Privacy Policy
1. Who is responsible?
Annegret Widmer and Heiko Hütter are jointly responsible for the processing of personal data described in this policy.
Contact both controllers at:
c/o Annegret Widmer
Mühlstraße 3
72770 Reutlingen, Germany
Email: hello@bestoption.io
Telephone: +49 7121 7550727
You may exercise your data protection rights against either controller. Our shared contact address is available for questions and requests concerning the website and app.
We jointly carry out all data protection tasks, including operating and securing the service, handling data protection requests, meeting information obligations and carrying out deletion. We make the relevant decisions together. Our shared contact address coordinates requests; this does not limit your right to contact either controller directly.
2. What this policy covers
This policy describes how we process personal data when you visit bestoption.io, use the Best Option app at app.bestoption.io, create or take part in polls, manage lists, or contact us. It covers account use and participation without an account. A name entered without signing in may still be personal data.
Best Option is free to use. Data required for a particular function is needed to provide that function; for example, account functions require authentication, and sending a notification requires delivery information. Optional analytics and push notifications are not required to use the core service.
3. Hosting, delivery and security
We use Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL, 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy, 1855 Luxembourg (AWS), to host the website and app, store app data and files, and send service emails through Amazon SES. Our selected AWS region for regional application hosting and storage is Frankfurt, Germany (eu-central-1). We also use Amazon CloudFront to deliver content through a global network.
When you access the service, technical data such as your IP address, request time, requested resource, browser information and error information is processed to deliver content, prevent misuse and investigate faults. Providing functions you request is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR; protecting and maintaining the service is based on our legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Connections use transport encryption.
4. Accounts and sign-in with Auth0
We use Auth0, an Okta service, to authenticate users. Our Auth0 tenant is hosted in the EU region. We have concluded a Data Processing Addendum covering this service. Depending on your sign-in method, Auth0 processes account identifiers, email address, profile information supplied during sign-in, authentication information, and technical login/security information. We use your account identifier to associate your app data and settings with your account.
This processing is necessary to provide your requested account functions under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Security-related processing is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. If you choose an external sign-in provider, that provider also processes the sign-in under its own terms and privacy information. Deleting your Best Option account does not delete an independently held account with that provider.
5. Polls, votes, lists, images and BoardGameGeek
We process the content you enter or upload, including poll titles and options, votes and display names, lists, images, preferences and associated timestamps, to provide the functions you request. This is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Content you make available through a shared poll can be viewed by people with access to that poll. Do not include personal information you do not want those people to see.
If you use a BoardGameGeek (BGG) feature, we process the username or search information you supply and retrieve the requested game or collection information from BGG. App-side cached BGG data may be associated with your account. Where an external image is loaded directly from another provider, that provider receives the request and technical connection data. Copies of external files remain subject to the original provider’s control.
We may generate previews when poll links are shared. These previews can include poll content such as its title. Services where you share a link may cache a preview independently.
Using Best Option in Claude or ChatGPT. You can connect Best Option to an AI assistant such as Claude (Anthropic) or ChatGPT (OpenAI). If you do, the assistant you chose sends us requests on your behalf and receives our answers, which can contain poll titles, options, display names, results and lists that you have access to. Anthropic or OpenAI processes this data, and everything you type in the chat, under its own terms and privacy policy; it is not our processor. We do not receive or store your conversation, only the requests the assistant makes to Best Option. If you sign in, Auth0 issues the assistant an access token for your Best Option account. Requests are processed as described in this policy (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). Our logs of these requests record the action, the assistant’s client identifier, whether you were signed in, the duration and the result, but no names, scores or option texts.
You can disconnect Best Option at any time in your assistant’s settings (Claude: Settings → Connectors; ChatGPT: Settings → Apps & Connectors). After that, the assistant no longer sends requests to Best Option on your behalf. If you also want us to revoke the access it was granted, write to hello@bestoption.io. Polls and lists you created through the assistant stay in your account until you delete them or your account.
6. Notifications, contact and reports
We use your email address and notification preferences to send requested service notifications. We process notification data to provide the requested function under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Web push is optional. If you enable it, we store a push subscription endpoint and associated encryption keys so that notifications can reach your browser or device. We process this optional subscription based on your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. You can withdraw it through the app’s notification controls or your browser/device permissions. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal.
Push messages are sent using the push service selected by your browser/platform, which may be operated by Mozilla, Google or Apple. The Web Push payload is encrypted, but delivery providers still process technical delivery information. Our outgoing messages request a delivery lifetime of 60 seconds; this is not a limit on every provider’s logs. For example, Mozilla states that its push service stores IP addresses for 90 days. Provider processing can take place outside the EU. See Mozilla’s Web Push information and Apple’s Web Push documentation.
When you contact us or report content, we process your message, supplied contact details, relevant content references and, where applicable, your account identifier. We use these to answer requests, investigate reports and protect users. The basis is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR for service-related requests, Article 6(1)(f) GDPR for general enquiries and abuse prevention, or Article 6(1)(c) GDPR where a legal obligation applies. Reports may also reach our support mailbox.
