfil our accountability obligation (Art. 5(2) GDPR) — an audit entry documenting that and when the deletion took place (timestamp, initiating party, license or device identifier, plan, price, reason). Any associated e-mail address is stored exclusively as a salted SHA-256 hash — never in plaintext; it cannot be reconstructed from the hash. This means no plaintext contact data survives a deletion, while the proper deletion itself remains verifiable (e.g. if a supervisory authority enquires). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in being able to demonstrate proper deletions) in conjunction with Art. 5(2) GDPR. Retention period: for the duration of statutory limitation and retention periods.
• Location determination for VAT (buyer's country): When you purchase a license, we determine the buyer's country in order to apply the correct VAT treatment and to comply with our tax record-keeping and reporting obligations (in particular the EU One-Stop-Shop scheme and the location evidence required under Art. 24f of the EU VAT Implementing Regulation). The authoritative source is the billing/country code transmitted by PayPal. As an additional item of location evidence permitted under EU law, we derive the buyer's country from the country code provided by our upstream security/CDN service Cloudflare via the "CF-IPCountry" header. In doing so we do not process or store any IP address — we only receive and store the two-letter country code (e.g. "DE"). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR (compliance with a legal — here tax — obligation) in conjunction with § 22 UStG. Retention period: until the statutory, in particular tax-related, retention periods expire (up to 10 years pursuant to § 147 AO / Art. 63c EU VAT Implementing Regulation).
• Support forum (custom software): Our forum is a custom PHP application running on the same server (Strato, EU). We store your chosen username, your e-mail address (for Magic-Link/OTP login) and the posts you publish yourself. Once logged in, you may optionally set a password; this is stored exclusively as a cryptographic hash (bcrypt/Argon2) and never in plaintext. If you use the "Keep me signed in" option at login, we additionally store a randomly generated remember token in an HttpOnly cookie and in the database so that you don't have to request a new OTP code on every visit. To prevent spam and abuse, we also briefly store a salted SHA-256 hash of your IP address (table forum_rate_limits) together with the type of action (e.g. login attempt, post creation) and a timestamp in order to limit the number of attempts per time window. For general page-view statistics (table page_views) your IP address is stored exclusively as a SHA-256 hash, never in plaintext. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract initiation/performance), or Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent for forum posts); for rate limiting and remember tokens Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in abuse prevention and user convenience). Retention period: forum account and posts until you request deletion; remember tokens until logout or expiry (max. 30 days); rate-limit IP hashes a maximum of 24 hours, then automatic deletion.
• Sending login & transaction e-mails (Resend): For sending login codes (forum), license e-mails (purchases) as well as acknowledgements and completion notices relating to contact and data-protection requests we use the e-mail service Resend by Resend Inc., Delaware (USA). Only your e-mail address and the respective mail content are transferred. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. Note on the actual sending location: The actual mail delivery is handled via Amazon SES infrastructure in the region eu-west-1 (Dublin, Ireland) and therefore takes place within the European Union. Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL, 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, acts as Resend's sub-processor in this respect. Only account metadata and delivery statistics in the Resend dashboard are processed in the USA. Third-country transfer to the USA: For this part, Resend is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) under Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR are in place. A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR with Resend Inc. is in place (automatically effective upon signup via the Resend Terms). Retention period: login codes are discarded immediately after sending; license e-mails are archived until the statutory retention periods expire.
• Contact form (contact.php): When you write to us via the contact form, we process the data you provide (optionally your name, your e-mail address, subject and message) in order to answer your enquiry; delivery is handled via the Resend service mentioned above. To prevent spam/abuse we briefly store a salted SHA-256 hash of your IP address with a timestamp — never in plain text. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (pre-contractual/contractual enquiries) or Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (answering other enquiries, abuse prevention). Retention period: your message for as long as needed to process your enquiry and any follow-up; the rate-limit IP hash a maximum of 1 hour.
• Post reports & moderation (forum): When you report a forum post, we store your (pseudonymous) reporter ID, a salted SHA-256 hash of your IP address, the stated reason, and the status and timestamp — in order to process reports and detect abuse. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in content moderation and security). Retention period: until the report has been resolved plus a reasonable evidence period.
• Edit history (forum): When you edit one of your own posts, or the moderation team edits a post or moves it to another topic or sub-forum, we store the previous and the new version, the time, the role of the editor (author or moderation) and, for your own edits, your user ID. The post is publicly marked as “edited”; earlier versions are visible to the moderation team only. The purpose is to keep changes traceable and to prevent abuse (e.g. illegal content being added afterwards). No IP addresses are stored for this; the number of edits is limited by the rate limiting described above. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in content moderation and accountability). Retention period: as long as the post exists; if the post, the topic or your account is deleted, the associated history is deleted as well.
• Cookies & sessions: We use only technically necessary session cookies (PHPSESSID) to maintain your login state in the dashboard and forum. We do not use any tracking, analytics or advertising cookies. Legal basis: § 25(2)(2) TDDDG, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Retention period: until the end of the browser session or logout.
• Online withdrawal function: If you withdraw from a contract via our withdrawal function (vipdashplayer.net/widerruf.php), we store the data you provide (name, e-mail address, optionally order/transaction ID and message), a timestamp and a SHA-256 hash of your IP address (never in plain text, for spam prevention). This serves to receive, confirm and document your withdrawal declaration. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR (legal obligation to provide a withdrawal function) and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in abuse prevention). Retention period: for the duration of the statutory retention and proof periods.
• GDPR request form (abuse prevention): If you submit a request to exercise your data-subject rights via our online form (vipdashplayer.net/privacy_request.php), we briefly store a salted cryptographic SHA-256 hash of your IP address together with a timestamp to prevent mass/spam submissions — never the IP address in plaintext. The IP address cannot be reconstructed from the hash. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in abuse prevention). Retention period: a maximum of 1 hour, then automatic deletion.

