Privacy Policy
Last updated: 7 November 2026
1. Who We Are
VidiPreneur is the online academy of MERKBAST Consulting.
The controller responsible for processing your personal data is:
Dr. Andreas A. Bastian
Sole proprietor trading as MERKBAST Consulting
Färberweg 74
55128 Mainz
Germany
Email: info@vidipreneur.com
This Privacy Policy explains how we process personal data when you visit our website, contact us, register an account or use our Academy.
2. Website Hosting & Security
We use Wix to host and operate our website and Academy. Where Wix processes website visitor and member data on our behalf, it acts as a processor under its Data Processing Addendum.
When you visit the website, technical data may be processed, including your IP address, browser and device information, requested pages, access times and error or security logs.
We use this information to deliver the website, maintain its functionality and protect it against misuse. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in providing a secure and reliable website under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Processing necessary to provide your account or course is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Information about Wix’s processing and service providers is available here:
3. Contact Enquiries
When you contact us by email or through a contact form, we process the information you provide. This may include your name, email address, organisation, professional title and the contents of your message.
We use this information to respond to your enquiry and manage related correspondence.
Processing relating to a potential or existing contract is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Other enquiries are processed on the basis of our legitimate interest in responding to communications under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
Required fields are identified in the relevant form. Additional information is voluntary. Without the necessary contact details, we may be unable to respond.
Please do not include patient data or unnecessary personal information about other people in your messages.
We use Google Workspace, purchased through Wix, to send, receive and store email correspondence. Email content, sender and recipient details, attachments and associated technical information are processed through this service. We also access correspondence on our devices for the purposes described in this section.
4. Registration & Member Accounts
VidiPreneur’s standard Academy courses are free for individual learners. Registration is required to access the learning environment.
We process the registration information you provide, your account identifier, authentication information and any optional profile information to create and administer your account, authenticate access, manage enrolments and send necessary service communications.
Processing necessary to provide your account and courses is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Processing necessary to prevent misuse and protect account security is based on our legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
Registration does not automatically subscribe you to newsletters or authorise disclosure of your information to sponsors for marketing. Optional marketing choices are separate from your account and course access.
Profile visibility
Member profiles are private. Participants cannot make their profiles public, and their profile pages are not visible to other members or website visitors. We process account and profile information to administer membership and provide the Academy services described in this policy.
Google sign-in
If you choose an external sign-in option offered on the registration page, information is exchanged with the selected provider to authenticate you and create or access your account. This can include an account identifier, name, email address and profile information authorised through that provider.
The provider also receives information about your use of its sign-in service and processes data under its own privacy policy:
5. Course Participation
We process enrolment and learning records to provide course access, save progress, administer quizzes and determine whether the published completion requirements have been met.
These records may include lesson completion, quiz responses, scores, attempts and certificate information. The legal basis for processing necessary to provide these functions is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Unless expressly stated otherwise before enrolment, course access lasts for six months from enrolment in the individual program. Expiry of course access does not automatically delete your member account or all associated records. Account, learning and certificate records are subject to the retention criteria in Section 14.
6. Institutional Programmes & Paid Services
Standard individual course participation does not require payment details.
If you enquire about or enter into an agreement for an institutional programme, sponsorship, advertising, consulting or another paid service, we process the contact, contractual and billing information necessary to handle that relationship.
This may include names, professional contact details, organisation, service scope, correspondence, invoices and payment status.
Processing necessary for an agreement with you is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Where you act as a contact person for an organisation, processing is generally based on our legitimate interests in managing that business relationship under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Statutory accounting and tax records are processed under Article 6(1)(c) GDPR.
Where an institution commissions a participant programme, any identifiable enrolment, progress or completion reporting will be explained to the participants concerned, together with its purpose and legal basis. Institutional funding alone does not authorise unrestricted access to learner records.
7. Newsletter & Marketing Communications
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we process your email address and any optional information you provide to send Academy updates, course announcements and relevant entrepreneurship news. Newsletters may also contain clearly identified sponsor messages or partner opportunities.
Subscription is optional. The legal basis is your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR.
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link provided in each newsletter or by contacting info@vidipreneur.com. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Necessary account, security and course-access communications are separate from marketing subscriptions.
A VidiPreneur newsletter subscription does not authorise sponsors to receive your email address or send their own marketing communications.
