Privacy Policy
I take privacy (both yours and mine) very seriously, which is why all of my web applications are created in a way that tries to minimize the information that is gathered and processed. In some cases, this is necessary though. This privacy policy tries to explain when information gathering happens, how it is done, and what you can do against it.
If you have any questions about your data, please contact me with the form below. I hope for your understanding, that I don’t wish to share my private email address, telephone number, or mailing address with the whole world, so this seems to be the best available compromise.
Who Am I
My name is Julian Stefan, I am a web developer, designer and freelancer, registered in Austria.
How Do I Collect Information About You
I might obtain information from you in a number of different ways, such as:
- Information you give to me directly: This can be information you provide when filling out a form, sending an inquiry or signing up for my newsletter.
- Information you give to me indirectly: Third parties might share your information with me. This could be hired subcontractors, such as research agencies, as well as business partners, advertising networks, analytics providers and search information providers. It is important that you check the respective privacy policies of third parties to understand how they might share your information
- When you visit my website: Like most organizations and companies I collect the following information when you visit my website:
- technical information, including the type of device you’re using, your IP address, browser and operating system. This is essential for me to ensure the security of my websites and visitors, as it lets me differentiate between regular requests and harmful requests
- I also collect information about the pages you visit and how you navigate the website (how long you stay on pages and which pages referred you to us). This gives me important feedback, which allows me to optimize the content and flow of our website, providing you with a more meaningful user experience. This information is collected through cookies – more information can be found under the ‘Cookie Usage’ section below.
- Social Media: When you interact with my accounts on social media platforms (such as Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, or Youtube), I may obtain information about you. The information I can obtain depends on your privacy settings on these platforms, as well as the type of interaction between your account and ours.
What type of information I collect from you
I try to reduce the collection of personal information as much as possible and anonymize data wherever I can to safeguard your privacy. However, where necessary, the personal information I collect, store and use might include:
- Your name and contact details (this can include a postal address, email address, and telephone number, as provided by you)
- Information about your activities on my website and about the device used to access it, as well as your IP address and geographical location
- Any other personal information shared with me
I do not collect sensitive data about you (such as data related to health, ethnicity, or religion) unless there is a clear and valid reason for it and data protection laws allow me to do so. Where appropriate I will clearly indicate what information I collect, why and how it will be used.
How I use your information
There is a number of different ways in which I may use your information, including:
- Providing you with the services and information you requested
- Conducting analysis and market research to better understand how I can improve my services, products and information for you
- Sending you communications, which you have requested, such as newsletters. These may include information about campaigns, activities and promotions of products and services
- Showing you information about products and services I think are most relevant to you, through advertising on third-party platforms, such as Google Ads Network or Facebook advertising
Who has access to your information
I do not sell or rent your information to third parties. However, some of your information may be disclosed to third parties working on my behalf. Where possible I anonymize data before passing it over to third parties and, when I use these third parties, I disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the services I require from the third party. Additionally, I will not release your information to third parties for them to use in their own direct marketing activities unless you have requested me to do so.
Mailerlite
I use MailerLite as a marketing automation platform for my newsletters. By subscribing to my newsletters, subscribers acknowledge that the information they provide will be transferred to MailerLite for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Lawful processing
As specified by data protection laws, the processing of personal information needs to be based on lawful grounds. The following are considered relevant by me:
- Where you have provided specific consent to me for using your personal information in a certain way. This could include sending you an email, newsletter or calling you.
- Under certain legal obligations, such as being ordered by a court or regulatory authority to release your information
- Where it is necessary to protect life and or health or a safeguarding issue, which requires me to share your information with emergency services
- In the case of legitimate interests where the information is used in a fair way and does not duly impact your rights. For example:
- send you communication I think is of interest to you
- conduct research to better understand my audience and to improve the relevance of communication, services and products
- understand how people choose and use my services and products
- determine the effectiveness of my services, promotional campaigns and advertising
- enhance, modify, personalize or otherwise improve my services and communications for the benefit of my clients
- better understand how people interact with my website
When we legitimately process your information in this way, I’ll always consider any potential impact on you (positive or negative), as well as your rights under data protection laws. I will not use your information where my interests are overwritten by the negative impact on you unless I am specifically required to do so by the law.
Marketing communications
I may use your contact details to provide you with the information I consider relevant to you, regarding products, services, as well as the work I do. I may contact you through
- Email and messaging: I will only send you marketing information by email if I have received your explicit consent to do so. Also, my marketing emails and newsletters contain opt-out links at the bottom, where you can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time.
Your choices
I am committed to giving you control of your data. You decide about whether or not you would like to receive information from me. I provide boxes in my contact forms to allow you to make these decisions. My newsletters require you to actively sign up before I send you any information. Marketing and advertising cookies are set to only become active when you give your consent. You are also free to change your marketing preferences. Here is how you can update or revoke your consent:
- Newsletters & Marketing Emails: please opt-out/unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of our newsletters or marketing emails
- Email or Contact Forms: please send me a quick reply that you don’t want to receive any further communication (or how you would like to be contacted instead)
- Analytics and Advertising Cookies: Please click below to remove your cookie preferences, which will delete our cookies and show the cookie choice window again.
You can also contact me at any time by using the contact form at the top to update your communication preferences.
I will not use your personal information for marketing purposes if you have indicated that you don’t want to be contacted. However, I may still need to contact you for administrative purposes.
Keeping your information safe
When you provide your personal information to use, I take precautions to ensure it is protected. My websites use SSL/TLS certificates to encrypt communication between your client and my server. This is indicated by a small lock next to the website address and the URL starting with ‘https’ instead of ‘http’. I also run regular security scans to keep my websites and your information as safe as possible. Although I make security one of my priorities and strive to protect your information and my infrastructure, there is, unfortunately, no way to guarantee 100% security.
Keeping your information up to date
I will do my best to keep your information accurate and up to date, however, this might not always be possible. Please let me know if your contact details or communication preferences change at any point.
Like almost any website, I use cookies. They are small pieces of information sent to and stored on your device, allowing me to recognize certain actions and re-visits. Some cookies will help me to understand which page you have come from, while others will ensure that you only see a message once, rather than on every single page. This helps me to improve your experience and personalize my messages to you.
Links to other websites
My websites may contain links to other websites, which are run by other companies or organizations. This privacy policy applies only to my websites, so I encourage you to read the privacy statements on other websites you visit. I cannot be held responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other websites, even if you access their pages through my links. The same applies to third-party websites that link to my pages.
Children
In order to protect the privacy of children, I advise anyone aged 16 or younger to get their parents/guardians permission before providing me with personal information.
Changes and review of this policy
Any changes I make to my privacy policy in the future will be posted here. I, therefore, encourage you to check back from time to time, in order to ensure you’re still satisfied with the current privacy policy. Any major changes will be announced on my websites. I’ll also keep this policy under regular review.
This policy has been last updated in July 2020.