4. Payment Processing (PayPal)
When you purchase a license, payment is processed exclusively via PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg. We ourselves do not receive or store any credit card, bank account or payment data — we only receive a payment confirmation and the transaction details required to fulfil the contract. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Note on third-country transfer: PayPal may transfer data to the USA for intra-group purposes. PayPal provides Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) under Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR for this purpose and is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
PayPal privacy policy: paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

5. Data Processing inside the App (Zero-Cloud)
The "ViPDashPlayer Pro" app contains no analytics, advertising or crash trackers (no Google Firebase Analytics, no Crashlytics, no AppsFlyer or similar). Your playback behavior (which streams or channels you watch) is neither collected, stored nor shared with third parties.

Remote-control web dashboard (NanoHTTPD): If you enable the built-in dashboard, the app starts a PIN-protected web server on your device. The connection is unencrypted (HTTP) by default; where possible the app additionally provides TLS-encrypted access on the next higher port (self-signed certificate). Your credentials for playlists and network shares are not transmitted. It can be accessed (a) locally on your own Wi-Fi or (b) from the internet if you set up port forwarding on your router yourself. In both cases the connection runs directly between your browser and your device – it is not routed through our servers and we have no access to it. To display the reachable address, the app can determine your internet connection's public IP address via an external service (api.ipify.org, checkip.amazonaws.com or icanhazip.com, USA); in doing so your IP address is technically transmitted to that service. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (feature requested by you).

Encrypted backups (AES-GCM): Backups of your settings and playlists are encrypted using AES-GCM and stored exclusively locally on your device or on the storage location you choose (USB, NAS). We have no access to backup contents at any time.

Optional support log (disabled by default): The app contains a switch you can voluntarily enable (Settings → Device Info → "Support log"). Only if you turn this switch on yourself does the app collect technical diagnostic data (e.g. playback events, error and network messages, device model, app and Android version and, as the first block of every exported log, technical details of the device hardware: manufacturer, model, chipset, Android version, memory, display modes, available DRM systems with their security level, supported video/audio decoders, audio output and network type; no serial numbers, no unique device identifiers, no addresses) in a ring buffer in the device's memory. Explicitly, NONE of your M3U playlist links, NO EPG source addresses, NO stream or server addresses and NO credentials (username, password, access tokens) are recorded. Before any line is written to the diagnostic buffer at all, it automatically passes through a filter that irreversibly replaces every internet address (URL), server name, IP and MAC address and any credentials with placeholders – when in doubt, it removes too much rather than too little. No personal master data is recorded either. This data is not transmitted automatically. The switch turns itself off automatically after no more than 5 minutes, so no unintended permanent logging can occur; at that point the app saves what has been collected in the same way as an export (see next sentence) on your device and keeps no more than the ten most recent of these files. The most recently saved file can be retrieved via remote support on your own home network. When you actively choose "Export log", or when the switch turns itself off, the buffer content is encrypted (RSA-3072 key wrapping + AES-256-GCM) and written as a .vlog file to your device's Downloads folder. You then decide yourself whether and when to send us this file for troubleshooting. Only we can decrypt it, using the corresponding private key; without this file and without the switch enabled, no diagnostic data is processed at all. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (your consent, given by enabling the switch and voluntarily sending the file). You can turn the switch off again at any time; the memory buffer is then cleared immediately. Retention period: the in-memory buffer only until you disable the switch or close the app; a .vlog file sent to us only for as long as required to handle your support request, then deleted.

