Sovereignty Scan/Vendors/Refiner

Risk indicator, not a GDPR compliance verdict. Point-in-time assessment based on public web stack signals.Methodology & LimitationsCorrect listing / submit response

Forms & Lead Capture

Refiner : Datenschutz, & EU Alternatives

Refiner is EU/EEA-based: no third-country transfer at the primary vendor. Still check the subprocessor list.

🇪🇺EUEU-Anbieter

Last checked: 29 April 2026

Is Refiner GDPR compliant?

Refiner is EU/EEA-based: no third-country transfer at the primary vendor. Still check the subprocessor list.

Vendor Profile

Who is the contractual partner?

Jurisdiction

Hosting

AWS EU (Frankfurt)

Owner

Refiner SAS🇪🇺

Sovereignty Level: Level 3 of 4

EU-Anbieter mit US-Subprozessoren. Vertragspartner ist EU, aber ein einzelner US-Subprozessor reichert das Setup wieder mit Drittland-Risiko an.

Level0
Level1
Level2
Level3
Level4

The five levels, from US-SaaS (Level 0) to fully sovereign (Level 4), we explain in detail here.

Contract & Subprocessor Chain

1.Refiner SAS (FR, Paris)
2.AWS EU-Central-1 Frankfurt (Subprozessor)

Even if the main provider is based in the EU, a US subprocessor in this chain can trigger a third-country transfer. This is the core pitfall of .

Data Categories

What data does Refiner process?

In typical use, the following data categories arise. Which ones are relevant for you depends on your setup and scope of use.

All form inputs (name, email, company, role)
Branching logic answers
File uploads (CVs, briefs, documents)
IP address and browser fingerprint

Data Subjects

Who is affected by the processing?

Under Art. 30 GDPR, you must document the categories of data subjects per processing activity. In typical use, these include:

Anyone submitting a form on your website
For career forms: applicants with CVs and personal data
For contact forms: prospects and existing customers

Concrete Impact

What does this mean in practice?

Lead data including sensitive fields (industry, revenue, pain points) are stored with a provider under US law. CV uploads from career forms would also be affected.

Note: This is a risk description, not a specific incident. Whether access occurred in your case depends on many factors. What can be documented: the risk must be named in your TIA and mitigated with additional measures.

meetergo Recommendation

Refiner, EU-natives Survey-Tool

Refiner ist ein französisches In-App-Survey-Tool mit AWS-Frankfurt-Hosting, DSGVO-konform und ohne US-Jurisdiktionsrisiko. Kein Wechseldruck, aber Subprozessor-Liste der DPA prüfen.

DPA prüfen Check your own domain

Migration Plan

How to migrate away from Refiner

The following steps are the typical path for this tool category. Order and time required depend on your specific setup.

1
Transfer form structure (fields, branching)
2
Configure submission endpoints (webhooks, CRM sync)
3
Migrate existing data via export/import
4
Replace embed snippets on the website

We help with migration planning at no cost: 30 minutes with a data protection specialist to prioritise and define a migration sprint. Book appointment

Frequently Asked Questions

Refiner & Privacy: FAQ

Is Refiner GDPR-compliant?

Refiner is an EU/EEA-based provider and generally well-suited for GDPR-compliant setups. The usual obligations still apply: DPA, check the subprocessor list, document technical and organisational measures.

Who is the contractual partner for Refiner?

The contract chain includes: Refiner SAS (FR, Paris) · AWS EU-Central-1 Frankfurt (Subprozessor). The legal parent entity is decisive for data protection. Even if an EU subsidiary signs the DPA, a US subprocessor in the chain can trigger third-country transfer obligations.

What EU alternatives are there to Refiner?

There are several GDPR-compliant EU alternatives. They are listed under "EU Alternatives" on this page. The selection is tailored to the feature set of Refiner (In-App-Umfragen). meetergo covers the core workflow and can fully replace Refiner in many cases.

Where is Refiner data stored?

According to provider information: AWS EU (Frankfurt). Note: even an EU data centre does not protect against the CLOUD Act when the parent company is in the US. This is the core finding of the Schrems II decision.

How much effort is involved in switching away from Refiner?

Migration effort depends on your specific setup: typically between a few business days (booking, forms) and several weeks (CRM, hosting). The roadmap below shows the typical order.

Related Vendors

More tools in Forms & Lead Capture

Next Step

Which tools are running on your website?

60 seconds, no login: the Sovereignty Scan shows all detected vendors with jurisdiction, risk, and matching EU alternatives.

To the Scan Methodology

Note

Hinweis

Risiko-Indikator, keine Rechtsberatung.

Der Sovereignty Scan wertet öffentlich erreichbare Signale aus (HTML der Startseite und Rechtsseiten, DNS-, MX-, SPF- und ASN-Daten) und vergleicht sie mit unserer Datenbank von ca. 3.000 Anbietern. Die Zuordnung von Tool zu Eigentümer und Jurisdiktion basiert auf öffentlichen Quellen (Impressum, Datenschutzerklärung, Wappalyzer, RIPE/ARIN-Registrierungen) und ist als Erstindikation zum Stichtag der Auswertung gedacht, nicht als rechtsverbindliche Bewertung.

Die Note A–E ist ein Risiko-Indikator, kein DSGVO-Konformitätsurteil. Für eine konkrete DSGVO-Bewertung, insbesondere für Auftragsverarbeitungsverträge (AVV/DPA), Standardvertragsklauseln (SCC) und Transfer Impact Assessments (TIA), wenden Sie sich bitte an Ihren Datenschutzbeauftragten oder eine externe Rechtsberatung. meetergo trifft keine Aussage darüber, ob ein konkreter Anbieter in einem konkreten Anwendungsfall DSGVO-konform eingesetzt werden kann.

Korrektur & Stellungnahme: Wenn Sie Domain-Inhaber, Datenschutzbeauftragter oder Pressestelle der bewerteten Domain sind und die hier gezeigten Signale nicht Ihrer aktuellen Tool-Konfiguration entsprechen, nehmen wir Korrekturen auf und passen die Anzeige nach Prüfung umgehend an.

Methodik & Grenzen Listing korrigieren / Stellungnahme einreichen