8. Cookies & Privacy Preferences
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to support functions such as account access, session management and privacy preferences.
Storage or access that is strictly necessary to provide a service you expressly request may take place under Section 25(2) TDDDG. Optional storage or access requires consent under Section 25(1) TDDDG.
For associated personal-data processing, the GDPR legal basis depends on the purpose: contract performance, legitimate interests or consent.
For Details visit our Cookie Policy page.
9. Website Analytics
Wix Analytics
We use Wix Analytics to understand how visitors use our website and to improve its content and navigation. Depending on the enabled functions, this may involve page visits, interactions, referral information and technical device information.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to analyse website usage and improve our website. The service processes information such as pages visited, interactions, referral sources, device information and online identifiers.
For optional analytics processing, the legal basis is consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and, where information is stored on or accessed from your device, Section 25(1) TDDDG.
Further information is available in Google’s information about partner sites and apps.
10. Video Delivery & Spam Protection
Our course videos are hosted and delivered through Wix. When you play a video, Wix and its service providers process technical information needed to deliver the content, such as your IP address, browser and device information, and playback requests.
Processing necessary to provide enrolled participants with course videos is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Processing necessary to deliver publicly accessible videos and maintain reliable playback is based on our legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Optional analytics are addressed separately in Section 9.
Spam protection
We use Google reCAPTCHA through Wix to protect registration and form submissions against spam, automated abuse and unauthorised activity. This service may process your IP address, browser and device information, and interaction signals to assess whether an interaction is automated.
Processing necessary and proportionate to protect these functions is based on our legitimate interest in maintaining a secure website under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Where consent is required for particular processing or access to information on your device, we obtain that consent before the relevant activity.
Information stored on or accessed from your device is subject to the rules described in Section 8. International processing and retention are addressed in Sections 13 and 14. Provider information is available through the Wix privacy and sub-processor links in Section 2.
11. AI-supported Content Production
VidiPreneur uses AI tools to support the creation of educational and website content, including writing, visuals, AI-generated presenters and synthetic voices.
When using AI tools to create educational and website content, we do not include personal data from website visitors or Academy participants in the materials we submit to those tools.
Further information about our editorial process is available on our Content & AI Transparency page.
12. Who Receives Personal Data?
We disclose personal data only where permitted by applicable data protection law and necessary for a purpose explained in this policy, or where you request a disclosure or give valid consent.
Service providers supporting the Academy, such as hosting, platform and communication providers, receive only the information necessary for their services. Where they process data on our behalf, appropriate data-processing agreements apply.
We do not share participant information with sponsors or partners for their own marketing unless the participant has given specific consent. If you request an introduction, we explain the recipient, information and purpose before sharing it.
Personal data may also be disclosed where required by law or necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Sponsors
Sponsorship does not automatically give sponsors access to participants’ names, email addresses, account details, learning records or project materials.
Reports provided to sponsors will use aggregated, anonymised information. We will not describe information as anonymous if individuals can reasonably be identified from it.
Requested Introductions
If you ask us to introduce you to a particular sponsor or partner, we will identify the recipient, information to be shared and purpose before you submit the request.
We use the information to arrange the introduction or handle the enquiry you requested. The applicable legal basis will be explained at the point of collection.
Requesting an introduction does not automatically subscribe you to the recipient’s newsletter or ongoing marketing.
Sponsor Marketing
Where we offer an option to share your information with a sponsor for its own marketing, we request separate consent identifying the sponsor, the information involved and the purpose.
The legal basis for sharing on this basis is Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. Consent is optional and may be withdrawn without affecting your free Academy access.
The sponsor is responsible for its subsequent processing and must provide its own privacy information. Any ongoing email marketing requires the applicable permission.
Institutional Reporting
Identifiable reports to universities, incubators, accelerators or other institutions require a defined purpose and appropriate legal basis. We explain the relevant reporting arrangements to affected participants before the reporting takes place.
13. International Data Transfers
We use Wix to operate the website and Academy and Google Workspace for email correspondence. These services involve providers and subprocessors that may process personal data outside the European Economic Area, including in Israel and the United States.
