Can I get a signed DPA / AVV?

Yes. We sign a standard German GDPR DPA (Auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag) on request - reach out from /sales. The text is the standard form most customer DPOs already know, no surprise clauses; we also accept your own paperwork if your legal team prefers their template. Reply time is within a working day. Most teams under 50 seats don't need one (the standard plan terms cover the legal posture); larger setups get a short signed addendum alongside.

How do I export my data?

Account settings → export. Returns a JSON archive containing every record you own, every file you uploaded, and the relevant audit-log entries. No support ticket, no waiting period, no fee. Same export shape works on every plan.

How do I delete my account?

Account settings → delete. Confirms once, then removes records, files, embeddings, and audit-log entries within 30 days. Stripe payment metadata stays as long as German tax law requires it (10 years), in line with §147 AO; everything else is gone.

Who are your subprocessors?

Two: Stripe (payment processing only, transferred under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) and our transactional mail relay (EU-hosted). Neither sees your records. The full list and what each one is allowed to touch lives at /privacy and /security.

Does Grants use Google Analytics or Meta Pixel?

No. No third-party analytics at all. Device + session metrics live in our own Postgres + Redis. The cookie banner that GA / Meta require doesn't apply because we don't load them - one fewer dialog between a visitor and the page they came for.

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Grants: the GDPR-friendly alternative to Google Docs

Plain-language privacy notice, standard German GDPR DPA available on request, self-serve export + delete.

GDPR alternative

EXIST

Google Docs

Finn GlasCo-Founder + Engineering

·March 6, 2026·

1 min read

GDPR isn't a checkbox - it's a posture. If you're moving off Google Docs because their AVV / DPA is opaque, Grants is what a clean alternative looks like: subprocessor list of two (Stripe + mail relay), self-serve export + delete from account settings, and a standard German GDPR DPA on request when your procurement team needs one.

At a glance

Google Docs is the default for two-person founder teams - free, real-time, share-by-link. Grants trades the generic-document flexibility for purpose-built grant structure: an Ideenpapier outline reviewers expect, deadline + status carried forward, the 4-week post-rejection revision window tracked. Hosted in Germany. Pick Docs for the long tail of "any document"; pick us for the EXIST.

GDPR posture

GDPR is a posture, not a checkbox

Three things matter under GDPR for a tool like this: (1) lawful basis for processing, (2) data subject rights (export, delete, port), and (3) the auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag / DPA chain. Grants treats them as engineering invariants, not legal optics. Lawful basis is the contract you sign with us. Subject rights are self-serve from your account settings - no support ticket required. The subprocessor list has two entries (Stripe + mail relay). A standard German GDPR DPA is available on request from /sales whenever your procurement team needs one - we don't charge for it and don't gate it behind a plan tier. Where Google Docs sits on each of these is the rest of this page.

Grants vs Google Docs: GDPR comparison

	Ours Grants	Theirs Google Docs
Real-time co-editing
Section structure for EXIST/IGP
Deadline + status tracking
Hosted in Germany
Free tier
Numbering survives 30+ pages

When to pick which

Pick Grants when

EU/German hosting is required by your university, your investors, or your own conviction.

Submission is more than 20 pages, with figures, references, and a budget table.

Pick Google Docs when

Your team already lives in Workspace and the cost of a tool switch outweighs the structure win.

GDPR questions

What customer data-protection teams typically ask before signing a DPA.

Start with Grants

Free plan, no credit card. We host in Germany. Export + delete are self-serve.

Written by

Finn Glas

Co-Founder + Engineering

Finn is one of the Co-Founders. He owns the engineering side, the infrastructure, and most of the late-night fixes that ship before anyone notices.

finn.glas at aicuflow dot comLinkedIn Website