A belt retractor for a vehicle safety belt includes a frame, a belt spool rotatably mounted in the frame, and a locking mechanism which is provided with a release disk and by means of which the belt spool can be blocked against rotation in the frame. The pressure compensator is electrically decoupled from the drive circuitry. The secondary synchronization channel is used to detect cell-specific information. At least one user preference value associated with the user may then be automatically retrieved, and the document may be processed in accordance with the user preference value.