Wix
Wix.com Ltd. is based in Israel. Transfers to Israel may rely on the European Commission’s adequacy decision. Wix also uses affiliated companies and subprocessors in other countries. Where an applicable adequacy decision does not cover a transfer, Wix’s data-processing terms provide for appropriate safeguards, including the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses and supplementary measures where necessary.
Further information is available in the Wix Data Processing Addendum and the Wix subprocessor list.
Google Workspace
Email correspondence processed through Google Workspace may be processed outside the European Economic Area. The applicable transfer arrangements are described in Google’s data-processing terms and include adequacy decisions or appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, depending on the transfer.
Further information is available in Google’s Cloud Data Processing Addendum.
Other Google services mentioned in this policy, including Google sign-in, reCAPTCHA and Google Analytics where enabled, have service-specific processing and transfer arrangements. The Google Workspace terms do not automatically cover those separate services.
You may contact info@vidipreneur.com for further information about transfers affecting your personal data and to request a copy of the applicable safeguards, subject to necessary redactions.
14. Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for its stated purpose, taking account of applicable legal obligations and the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Course access normally ends six months after enrolment. This does not automatically delete your member account or all associated records.
Member accounts
Accounts are reviewed after 24 months of inactivity, provided no course access remains active. Before deleting an inactive account, we notify the participant using the registered email address and allow 30 days to keep the account active.
Learning records
Detailed learning records, including quiz responses, attempts and lesson progress, are deleted or anonymised 12 months after the applicable course access ends, unless continued retention is necessary to resolve an outstanding issue or meet a legal obligation.
Certificate records
We retain a minimal certificate record, including the participant’s name, course, completion date and certificate identifier, for five years after completion to support replacement and verification. At the end of that period, we review the record and delete it unless a documented continuing purpose justifies further retention.
Enquiries and chat messages
General enquiries and chat correspondence are deleted 12 months after the matter is resolved, unless they form part of a contractual relationship, unresolved dispute or another matter requiring continued retention.
Newsletters and optional sponsor contact
Newsletter contact information is retained while the subscription remains active. After withdrawal, we stop marketing and retain only the limited information necessary to document consent, demonstrate compliance or respect the
unsubscribe request.
Information relating to requested sponsor introductions is retained until the introduction and any related follow-up are complete. It is then subject to the retention rules for enquiries or contractual correspondence, as applicable.
Contracts and accounting records
Contracts, invoices and accounting records are retained for the statutory periods applicable to the particular record. Information required for an unresolved legal claim may be retained until the matter is concluded and any applicable retention requirement ends.
Technical logs and backups
Technical logs and backup copies follow the applicable provider retention and deletion schedules. Deletion from active systems may occur before residual copies are removed from backups. Such copies remain protected and are not used for ordinary business purposes.
Review and deletion requests
We review records due for deletion quarterly. Where a retention period expires between reviews, deletion or anonymisation takes place during the next quarterly review.
You may request deletion by contacting info@vidipreneur.com. We assess requests under applicable data protection law and explain any information that must be retained and why. Account deletion may remove saved progress and access to account functions.
15. Your Rights
Subject to the applicable legal conditions, you have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability.
Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This does not affect processing carried out lawfully before withdrawal.
Where processing is based on legitimate interests, you may object on grounds relating to your particular situation. You may object to processing for direct marketing at any time.
To exercise your rights, contact info@vidipreneur.com.
You may also lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, particularly in the country of your habitual residence, place of work or the alleged infringement.
Our local supervisory authority is:
Der Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit
Rheinland-Pfalz, Postfach 30 40, 55020 Mainz, Germany.
Website: https://www.datenschutz.rlp.de
Email: poststelle@datenschutz.rlp.de
16. Automated decision-making
We do not make decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that produce legal effects or similarly significantly affect participants within the meaning of Article 22 GDPR.
Quizzes are graded automatically. Results determine lesson progression and whether the published requirements for a Certificate of Completion have been met.
These functions support self-paced learning; they do not determine admission to education, employment, funding or other comparable opportunities.
If you believe an automated quiz result or progression restriction is incorrect, please contact info@vidipreneur.com so we can investigate the technical or administrative issue.
17. Changes to this Policy
We update this policy when our services or processing activities change. The date at the beginning identifies the current version.
Where required, we will provide additional information or request consent before introducing a new processing purpose.
Changes to this policy do not retrospectively create consent to sponsor marketing or other optional processing.