Updated EU General Data Protection Regulation / EU-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung

UPDATED EU GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION – GDPR / EU-DATENSCHUTZ-GRUNDVERORDNUNG

Privacy Policy

I’ve updated my Privacy Policy to take effect on May 25th, 2018.

Legal disclaimer

The contents of these pages were prepared with utmost care. Nonetheless, I cannot assume liability for the timeless accuracy and completeness of the information.

WHAT IS THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION, otherwise known as the GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union and the European Economic Area. It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU and EEA. The GDPR aims primarily to give control to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU.

Superseding the Data Protection Directive, the regulation contains provisions and requirements pertaining to the processing of personally identifiable information of data subjects inside the European Union. Business processes that handle personal data must be built with privacy by design and by default, meaning that personal data must be stored using pseudonymisation or full anonymisation, and use the highest-possible privacy settings by default, so that the data is not available publicly without explicit consent, and cannot be used to identify a subject without additional information stored separately. No personal data may be processed unless it is done under a lawful basis specified by the regulation, or if the data controller or processor has received explicit, opt-in consent from the data’s owner. The business must allow this permission to be withdrawn at any time.

A processor of personal data must clearly disclose what data is being collected and how, why it is being processed, how long it is being retained, and if it is being shared with any third-parties.

Users have the right to request a portable copy of the data collected by a processor in a common format, and the right to have their data erased under certain circumstances. Public authorities, and businesses whose core activities centre around regular or systematic processing of personal data, are required to employ a data protection officer (DPO), who is responsible for managing compliance with the GDPR. Businesses must report any data breaches within 72 hours if they have an adverse effect on user privacy.

This is my updated Privacy Policy to go into effect on May 25th, 2018.

Your privacy is extremely important to me.

Who I Am and What This Policy Covers

The British Berliner is a lifestyle expat travel blog about culture, history, travels around the world, Europe, and being British in Berlin.

It focuses on a British girl from Manchester living in Berlin with her German husband and her half British – half German son, her promotion of British-German life, culture, history, literature, theatre, style, Europe, travels around the world, what she does in normal every day life and where she goes.

Trips featured on The British Berliner are based on her own travel experience.

This Privacy Policy applies to information that I collect about you when I use:

• My website (including wordpress.com, automattic.com, vip.wordpress.com, jetpack.com, woocommerce.com, gravatar.com, and akismet.com)
• My mobile applications (including the WordPress mobile app for Android and iOS)
• Other products and services that are available on or through my website (including WordPress.com plans, WordPress.com VIP, Jetpack, the WooCommerce Services Extension, Gravatar, and Akismet plans)
• Other websites or travel services, not mentioned above

Information I Collect

In general, when visiting the website of The British Berliner, no personal data, except minimal information such as users posting comments such as a name (real or alias), website and email address, is saved. Your name and website may be displayed on the site if you post a comment, but your email address and privacy, will always be kept secure.

Newsletters and latest posts are distributed through WordPress and a Mailchimp mailing list. Any personal information stored on a mailing list is solely kept for the distribution of blog posts and newsletters – I don’t share personal information with third parties. At the bottom of every post or newsletter is a clear and easy way to opt-out. However, this data can be given on a voluntary basis.

No data is passed onto third parties without your consent. I would like to point out that in regard to unsecured data transmission in the internet (e.g. via email), security cannot be guaranteed. Such data could possibly be accessed by third parties.

Information You Provide to Me

• Basic Account Information: I ask for basic information from you in order for you to subscribe and follow my newsletter and latest posts. For example, I require individuals who subscribe or make a comment, to provide a username and email address – and that is all. You may provide me with more information – like your name – but that information is entirely voluntary
• Transaction and Billing Information: If you buy my coaching / consultancy service, you will provide additional personal and payment information that is required to process the transaction and your payment, such as your name, credit card information, and contact information.

