Who we are
Amateur Buddha is a personal transformation platform run by Swacchanda, based in Germany. The website is amateurbuddha.com, hosted on Infomaniak servers in Switzerland. For any question — including privacy requests — write to hello@amateurbuddha.com.
What we collect and why
We collect the minimum information needed to do the job. Here is exactly what, where, and why.
| What | Where from | Why | Kept for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email address | Companion App login page | To send a one-click login link and maintain your access to the app | Indefinitely — required to honour your access entitlement |
| App access record (which app, when granted) | Companion App login page | To verify your entitlement and grant access on each login | Indefinitely — required to honour your access entitlement |
| A name or preferred form of address + email address | Profiling Tool (Step 4) | To send you your personalised guide | Deleted automatically once your guide is sent, unless you consent to follow-up contact |
| Profiling responses (Steps 1–3) | Profiling Tool | To understand where you are on your journey and prepare a relevant response | Anonymised automatically once your guide is sent. Anonymised responses retained for pattern analysis only |
| Name + email + message | Work With Me application form | To respond to your application and decide if we are a good fit | Up to 2 years from last contact, or until you request deletion — whichever is sooner |
| Email address | Footer subscription form | To send occasional letters from the road | Until you unsubscribe or request deletion |
| Anonymous visit counts | Plausible Analytics — cookieless, no personal data | To understand which pages people find useful — no personal data collected | Aggregate only — no individual records retained |
Legal basis for processing
Under GDPR, every piece of personal data must have a lawful reason for being processed. Here is the basis for each type we collect.
Profiling tool responses and contact details — processed on the basis of consent. You choose to complete the tool and provide your details voluntarily. You can withdraw this consent at any time by writing to me and requesting deletion.
Companion App access — processed on the basis of contract performance under Article 6(1)(b): you request access to an app, and storing your email address is necessary to provide that access through our passwordless login system. Your access record is held indefinitely to honour the terms under which access was granted.
Work With Me application — processed on the basis of pre-contractual steps under Article 6(1)(b): you are taking steps towards a potential working relationship, and processing your message is necessary to respond to that request.
Anonymous analytics — processed on the basis of legitimate interest: understanding aggregate site usage helps improve the experience for all visitors. No personal data is involved.
Cookies and tracking
The main website uses no cookies and no tracking pixels. We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any advertising technology.
When you log in to a Companion App, one session cookie is set to keep you authenticated. This cookie contains no personal information, is not used for tracking or advertising, and is flagged HttpOnly and Secure. It persists on your device until you log out or clear your browser data. If the session expires, a fresh one-click login link restores your access immediately — your entitlement is never affected.
Where your data is stored
This website is hosted by Infomaniak, a Swiss company with data centres in Geneva and Winterthur, Switzerland. Switzerland has an EU adequacy decision for data protection, meaning your data is treated to the same standard as GDPR requires. Your email address and access records are stored in a MySQL database on Infomaniak servers.
Login link emails are sent via Brevo, an EU-based transactional email provider. Brevo receives your email address solely to deliver the one-click login message — it is not used to build a marketing list or send any other communication. Contact and application form submissions are delivered via Infomaniak's own mail infrastructure and are not routed through Brevo.
Anonymous site traffic is measured by Plausible Analytics, a cookieless tool hosted in the EU that collects no personal data.
Anonymisation and aggregation
Over time, we may analyse profiling responses to identify patterns and trends — for example, which life areas people most commonly struggle with, or which themes appear most frequently across responses. This analysis is done on anonymised, aggregated data only: all personal identifiers (name, email, anything that could identify you) are removed before any analysis takes place. We look at what people as a whole are experiencing — never at what you specifically said.
The output of this analysis informs how we develop content, tools, and resources. It is never sold, never shared with third parties, and never used to profile or target individuals.
What we never do
These are hard rules with no exceptions.
We never share your data with advertisers or marketing platforms.
We never use your data for automated profiling or scoring.
We never send you marketing emails without your explicit consent.
We never collect more information than we need.
Your rights
Under GDPR you have the right to:
Access — ask us what personal data we hold about you, and receive a copy of it.
Deletion — ask us to delete all personal data we hold about you. We aim to do so well within 30 days and will confirm by email when it is done.
Correction — ask us to correct any inaccurate information we hold.
Objection — ask us to stop using your data for a specific purpose.
Restriction — ask us to pause processing your data while a concern or dispute is being resolved, without requiring full deletion.
Portability — ask us to provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used format so you can transfer it elsewhere if you wish.
Withdraw consent — where processing is based on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time by writing to me. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before withdrawal.
Complaint — if you feel your data has been handled incorrectly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority. In Germany this is the BfDI, in France the CNIL, in the UK the ICO. A full list of EU supervisory authorities is available at edpb.europa.eu. I would always prefer you write to me first so I can put things right directly.
To exercise any of these rights, write to hello@amateurbuddha.com. I respond to all requests within 30 days.
Beta access — first 100 users
The Companion Apps are currently in a closed beta phase. The first 100 users to access each app receive permanent free access — no payment will ever be required, and access will never be revoked without your request. Your email address and access record are held in our database indefinitely to honour this commitment. This is not a temporary arrangement — it is a permanent entitlement for early users who help shape these tools.
Email communications
Login links — when you enter your email on the Companion App login page, we send a single one-click login link. This is a transactional message only — it is sent exclusively when you request it and contains nothing except the link to access your app.
Letters from the road — occasional newsletter emails are sent only to those who have subscribed via the footer form or explicitly opted in. You can unsubscribe at any time — every email includes an unsubscribe link, or simply write to hello@amateurbuddha.com and we will remove you within a few days.
We will never send you promotional emails for third-party products or services.
Automated decision-making
This website does not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on individuals, as referred to in Article 22 of the GDPR. Your responses are read and considered personally — no algorithm decides anything about you.
Third-party tools
The following tools are currently active on this platform. Each was selected against a privacy-first standard — European data stays in Europe, no advertising business models, no unnecessary data collection.
| Tool | Purpose | Data received | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infomaniak | Web hosting, database, mail infrastructure | All data stored on this platform | Switzerland 🇨🇭 |
| Brevo | Transactional email (login links only) | Email address, app name — for delivery only | EU 🇪🇺 |
| Plausible Analytics | Anonymous site usage — cookieless | No personal data | EU 🇪🇺 |
| Stripe (not yet live) | Payment processing | Payment and billing details — handled directly by Stripe, never stored on our servers | EU/US |
This policy will be updated when Stripe is activated or any new tool is added.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle data in a meaningful way, we will update this page and note the date below. We will not notify you by email for minor wording updates, only for material changes.
Questions or requests?
Write to hello@amateurbuddha.com — I read and reply to every message personally.
Last updated: June 2026 · Owner: Swacchanda · amateurbuddha.com