Legal notice and privacy · Degreasing calculator

Legal notice

Responsible: Tomasz Benert
Trachslauerstrasse 6B
8840 Einsiedeln
Schweiz
Contact: tomasz@benert.ch
Application: Degreasing calculator, a calculation tool for aqueous degreasing in surface finishing.

Disclaimer

The tool does not replace a cleaning trial or a written release from the chemical supplier. It shows orders of magnitude and rankings: which lever acts more strongly than which, and how far a condition is from the specification. Anyone who designs a plant, fixes a cycle time or releases a batch on the strength of it does so on their own responsibility.

Why this restriction is technically necessary

It is not a formality. The underlying model has limits that can be named, and knowing them is what makes the calculator usable properly:

The characteristic values stored for each type of grease are guide values from the literature, not natural constants. They depend on the combination of grease, cleaner and surface, and would have to be measured for each plant.
The model knows no thresholds: the melting point of a grease, the cavitation threshold, an optimum concentration. Reality jumps at those points while the calculation carries on smoothly.
It covers neither immersion and withdrawal nor the age of the soil, and in practice either can account for the larger part of the result.
It does not apply to particulate cleanliness to VDA 19.1 / ISO 16232.
The substrate limits are guide values. In case of doubt the chemical supplier's release applies, not this application.

This is set out in full under Formulae, in the section “Where the model ends”.

Content and links

The content has been prepared with care. No warranty is given as to its correctness, completeness or currency. No liability is accepted for damage arising from its use or non-use, to the extent permitted by law.

The standards and sources named serve to place the subject in context. The current edition of the standard in question always takes precedence.

Privacy

This application gets by on very little data. What follows describes what it actually does, not what such texts usually say.

What does not happen

No IP addresses are stored in clear text; to limit sign-in attempts only a truncated checksum with a daily changing salt is kept (see below).
No analytics, no tracking pixels, no advertising, no disclosure to third parties.
No external resources. Fonts, styling and graphics are all held on the same server. Opening a page establishes no connection to any outside provider, not to font services and not to map services.
The values entered are not transmitted to anyone. They are calculated on the server and displayed again, and that is all.

What does occur

Session cookie: A technically necessary cookie holding a random identifier. It contains no personal details and serves to protect forms against misuse from other sites. It expires as soon as the browser is closed. No consent is required for it.
Language cookie: Switching the language at the top right sets a cookie that records that choice and nothing else, for one year, with no identifier and no recognition value. It is technically necessary within the meaning of the law and therefore needs no consent. Anyone who never switches never receives it.
Values in the address bar: The values entered appear in the page address, so that a result can be passed on as a link. They therefore also appear in the history of your own browser.
Access code and “stay signed in”: With access protection switched on, sign-in is by code. The server holds only the code's checksum, its label, the time of last use and the number of uses. Anyone who ticks “stay signed in” receives a cookie with a random token valid for 30 days; it contains neither the code nor personal data. Failed attempts are counted via a truncated checksum of the IP address with a daily changing random salt; the IP address itself cannot be reconstructed from it and the value is meaningless after a day.
Access request and e-mail: A code request via the “Request access” form transmits name, company, e-mail address and an optional message. These details are kept on the server until the request has been dealt with, and the operator is notified by e-mail. When a code is sent, the e-mail address stays stored with the code for as long as the code exists; a declined request is deleted. For sending, the application logs time, recipient, subject and result (the last 500 e-mails). The e-mails go through the operator’s mail server. The form is not used for advertising, and nothing is passed on to third parties.
Saved cases: Pressing “Save as case” in the calculator stores the figures entered and the name you gave them on the server. With access protection on, each case belongs to the code it was saved with and is visible only with that code; the operator sees all cases in the administrator role. Without access protection the cases are visible to everyone who uses the application. Every case can be deleted again at any time on the “Saved cases” page.
Offline storage: For use without a network connection the browser keeps a copy of the public pages on your own device. That copy never leaves the device and can be removed through the browser settings.
Server log: As with any website, the web server records technical accesses. That happens at the infrastructure provider and not within this application. Server location: .

Your rights

For information, correction or deletion, a message to tomasz@benert.ch is enough. Details about individual people arise only with an access request (see above); otherwise this normally concerns only saved cases, and those can be removed directly on the “Saved cases” page.

In Switzerland the basis is the revised Data Protection Act (revDSG). Where the application is offered to users in the EU, the GDPR applies in addition. This text describes how data flows through the application; it is not legal advice and, in case of doubt, does not replace a review by a lawyer.