5b. Optional per-playlist VPN (WireGuard)
You can optionally import your own WireGuard configuration (.conf / wg-quick) and assign it to individual playlists so that their streaming connection runs through a VPN tunnel. The configuration files come exclusively from you and are stored AES-256-encrypted in the app-private storage of your device; they are not transmitted to our server. The VPN server is operated not by us but by the provider you choose – the data passing through the tunnel is subject to that provider's privacy policy. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (feature requested by you). Retention period: until you delete the respective profile.

5c. Cross-device playback on your home network (mesh)
So that you can resume ongoing playback on another ViPDashPlayer device on the same network, the app registers a service on the local network (Wi-Fi/LAN) via mDNS and looks for other ViPDashPlayer devices. In doing so, only the current playback status (paused/playing), the currently played channel/stream address, the playback position and a device name (device model) are made available within your local network. This data does not leave your local network and is not sent to our servers or any third party. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in convenient cross-device operation within your own network).

5d. Automatic app updates (updates outside the Play Store)
If the app is obtained outside the Google Play Store, on startup and on manual request it retrieves a static version file from our server over an encrypted connection (HTTPS) to check whether a newer version is available. We do not carry out any further processing of personal data in doing so; for server-side logs, section 3 ("Server log files") applies. If a newer version is available, the app can download the matching installation file (APK) over HTTPS; before installation, the signature of the downloaded file is compared with that of the installed app, and the installation only starts after your confirmation via the Android system. This requires the "Install unknown apps" permission (REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR (provision of updates and legitimate interest in security/currency).

5e. Access to local files and recordings
For importing/exporting playlists and backups, for timeshift, and for the optional recording feature (PVR), the app accesses the storage you choose (device, USB, NAS, or SMB network shares you configure). This content remains local on your storage; we have no access to it and do not transmit it. Credentials for SMB network shares you set up and any profile names you create (multi-profile) are likewise stored only locally on your device. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

5f. Note on unencrypted connections
Because you embed your own content/playlists, the player may also establish unencrypted connections (HTTP) to the sources you specify if they do not offer HTTPS. We have no influence over the security of these third-party sources embedded by you. Communication with our own servers (activation, update check, companion app) always takes place encrypted (HTTPS).

5g. Your own receivers, servers and network shares (Enigma2, TVHeadend, SMB, WebDAV)
If you set up one of your own devices as a source – such as an Enigma2 receiver (OpenWebif), a TVHeadend server or an SMB/WebDAV share – the app connects directly from your device to that device and retrieves, for example, channel lists, file or recording lists and the streams themselves. At your request, the app can also create and delete recording timers on an Enigma2 receiver; for this, the channel, airtime, title and description of the programme are sent to that receiver and its timer list is queried. The same applies to a TVHeadend server: at your request, the app can create and delete recordings there; for this, the channel, airtime, title and description of the programme are sent to that server and its list of scheduled recordings is queried. Connections to Enigma2 receivers are restricted to your local network. The address, username and password of these devices are stored only locally on your device (and in encrypted backups you create yourself) and are transmitted only to the respective device; if you use playlist sync, they are additionally transferred to your own PIN-paired devices on your home network. Neither these credentials nor channel lists, file lists or streams are transmitted to us. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (function requested by you).

Photos and music: The app loads photos and music from such a share directly and shows or plays them only on your device. To do so it reads file names and file dates as well as information contained in the files (for photos e.g. orientation and the embedded thumbnail from the EXIF data, for music e.g. title, artist, album and cover art) only locally. If a music track has no cover art in the file, the app asks a UPnP/DLNA media server running on the same device as the share for the album cover (for this it sends a search request into your local network). On your device, thumbnails and cover art are kept in memory only while the app is running; to scale down a photo, a temporary file is briefly created in the app cache and deleted immediately. If the share has write access, the app saves the music cover art it finds as an image file in the “meta” subfolder of the respective music folder on your share, so that it does not have to be searched for again. Nothing is stored permanently on your device and nothing is transmitted to us or third parties. If your photos show other people or your collection contains third-party data, processing it is your own responsibility.

