This is a personal academic website. This note explains what happens with your data when you visit it. There is no form and no sign-up here, so the only data I receive is what the hosting and analytics services below collect. The resources on this site download without asking you for anything.
Hosting. This site is hosted by Netlify (Netlify, Inc., San Francisco, USA). Netlify processes technical data such as your IP address in server logs to deliver the site and is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
Analytics. This site uses Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited, Dublin, and Google LLC, USA) to see which pages are read and roughly where visitors come from. Google Analytics stores two cookies in your browser, _ga and _ga_PLN6XH8NZN. They hold a randomly generated identifier and expire two years after your most recent visit. That identifier is what lets repeat visits from the same browser count as one visitor rather than several. Alongside it, Google Analytics processes your shortened IP address, the pages you view, and a coarse location derived from that address. Advertising features and cross-device tracking are switched off. Data may be processed on Google servers outside the EU under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. I use this data to understand how the site is used, which is my legitimate interest under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
There is no cookie banner on this site. Instead, the switch below turns analytics off for your browser and deletes the two cookies named above. It takes effect immediately, you can use it at any time, and I do not ask you for a reason.
Your choice is remembered in this browser only. If you clear your browser storage, you will need to set it again.
Other things stored in your browser. Apart from the analytics cookies above, this site keeps three small values on your device: your analytics choice from the switch above (ga-opt-out), your light or dark theme preference (pref-theme), and the scroll position of the navigation menu (menu-scroll-position). These never leave your browser, are never sent to me or to anyone else, and exist only so the site behaves the way you left it. You can clear them at any time through your browser settings.
If you email me. If you write to me, I process your address, your name, and whatever you put in the message so that I can answer you. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in replying to enquiries (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), and, where your message concerns an agreement or its preparation, Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. I do not pass these messages on, and I delete them once the matter is settled, unless I am required to keep them.
Links to other sites. This site links to places I do not run, such as Google Scholar, SSRN, ORCID, GitHub, and the WHU website. Once you follow such a link, that operator processes your data under its own privacy policy, and I have no control over what it does.
Retention. Analytics data is deleted by Google after the retention period set in my account. I delete emails you send me once the matter they concern is settled, unless I am required to keep them.
Your rights. Under the GDPR you can request access to your data (Art. 15), correction (Art. 16), deletion (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), a copy in portable form (Art. 20), and you can object to processing based on legitimate interest (Art. 21). You can also complain to a data protection supervisory authority; for me that is the Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Rheinland-Pfalz.
No automated decision-making. I do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling.
Providing data is voluntary. Nothing on this site requires you to give me personal data, and no content is withheld if you do not.
Contact. Victor van Pelt, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Burgplatz 2, 56179 Vallendar, Germany. victor.vanpelt@whu.edu
Responsible party and contact details: Impressum.
Last updated: 14 September 2026