Privacy

Privacy Policy

This English version is provided for convenience. The German version is authoritative.

Last updated: 30 August 2026
Privacy notice version: 2026-08-30.3

1. Controller

The controller responsible for processing personal data on this website is:

Stefan Grau
Keselstraße 30B
87435 Kempten
Germany

2. Principles of data processing

This website presents the Anthropological Rationality Model (ARM-3) and provides the ARM-3 test instrument. Personal data is processed only insofar as necessary for the technical operation of the website, provision and evaluation of the test, security of the service, or compliance with legal obligations.

In the current version, the ARM-3 theme and ARM-3 test plugin use no advertising trackers, marketing cookies, or embedded social-media trackers. The website is hosted by IONOS; the hosting and WebAnalytics functions used there by default are described separately below.

3. Hosting by IONOS

This website is hosted by:

IONOS SE
Elgendorfer Str. 57
56410 Montabaur
Germany

When the website is accessed, IONOS processes technical access data as part of web hosting. According to the current information provided by IONOS, this includes in particular the referrer, requested webpage or file, browser type and browser version, operating system used, device type, time of access, and the IP address in anonymized form.

IONOS states that the IP address is anonymized upon collection and that visitor data is retained for 8 weeks. Processing serves in particular the security and stability of the website and its technical delivery.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the secure, stable, and functional operation of this website.

Where IONOS processes personal data on our behalf, this is based on a data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR.

4. IONOS WebAnalytics

IONOS WebAnalytics is activated by default as part of IONOS web hosting. According to IONOS, data is collected via log files or a pixel. WebAnalytics does not use cookies.

When a page is accessed, the IP address is technically transmitted but anonymized immediately after transmission. IONOS states that WebAnalytics does not store personal data of website visitors. Data collected includes in particular referrers, accessed pages or files, browser and operating-system information, device type, access time, and an anonymized IP address. The data is used for statistical analysis and technical optimization of the website.

Where personal data is processed in the underlying technical process, the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the technical optimization and statistical assessment of the website.

5. ARM-3 test

The ARM-3 test may be completed voluntarily on this website. It includes cognitive tasks, self-assessments, situational decisions, and confidence ratings for individual judgments. These inputs are used to calculate various ARM-3 scores and a result profile according to predefined rules.

5.1 Local storage in the browser

During completion of the test, the ARM-3 test plugin stores the current test state in the local storage of your browser (localStorage). This includes in particular progress, entered responses, confidence ratings, instrument and scoring versions, and, after evaluation, the calculated result. If you select the voluntary research consent, your consent choice and the pseudonymous Research ID assigned to the test run are also stored locally so that the run can be technically associated and a later withdrawal can be handled.

Local storage is used to retain the current test state on your device and to prevent unintended loss of progress, for example after reloading the page. The data generally remains on your device until it is deleted.

You can delete ARM-3 data using the “Restart test” or “Restart” function within the test. It can also be deleted via your browser’s website or browsing-data controls. In the current version, local storage has no automatic expiration date.

Where § 25 TDDDG applies, storage occurs because it is necessary to provide the test service expressly requested by the user (§ 25(2)(2) TDDDG). Where personal data is processed, the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the technically stable and user-friendly provision of the test.

5.2 Server-side evaluation

After the test is completed, the responses required for evaluation are transmitted through a REST interface to the same WordPress server on which this website is operated. The ARM-3 scoring engine processes the inputs there and returns the calculated result to the browser.

This server-side processing takes place regardless of whether you consent to research use. Without research consent, the ARM-3 plugin uses the submitted test data only to calculate the result you requested and does not create a permanent ARM-3 research record in the dedicated WordPress research table. This is distinct from technically required IONOS hosting and server logs described in sections 3 and 4.

For the public display of research progress, a successfully completed evaluation only increments an aggregate counter of test runs. No test responses, Research ID, IP address, browser identifier, or WordPress user ID are stored for or linked to this counter. The number of validation datasets is determined separately from the voluntarily stored research records.

The legal basis for processing required for immediate test evaluation is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is to technically evaluate the test initiated by you and to protect the integrity of the server-side scoring logic.

6. Voluntary research use and validation

Before starting the test, you may voluntarily consent to your test responses and the ARM-3 results calculated from them being stored permanently in pseudonymous form in a research database and statistically evaluated for the scientific validation and further development of the ARM-3 model. The test can be completed and fully evaluated without giving this consent. The checkbox is not selected by default.

6.1 Research data processed

If you consent, the data stored includes in particular: responses to the 94 test tasks including confidence ratings; calculated raw, dimension, mechanism, state and archetype values; primary type and subtype; presentation language, source language and translation mode; instrument, scoring and plugin versions; time of collection; approximate completion duration; and the versions of the consent text and privacy notice.

A random Research ID is generated for each consenting test run. The ARM-3 research table does not store your name, email address, WordPress user ID, IP address, or user-agent string as research variables. The Research ID provides a pseudonymous reference and allows a record to be located and deleted if consent is later withdrawn.