Information I Collect Automatically

• Usage Information: Information is collected for the usage of WordPress Services. For example, information is tracked and collected for statistical purposes such as page views, clicks, followers, shares, likes, length of time spent on The British Berliner, search engine terms as well as search engine optimization (SEO) or popular pages and posts. I use this information to provide services to you, as well as get insights on how readers use this website, so that I can make it better
• Location Information: Your location is collected and used to calculate how many people visit The British Berliner from certain geographic regions
• Information from Cookies & Other Technology: A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Pixel tags (also called web beacons) are small blocks of code placed on websites and emails. WordPress uses cookies and other technologies to help identify and track visitors, usage, and access preferences, as well as track and understand email campaign effectiveness. For more information about the use of cookies and other technology for tracking, including how you can control the use of cookies, please see this Cookie Policy

How And Why I Use Information

Purposes for Using Information

I use information about you as mentioned above, and strictly only for the purposes listed below:

• To provide service on my website
• To further develop and improve my website, and provide new features that I think readers might enjoy, or inspire them, to live a life of style and travel
• To monitor and analyze trends and better understand how readers interact with this website, which helps me improve and make this website easier to use
• To measure and improve the effectiveness of affiliate marketing
• To communicate with you through email, newsletter, solicit your feedback, or inform you on issues of interest
• To personalize your experience using my website, provide content recommendations and advice, and target travel market destinations

Legal Bases for Collecting and Using Information

• I have a legitimate interest in using your information to provide and update my website, to improve my services so that I can offer you an even better user experience, to communicate with you, to measure, and improve the effectiveness of affiliate marketing, for the better understanding of my readers, and to personalize your experience
• You have given me your consent to allow cookies be placed on your device as described in the Cookie Policy

Sharing Information

• I do not sell your private personal information
• I do not allow paid links

Information Shared Publicly

Information that you choose to make public is at your own risk

My website contains links to external websites. As the contents of these third-party websites are beyond my control, I cannot accept liability for them. Responsibility for the contents of the linked pages is always held by the provider or operator of the pages.

This means that information like your public profile, photographs, posts, other content that you make public, “likes” and comments on other websites, are all available to others

How Long I Keep Information

In general, when visiting the website of The British Berliner, no personal data, except minimal information such as users posting comments such as a name (real or alias), website and email address, is saved.

Newsletters and latest posts are distributed through WordPress and a MailChimp mailing list. Any personal information stored on a mailing list is solely kept for the distribution of blog posts and newsletters – I don’t share personal information with third parties. At the bottom of every post or newsletter is a clear and easy way to opt-out. However, this data can be given on a voluntary basis.

No data will be passed onto a third parties without your consent. I would like to point out that in regard to unsecured data transmission in the internet (e.g. via email), security cannot be guaranteed. Such data could possibly be accessed by third parties.

Choices

You have several choices available when it comes to information about you:

• Limit the Information that You Provide: You can choose not to provide the optional account information, profile information, and transaction and billing information
• Limit Access to Information On Your Mobile Device: Your mobile device operating system should provide you with the ability to discontinue my ability to collect stored information or location information via mobile apps.
• Opt-Out of Electronic Communications: You may opt out of receiving posts or newsletters from me. Just follow the instructions at the bottom of every post or newsletter
• Set Your Browser to Reject Cookies: You can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies before using WordPress websites, with the drawback that certain features may not function properly without the aid of said cookies
• Unsubscribe: While I would be devastated to see you go, if you no longer want to receive any posts or newsletters, you can unsubscribe

Your Rights

If you are located in the EU or anywhere that falls under the scope of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data protection laws give you rights with respect to your personal data, subject to any exemptions provided by the law, including the right to:

• Request access to your personal data
• Request correction or deletion of your personal data
• Object to our use and processing of your personal data
• Request that I limit use and processing of your personal data
• Request portability of your personal data

You can usually access, correct, or delete your personal data, using the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the page, but if you aren’t able to do so, please don’t hesitate to contact me

That’s it!

Thanks very much!

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