Terms of Service Privacy Policy Legal Notice

Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 20, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains which personal data may be processed when using RankFlicks and for what purposes such processing takes place.

1. Controller

The controller responsible for data processing is the operator of RankFlicks. Full contact details can be found in the imprint or legal notice of this website.

2. What data may be processed

When using RankFlicks, the following categories of data may be processed:

  • Account data such as email address, username and password hash,
  • confirmations such as accepted terms, age confirmation and email verification,
  • user-generated content such as lists, rankings and related platform content,
  • temporary guest rankings and technical usage milestones such as creating, reordering, signing up and claiming a ranking,
  • technical access data such as IP address, timestamps, browser information and visited pages,
  • session and security-related information such as login state, remember-me tokens and CSRF protection data.

3. Purpose of processing

Data is processed to provide RankFlicks, manage user accounts, secure logins, store rankings and lists, display public content, prevent abuse and maintain platform stability and security.

4. Legal basis

Data processing takes place where necessary to provide the platform and fulfill the user relationship. Security and log data may be processed based on legitimate interests, particularly for platform protection, troubleshooting and abuse prevention. Where consent is required, processing takes place on the basis of such consent.

5. User accounts and email verification

Registration requires an email address. This email address is used to verify the account and send important account-related notifications. Passwords are never stored in plain text and are stored only as password hashes.

6. Public content

Content marked or published as public may be visible to other users and visitors of the platform. This may include public lists, titles, rankings, usernames and related public profile information.

7. External data sources

RankFlicks uses movie, TV show, image and metadata information from external sources, particularly The Movie Database (TMDB). Accessing such content may involve technical communication with external services. RankFlicks is not the operator of these third-party services.

Fonts used by RankFlicks are hosted locally on RankFlicks servers. No dynamic font loading from external providers such as Google Fonts takes place.

8. Cookies and local storage

RankFlicks exclusively uses technically necessary cookies and comparable storage mechanisms. These are used in particular for login sessions, account authentication, security mechanisms such as CSRF protection, optional convenience features such as persistent login (“Remember me”) and language preferences. A technically necessary random guest token associates a ranking that has not yet been permanently saved with this browser.

These technically necessary storage mechanisms are required to provide the platform securely and reliably. At present, RankFlicks does not use marketing, advertising or tracking cookies.

9. Server logs

Technical access information may be stored automatically in server log files. These logs are used for troubleshooting, security and operational stability and are not intended for permanent user monitoring.

10. Data sharing

Personal data is not sold. Data is shared only where necessary for platform operation, required by law or needed to enforce legitimate interests.

11. Retention period

Personal data is stored only for as long as necessary for the stated purposes. Unverified accounts may be deleted after a reasonable period. Unclaimed guest rankings generally expire after 14 days and can be explicitly discarded earlier. Users may request deletion of their account unless legal retention obligations prevent it.

12. User rights

Subject to applicable legal requirements, users may have rights including access, correction, deletion, restriction of processing, portability and objection to certain processing activities. Consent may be withdrawn at any time with future effect.

13. Right to complain

Users may have the right to file a complaint with a competent data protection authority if they believe personal data is processed unlawfully.

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated if RankFlicks, its technical implementation or legal requirements change. The current version is always available on this website.