Privacy policy

All of the information in this document relates to, and is valid for, the activity of the coopnet.ro platform, referred to below as the platform or the site.

Personal data that you give us will be processed. Please read this document so you can be sure that the data you choose to provide is kept safe, and so you know how it will be collected, used and protected.

The safety of your personal data matters to us. We follow the law on the protection of people with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of that data. We process your personal data in line with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).

We may update and change this Personal data protection policy (the “Policy”) from time to time without asking for your prior agreement. When we do, we will publish the updated version on the site. It is your responsibility to check this Policy whenever you visit the site, so that you are aware of the latest version.

If you have questions, please contact us at office@civitas.ro, by telephone on +40-264-590.554 (standard rate), or by post or courier at 77 Eremia Grigorescu St., Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania.

Data controller
Personal data we collect
Why we process personal data
Legal bases for processing
How long we store and process personal data
Data security measures
Sharing data with other people
Your rights in relation to the personal data you give us
Contact details of the data protection officer
Children’s data
Cookie policy

Data controller

The controller of personal data is the Civitas Foundation for Civil Society Cluj, a private legal entity established under Romanian law, with its office in Cluj-Napoca, 77 Eremia Grigorescu St., Cluj County, Romania, tax code 24260911, email office@civitas.ro, telephone +40-264-590.554 (standard rate).

Personal data we collect

To create a user account we need your email address.

If you use the platform as a newsletter subscriber, we also need your first name, last name, email address, telephone number, field of activity, the kinds of information you are interested in, and your preferred way of hearing news.

When you use the platform we automatically collect certain information about your device, such as browser information, IP address, time zone and some cookies installed on the device.

We use Google Analytics to understand how people use the site. You can read more about how Google uses your personal information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

The site also uses social media modules (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube). If you choose to share information from the site, you agree to the privacy policies of those platforms. You can read the privacy policies of Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

We do not collect or process special-category data as defined by the GDPR.

We do not want to collect or process data about anyone under 18. Please do not create an account or send us any information if you are under 18. We will delete immediately any account we discover was created by a minor.

Personal information about experts

With their agreement, the Civitas Foundation presents on the platform a profile of rural-development experts (name, role, background and photograph), together with their contact details, for professional and communication reasons. Beneficiaries, people interested in or involved in our work, and the public can reach these professionals more easily and can form a clearer picture of the CoopNet team of experts. This information is published for public information, under our communication policy.

Personal information about beneficiaries and stakeholders

On the site you will find written and audio-visual publications, and information about the CoopNet network and about events in the field. Articles on the site (especially the Newsletter) may include photographs, names and roles of people we work with, people we have interviewed, people who took part in our events, or people whose events we attended. This information is published for public information, under our communication policy.

Other personal information

In some cases we publish forms on the site to collect information so you can register for an event or take part in an activity we organise. The information requested is only what is needed to organise the event (it may include, but is not limited to, your field of activity and the region where you work). We use these forms only for the purpose stated, and sending them to us means you agree to provide that data. We usually build the forms with Google Forms or Zoom. You can read the privacy policy for Google and for Zoom.

Why we process personal data

We ask for and process personal data in order to:

make it possible to create your account and to run the site;
send newsletters and materials about our services, if you consent;
reply to complaints;
evaluate the services offered on the site.

Legal bases for processing

The controller may process personal data for the purposes above:

because processing is necessary to create the account, run the site and reply to complaints;
because you have given express consent by ticking the relevant boxes.

Where processing is not necessary to enter into or perform our legal relationship, we will not process personal data for any of the purposes above without your consent.

How long we store and process personal data

We process and store personal data for as long as needed to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, and in any case for the period required by applicable law.

For example, your data will be stored at least for as long as it is used to give you access to the site, if you have an account. If you agreed to processing for the newsletter, your data will be processed at least until you withdraw that consent.