7. Cookies, browser storage and Complianz
We use the Complianz plugin installed in our WordPress environment to manage cookie choices on the website. Your choice is stored in first-party cookies in your browser; we do not use a hosted Complianz subscription to collect visitor consent records. The consent-choice cookies expire after 30 days unless you renew your choice or delete them earlier. You can review or change your choice using “Manage consent”. Necessary storage supports functions you request, such as remembering privacy choices or maintaining an authenticated session. Access to or storage on your device that is strictly necessary for a requested service falls under section 25(2) TDDDG; other access requires consent under section 25(1) TDDDG. We process consent choices to meet our obligations concerning consent under Article 6(1)(c) GDPR. Session and other necessary app storage serves the requested functions under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Optional analytics is described below. Further cookie information is available in our Cookie Policy.
The app also uses browser storage for session information, preferences, the last name used for voting and unfinished voting drafts. You can remove this data through your browser settings; doing so may sign you out or reset preferences. Old voting drafts are discarded when the app next checks them after 30 days. We cannot remotely erase local data on a device that does not reconnect.
8. Website analytics with Matomo
We use self-hosted Matomo to understand use of the website, such as page views, referrals, browser/device characteristics and approximate location. Analytics uses cookies when you permit the statistics category. The legal basis is your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and section 25(1) TDDDG. You can withdraw consent using “Manage consent”. We shorten IP addresses by two bytes and use the shortened address for location estimation. This reduces identifiability but is not a guarantee of complete anonymisation. Matomo data is stored in our hosting environment, where our hosting processor also processes it. Analytics cookies, visit data and reports are retained for no more than 30 days.
9. Retention and account deletion
We retain the account profile, settings and saved app content needed for your ongoing account until you delete that content or your account. Other data under our control that cannot be assigned to a registered user is retained for no more than 30 days from collection. Routine technical logs are retained for no more than 30 days, including where a log can be linked to an account. A shorter period applies where the data is no longer needed. Any exceptional retention required by law or necessary for a specific legal claim is limited to the affected data and purpose.
You can delete your account in Settings → Delete account or at app.bestoption.io/settings#delete-account. After your confirmation and successful completion, the deletion is irreversible and removes your owned polls and their votes, your lists, your profile/settings, push subscriptions, account-associated BGG cache and your Auth0 login. Uploaded images are removed where no remaining reference requires them. Referenced copies are subject to the retention and rights rules in this policy.
For votes associated with your account in another person’s poll, the account link is removed and the displayed name is replaced with “Deleted User” or a numbered variant. The vote content initially remains. This name change alone does not guarantee that the vote is no longer personal data. Votes without login, and some older votes created before September 2026, cannot be matched to your account and are not removed by the account-deletion operation itself.
The account-deletion operation also does not itself erase previously submitted reports, already delivered emails or push notifications, independent recipients’ copies, or every cached preview and backup. These residual personal data under our control are removed through separate deletion processes within 30 days of account deletion. Personal data not attributable to a registered user, including guest votes, is subject to the 30-day limit from collection described above. This limit covers our report records and mailbox copies, cached previews, unneeded image copies and backup copies. It does not provide for remote deletion of copies held independently by recipients or for shortening the separate retention periods of browser/platform providers described in section 6. Where backups are restored, previously requested deletions must be reapplied before the data returns to normal use. Contact us if a remaining vote, report or image contains your personal data, including where you did not have an account. We may need sufficient information to locate it and verify your request.
Deletion can fail partway through if a required service is unavailable. If the app reports an error, follow its instructions or contact us so that the remaining deletion can be completed.
10. Recipients and international processing
Data is processed by the service providers needed for the functions described above and is shared with people to whom you make content available. We may disclose specific data where legally required or necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Using AWS Frankfurt and an EU Auth0 tenant does not mean all processing takes place exclusively in the EU. Global content delivery, support, subprocessors and browser push services may involve other countries, including the United States. Applicable transfer safeguards depend on the recipient and processing.
Our arrangements with AWS and Auth0 include Data Processing Addenda. For transfers covered by those arrangements to countries without an applicable adequacy decision, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses provide the relevant contractual safeguards, together with applicable technical and organisational measures. Information about these safeguards is available from AWS and Okta. You may contact us for information on safeguards applicable to your data.
11. Your rights
Subject to the conditions of the GDPR, you can request access to your personal data, correction, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability. You can withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future. You may object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to processing based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. You can object to direct marketing at any time.
Contact either controller using the details above. These rights are available even if you do not have a registered account. You may also complain to a data protection supervisory authority, particularly in the country where you live or work or where the alleged infringement occurred.
12. Changes
We update this policy when our processing changes. The published version will show its effective date. Where a change requires a new choice or consent, we will request it through the relevant service.