Pseudonymisation is not the same as complete anonymisation. The stored test data is therefore still treated as protected personal data.

6.2 Purpose and legal basis

The research data is used exclusively for methodological assessment, psychometric validation, analysis of scale and item structure, examination of type and subtype distributions, testing of model hypotheses, assessment of language differences between the editorial German, English, and Spanish instrument versions and exploratory analysis of separately flagged machine-translated presentations, and development of future ARM-3 instrument versions.

The legal basis is your voluntary consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. The consent is documented together with its version and timestamp. Refusing consent has no disadvantage for use of the test.

6.3 Withdrawal

You may withdraw your research consent at any time with effect for the future. After storage, your Research ID is displayed in the result area. To withdraw consent, send this Research ID to info@arm-3.com. The corresponding pseudonymous research record will then be deleted from the ARM-3 research table unless statutory grounds require continued retention.

Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out on the basis of consent before withdrawal. If research data has previously been irreversibly anonymised and can no longer be associated with a Research ID, subsequent person-related deletion of that anonymised dataset is no longer technically possible.

6.4 Recipients and technical processing

ARM-3 research data is stored within this website’s WordPress database. As part of hosting, IONOS as processor may technically have access to the hosted infrastructure. Pseudonymous ARM-3 test data is not disclosed to advertising networks or used for marketing purposes.

7. Automated evaluation

ARM-3 evaluation is performed automatically using predefined mathematical and rule-based scoring procedures. It serves solely to present a theoretical ARM-3 profile and does not result in a decision producing legal effects or similarly significant effects on the data subject. Therefore, no automated decision-making within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

The ARM-3 test plugin uses browser local storage exclusively as described in section 5.1. In the current version, the ARM-3 theme and ARM-3 test plugin do not set marketing or advertising cookies.

According to IONOS, IONOS WebAnalytics does not use cookies. WordPress may use technically necessary cookies in administrative areas or for logged-in users, particularly for login and website administration.

If additional WordPress plugins or external services are used in the future, we will assess whether they use additional cookies or similar technologies and whether consent is required.

9. Fonts and external resources

The ARM-3 theme uses only fonts provided by the visitor’s operating system or device. No connection is made to Google Fonts or another external font provider for this purpose.

The theme also disables WordPress emoji integration on the public frontend to avoid unnecessary external resource requests.

9a. Optional machine translation via Google Translate

In addition to the editorial German, English, and Spanish versions, further languages can be selected through the globe icon. These additional language presentations are generated on demand by machine translation from the English reference version. The translation service is not loaded during an ordinary visit to a German, English, or Spanish page; it is loaded only when the global language selector is actively opened or a machine-translated target language has already been requested.

Providing machine translation establishes a connection to Google Translate. Text visible on the displayed page may be transmitted to Google for translation processing. A functional googtrans cookie may also be set to retain the selected target language technically. ARM-3 does not use this function for advertising or profiling.

Machine-translated test presentations do not alter ARM-3 scoring logic: calculation and evaluation continue to use the English reference instrument. Research datasets store presentation language, source language, and translation mode separately. Machine translations are exploratory language presentations and have not been separately validated for linguistic or psychometric equivalence.

10. External links

This website contains links to external scientific sources, particularly PubMed and other information services. Merely accessing our website does not establish a connection to the respective destination through ordinary text links. Only when you actively open an external link do you leave our website. The privacy provisions of the respective provider then apply to subsequent data processing.

11. Encrypted connection

This website is transmitted over an encrypted HTTPS connection. An encrypted connection can generally be recognized by the website address beginning with “https://”.

12. Storage period

Personal data is generally processed only for as long as necessary for the respective purpose or as required by statutory retention obligations.

IONOS states a retention period of 8 weeks for visitor data collected as part of web hosting. The ARM-3 test state stored locally in the browser currently has no automatic expiration date and can be deleted using the restart function of the test or browser controls.

Pseudonymous ARM-3 research records stored on the basis of your consent are retained for validation and methodological development for a maximum of five years from collection, unless they are deleted earlier following withdrawal or irreversibly anonymised for scientific analysis. After that period, research records that remain personally linkable through the Research ID are deleted or irreversibly anonymised.

13. Your rights

Where the statutory requirements are met, you have in particular the right of access under Art. 15 GDPR, rectification under Art. 16 GDPR, erasure under Art. 17 GDPR, restriction of processing under Art. 18 GDPR, data portability under Art. 20 GDPR, and objection to processing under Art. 21 GDPR.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time with effect for the future. For voluntary ARM-3 research use, you can do so by contacting info@arm-3.com and providing the Research ID shown in your test result.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority regarding the processing of your personal data. To exercise your rights, you may contact info@arm-3.com.

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy will be updated if the technical functionality of the website, the ARM-3 test instrument, the services used, or legal requirements change. The version published on this website at the relevant time applies.