After the period in which data is processed for the purposes in section 3, some of your data (only what is necessary) will continue to be stored for the period required by law for archiving accounting data and documents, and for the limitation period in the Romanian Civil Code. We update our database regularly so that we do not keep data that is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected.

Data security measures

The controller puts in place appropriate technical and legal measures to protect the personal data of the people who provide it.

We undertake to keep your personal data safe and we take reasonable measures to that end, including against unauthorised access or use, and against destruction, loss or alteration.

We regularly train our staff on the importance of protecting personal data, we have internal procedures for this, and we make every effort to ensure that our partners also take appropriate measures for personal data that may reach them under our contracts.

Sharing data with other people

We may share the personal data you give us with affiliated companies and with other partners and collaborators with whom we have contracts, so that we can carry out our work and meet our legal obligations. These may include providers of IT, accounting, legal, marketing, courier, internet and mobile services, specialists in our field of work whom we contact in order to offer you a better service, and similar providers.

We may also share some of the personal data we collect with competent public authorities or institutions when the law requires it, or with the courts when we defend ourselves in court or when a court asks us to.

Transfers of personal data outside the country

In the operations described above, your personal data may be transferred outside the country to states in the European Union (“EU”) or the European Economic Area (“EEA”).

Any transfer by the controller to an EU or EEA member state will comply with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 adopted by the European Parliament (the “GDPR”).

The personal data mentioned in this notice is not transferred to states that do not ensure an adequate level of protection for the processing of personal data.

Your rights in relation to the personal data you give us

We undertake to keep personal data secure by adopting appropriate technical and organisational measures, in line with industry standards. The platform is aligned with the GDPR.

We respect the rights set out in the applicable law.

Right to be informed – you may ask for information and details about personal-data processing. You can reach us at 77 General Eremia Grigorescu St., Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania, or by email at office@civitas.ro.

We take care that you receive clear, transparent, easy-to-understand and accessible information about how we process your data, including the rights described in this document.

Right to rectification – if you find that the personal data we process is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, you can have it corrected or completed by sending a request to office@civitas.ro.

Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) – you can obtain erasure of the data if the processing was unlawful or in other cases provided by law. Erasure may take place if:

a) we no longer need the personal data for any of the purposes for which we processed it;
b) you withdraw the consent on which we previously relied and there is no other legal basis for future processing;
c) you object to processing for direct marketing (including profiling for direct marketing);
d) you object to processing based on our legitimate interest and we cannot show legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms;
e) the personal data is processed unlawfully;
f) the personal data must be erased so that we can comply with a legal obligation.

We may refuse a request for erasure if:

(a) we must comply with a legal obligation to keep the data; or

(b) we need the data to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Right to restriction of processing – you may ask us to restrict processing if:

a) you contest the accuracy of the data, for a period that allows us to verify it;
b) the processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure and ask for restriction instead;
c) you have objected to the processing, for the time needed to check whether our legitimate grounds override yours.

Right to object – you may object in particular to processing based on our legitimate interest.

Right to data portability – in certain conditions you may receive the personal data you provided to us in a machine-readable format, or you may ask for that data to be sent to another controller.

Right to lodge a complaint – you may complain about the way personal data is processed to the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing (ANSPDCP).

Contact details and information about ANSPDCP are on http://www.dataprotection.ro/.

Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect campaigns that are already under way and for which the consent remains valid.

Withdrawal takes effect only for the future. Processing carried out before the withdrawal remains valid.

Right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling: you may ask for human intervention in that processing, or you may express your point of view about it.

You can exercise these rights, individually or together, by sending a request to 77 General Eremia Grigorescu St., Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania, or by email to office@civitas.ro.

Contact details of the data protection officer

Emese Kiss, kissemese@civitas.ro.

Children’s data

Cookie policy

The site uses cookies to give visitors a better browsing experience and services adapted to each person’s needs and interests.

