Privacy Policy

gricker.eu is operated by Smitteck GmbH (Switzerland). We respect your privacy and collect as little data as possible.

What we collect

gricker.eu is a public directory. Browsing and searching it does not require an account, and we do not sell personal data. Standard server logs (IP address, request time, user agent) may be retained briefly for security and abuse prevention.

Where your data is stored

The site runs entirely on Google Cloud in Europe. The application (Google Cloud Run) and its database (Google Cloud Firestore) are hosted in the europe-west6 region — Zurich, Switzerland. Meaning-based search uses Google Vertex AI in the EU (europe-west4, the Netherlands) to turn a query into a vector; the query is processed there and is not linked to your identity. Cloudflare provides DNS, CDN and security as a global edge network, so requests pass through Cloudflare before reaching our European servers.

Search queries

When you search, your query is sent to our server — and, for meaning-based matches, to Vertex AI in the EU — to return results. Queries are not tied to your identity and are not stored to build a profile of you.

Analytics & cookies

We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to understand, in aggregate, how the directory is used — which pages are viewed, roughly where from, and on what kind of device. It sets no cookies, does no fingerprinting, and cannot follow you across sites or sessions, so there is nothing here to ask your consent for and no cookie banner to click. Cloudflare acts as our data processor.

Google Analytics was removed on 9 September 2026. It set cookies and sent usage data to a US processor, which sits badly with a directory of European alternatives — so we stopped using it rather than adding a consent banner. Your light/dark theme choice and chosen language are stored locally in your browser and never leave it. Choosing a language additionally sets a googtrans cookie, which is what tells the translation widget which language you picked.

Page translation

The language selector (top-right) uses Google Translate. Only if you actively pick a language is the page content sent to Google for translation, subject to Google’s privacy policy. Leave it on the original language and nothing is sent to Google.

Suggestions & feedback

If you suggest a tool or send feedback, what you enter is stored in our EU Firestore database and emailed to the site operator for review. The forms don’t ask for your email address, so we can’t reply.

Third-party links

Listings link to external tools and to the directories that catalog them. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we do not control.

Governing law

gricker.eu is operated by Smitteck GmbH, Switzerland, under the law of Switzerland (Canton of Zurich). It is a free, informational directory; we don’t offer email support and there is no contact address for general enquiries.