Movie and series posters: If a movie or episode from such a share has no poster, the app looks for one – in this order: existing image files in the movie folder, the poster of a UPnP/DLNA media server running on the same device as the share (for this the app sends a search request into your local network), a cover embedded in the movie file, and finally a still image from the movie. It saves the image as a file in the “meta” subfolder of your share (without write access only in the app storage on your device) and keeps a list there of the images it created itself, so that it can remove them again after a movie is deleted. For the tile of a series, the app takes the series poster from this media server and also saves it in the “meta” subfolder (next to the first episode); without write access only in the app storage on your device. All of this happens solely between your device and your own devices on your home network; nothing is transmitted to us or third parties.

5a. Companion app "VIP Dash Player Manager" (device management)
The separate companion app "VIP Dash Player Manager" is used solely to manage the devices linked to your activation code (view, name and delete devices). Devices bind automatically when the player starts; manually adding or changing the technical device ID is no longer provided.

Device names (aliases): In the app and the web customer portal you can optionally give your devices a freely chosen display name so you don't have to remember the technical device IDs. This name is stored on our server and linked to your license and the respective device so that it is shown both in the app and in the web customer portal. Providing it is optional and the name is freely chosen; please do not enter sensitive or special-category personal data. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of the contract as part of convenient device management). You can change or remove the display name at any time in the app or the customer portal. Retention period: until you remove the name or the associated device is deleted.

Transmitted data: When signing in, your activation code is sent once over a TLS-encrypted connection (HTTPS with certificate pinning) to our server to verify your access. After that, the app manages only your device IDs. The app does not store the activation code permanently, only a random, revocable session token that is stored encrypted on the device using the Android Keystore (AES-256-GCM).

Server-side logging: The time of a device action and your IP address are stored solely as a non-reversible SHA-256 hash – never in plain text. All communication is exclusively encrypted (HTTPS). The app contains no analytics, advertising or tracking components and requires only the INTERNET permission. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of the contract) and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (protection against abuse/multi-use). In addition, we record on your license the time of the first and last app login as well as the number of logins, so that, in the context of support and abuse prevention, we can tell whether and when the management app is used; these markers contain no IP address. Retention period: session tokens expire after 90 days of inactivity and are removed automatically on the server; the device assignment and the aforementioned login markers exist as long as your access is active. Using "Sign out" revokes the session token on the respective device.

Playlist sync between your own devices (local network only):
The app can transfer playlist settings from one of your devices to other devices on the same home network. This feature is off by default and must be switched on explicitly on both devices; in addition, each device is paired once using a six-digit PIN. Only what you explicitly share per playlist is transferred.

The transfer takes place exclusively between your devices. No server of ours is involved, none of this data is transmitted to us or to any third party, and at no point do we have knowledge of or access to it. Both the sending and the receiving device verify before every request that the counterpart holds a private address on the local network; requests from outside are rejected. Without a valid pairing, nothing is handed out.

What is transferred: playlist name and type, EPG settings, hidden and renamed groups, custom super groups and your channel edits. Credentials are handled as follows: for playlist files and self-managed sources — such as a playlist address of your own, local files, network shares or a server you operate yourself — for which you hold the necessary authorisation, the address, username and password are transferred as well, so the playlist works on the target device without re-entering them. Credentials for third-party accounts, such as portals or management panels of external providers, are never transferred — you enter those on each device yourself. Also not transferred: favourites, playback positions, history, profiles, key bindings, appearance, recordings and series timers.

Legal basis and controllership: As this processing takes place solely on your own devices and within your own network, and no data reaches us, we are not the controller within the meaning of Art. 4(7) GDPR in this respect. You can disable the feature at any time or revoke the pairing of individual devices; issuing a new PIN immediately cancels all existing pairings. Retention: the transferred settings remain on the respective device until you delete them there or uninstall the app.

6. Your Rights as a Data Subject
Under the GDPR you have the right at any time to:

• access the data stored about you (Art. 15 GDPR)
• have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16 GDPR)
• have your data erased (Art. 17 GDPR)
• restrict processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
• data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
• object to processing (Art. 21 GDPR)

No automated decision-making producing legal or similarly significant effects within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place. Technical protective measures (e.g. device or login blocks to prevent abuse) are purely rule-based and have no such effect.

To exercise these rights, an informal e-mail to the address listed under section 1 above is sufficient. Alternatively, you can submit your request directly via our GDPR request form. Processing takes place within one month (Art. 12 para. 3 GDPR) and is free of charge.

7. Right to Lodge a Complaint with a Supervisory Authority (Art. 77 GDPR)
You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority at any time if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates the GDPR. The competent authority for our place of business is:

The State Commissioner for Data Protection of Lower Saxony
Prinzenstraße 5
30159 Hannover, Germany
lfd.niedersachsen.de