Privacy policy

Privacy Policy

The Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe e.V. (hereinafter EUROPARC Federation), as the provider of the website www.EUROPARC.org and the responsible body, takes the obligation of data protection very seriously and designs its website in such a way that only as few personal data are collected as necessary, processed and used. Under no circumstances will personal data be leased or sold to third parties for advertising purposes. No personal data will be used for advertising or marketing purposes without the express consent of the visitor.

The EUROPARC Federation gives access to personal data only to those who need this information to carry out their duties within the responsible body, who are informed about the legal provisions on data protection and agreed to comply with them, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions (Article 5 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU-DSGVO)). The collection, processing, use and transmission of the personal data collected are, in accordance with Article 6 (1) EU GDPR, only to the extent necessary for the implementation of a contractual relationship between the EUROPARC Federation, as the responsible body, and the visitor, as the party concerned, is required.

Use of cookies
The responsible department uses so-called “cookies” in order to individually design and optimize the online experience and online time of the user.

What is a cookie?

Cookies are small text files that are sent to and stored on your computer, smartphone or other device for accessing the Internet, whenever you visit a website. The text is either stored temporarily in the computer’s memory (“session cookie”) or stored on the hard disk (“permanent” cookie). Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device. At EUROPARC we use cookies to let users navigate between pages efficiently and enable other essential functionality. Analytical Cookies are collected through Google Analytics, to help us improve our websites by collecting and reporting information on its usage.

How cookies make our websites safer and easier to use

Cookies contain e.g. information about the user’s previous access to the respective server or information about which pages were previously called. Cookies are not used to run programs or to load viruses onto your computer. Instead, the main purpose of cookies is to provide an offer tailored to the user and to make the use of the service as comfortable as possible. The responsible uses session cookies as well as persistent cookies (see below).

Cookies can allow us to tailor the content of our website to suit your interests. We use ‘analytics’ cookies to help us make our website better for those who visit it regularly. They help us work out what users like and don’t like and how we can improve things for you.

When we include links to other websites, please bear in mind they will have their own privacy and cookie policies that will govern the use of any information you submit. We recommend you read their policies as EUROPARC is not responsible or liable for their privacy practises.

Session cookies:In addition, the responsible body uses “persistent cookies” to store the personal usage settings that a user enters when using the services, thereby making it possible to personalize and improve the service. These permanent cookies ensure that the user finds his personal settings again when he visits the websites of the responsible office. In addition, the service providers who commissioned the responsible office with the analysis of user behavior use permanent cookies to recognize recurring users. These services store the data transmitted by the cookie anonymously. An assignment to the IP address of the user is not maintained.
Avoiding cookies

The visitor has the possibility to reject the setting of cookies at any time. This is usually done by selecting the appropriate option in the browser settings or through additional programs. For details, refer to the help function of the browser used by the user. If the user decides to deactivate cookies, this may reduce the scope of the service and negatively impact the use of the services of the responsible persons.

Change of purpose of processing and data usage
Due to technical progress and organizational changes of the processing methods used, we reserve the right to further develop this privacy policy in accordance with the new technical conditions. We therefore ask you to check the privacy policy regularly. If you do not agree with the changes, you may request in writing, pursuant to Art. 17 EU-GDPR, the deletion of data that is not stored on the basis of other legal requirements, such as commercial or fiscal retention requirements.

Anonymous data collection
You can always visit the websites of the responsible office without telling us who you are. We only know the name of your internet service provider, the website from which you visit us and the links you click on our website. This information is analyzed for statistical purposes. You remain anonymous as an individual user.

Collection and processing of personal data
Personal data are only collected if you choose to give them to us, for example, for newsletter or events registration. The responsible body follows the requirements of Art 5 and 6 EU GDPR. As part of the personalized services of the responsible body, your registration data will be processed on the condition that you give your consent for the purpose of sending our newsletter, or for designing the electronic services offered as required. You have the option to object to the storage of your personal data at any time.

Please send an e-mail to: europarc @ europarc.org with the subject line “Deletion of data”. The processing and use of your personal data is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the EU GDPR.

Export and processing of data in countries outside the European Economic Area
There is no export of your personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area (hereinafter EEA). Nevertheless, as far as you have logged in to Facebook or have a Twitter, Flickr or LinkedIn account, personal data may be exported to the United States. For further explanations and possibilities to prevent this data export, please read the section “Use of Facebook Social Plugins” or “Use of Twitter” or “Use of Flickr” and “Use of LinkedIn” in this Privacy Policy. As far as you have logged in to Google or your own Youtube account, personal data may be exported to the US. For further explanations and possibilities to prevent this data export please note the section “Use of YouTube Plugins”. However, the transfer of personal data to Google in the context of the use of analysis programs by the responsible body does not take place because your IP address is transmitted anonymously. Please read the section “Use of Analysis Programs” in this Privacy Policy.

The service providers engaged by the responsible body are based and operate their IT infrastructure exclusively within the EEA. This also applies to any use of cloud-based services. The service providers have contracts that comply with the data protection and data security requirements of the EU GDPR. Also in the case of the involvement of external service providers, the EUROPARC Federation remains the body responsible for the processing.

Use and disclosure of personal data
The personal data collected within the framework of the websites of the responsible office will be used without your consent only for the execution of the contract and processing of your requests. In addition, your data will only be used for advertising and market research purposes by the responsible body if you have previously given your consent. Of course, your data are not passed on to any third parties. Of course, you can withdraw your consent at any time.

External links
For your information, you will find links on our pages that refer to third-party sites. As far as this is not obvious, we point out that this is an external link. The responsible body has no influence on the content and the design of these pages of other providers. The guarantees of this privacy policy therefore do not apply to external providers.

Use of analysis programs

Further information and contacts
If you have further questions about “Data protection at EUROPARC Federation”, please contact our association by mail. You can ask which of your data are stored with us. In addition, you can send information, deletion and correction requests to your data and any suggestions at any time by letter or e-mail to the following address: EUROPARC Federation, Waffnergasse 6, 93047 Regensburg, europarc @ europarc.org