A “cookie” is a small, usually encrypted file stored in the folders of the web browser you use. Online publishers create cookies to help users browse more efficiently and to give access to certain functions.

These files are not viruses. Because they contain no code, they cannot be executed and they cannot access other files or folders on your computer. Because they store information about a user’s browsing, including specific addresses and movement between sites, cookies can be used as a form of spyware. Anti-spyware programs, being aware of this, remove certain cookies during routine checks.

Why do we use cookies?

We use cookies to give users of this site a better browsing experience and services adapted to their needs and interests, and for statistics on how the site is used, so that we can improve it. Cookies help us to:

personalise settings such as the language of a site, the currency of certain prices, and saved options for products or services;
understand how the site is used, so we can make it more efficient and easier to use;
allow multimedia or other applications from other sites to be included, so the browsing experience is more useful and more pleasant;
improve the effectiveness of online advertising.

Sometimes cookies are used to keep a record of your visits to third-party pages.

What kinds of cookies do we use?

By how long they are stored, we use:

Persistent cookies: they remain on the user’s device for a set period specified in the cookie. They are used each time the user visits the address that created the file.

Session cookies: these files are temporary. They allow the site operator to connect the actions a user takes during one browsing session.

By function, we use four kinds of cookies:

Strictly necessary cookies: these are essential for browsing the site and using its applications. Without them, users could not use basic services such as creating an account or using a shopping basket. These files do not collect information that could be used for marketing or for tracking the user across the internet.

Performance cookies: these collect anonymous statistics about how the site is used. They contain no personal information and are used to improve the experience of browsing the site.

Functionality cookies: these let the operator offer users choices and features. Examples include remembering a password, language and region preferences, or providing personal information such as the current location or weather and traffic for that location.

Advertising and targeting cookies: used to make the ads you see more relevant. They may also limit how often an irrelevant ad is shown, or measure a campaign by keeping statistics on visits. An important function of some of these cookies is security for online transactions. They are usually set by third parties and may connect the pages a user has visited, without being able to identify the user, because no link is made between your online profile and the data processed.

We have third-party cookies on our site. Third parties, such as advertising companies or external service providers (for example traffic analysis), may use cookies or similar plug-ins to collect information about your visit.

How can you turn cookies off?

If you delete cookies, all preferences and settings for the page will be deleted as well. Some pages will no longer work properly, or some functions will disappear, if cookies are removed.

For these reasons we do not recommend rejecting cookies when you visit our site. Most browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can change this in the browser you use. You usually do that in the browser’s “settings” or “preferences”.

For more detail, use one of the links below:

Opera: https://www.opera.com/help/tutorials/security/cookies/

Firefox: https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/cookies-information-websites-store-on-your-computer

Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en

Safari: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265

Security and privacy

Cookies are NOT viruses. They are not made of pieces of code, so they cannot be executed, they cannot run by themselves, and they cannot copy themselves onto other networks.

Browsers generally include privacy settings that provide different levels of cookie acceptance, a validity period, and automatic deletion after the user has visited a site.

Cookies are not dangerous, but because they constantly send information both ways between the browser and the website, if an attacker or an unauthorised person intercepts that transmission, the information in the cookie can be read. Although this is rare, it can happen if the browser connects to the server over an unencrypted network (for example an unsecured Wi-Fi network).

Other cookie-based attacks involve incorrect cookie settings on servers, which attackers can exploit.

Turning cookies off will stop users from accessing many of the most widely used sites, including Gmail, Yahoo, YouTube and others.

A few basic precautions help you browse safely with cookies:

adjust your browser’s cookie settings to a level of security you are comfortable with. You can set a long expiry for browsing history and access data. If you share the computer, you can set the browser to delete individual browsing data every time you close it;
install anti-spyware software and keep it up to date;
keep your browser up to date. Many cookie-based attacks exploit weaknesses in old browser versions.

The controller may change the data protection policy at any time, without prior notice, by posting the updated version on the site. You should read the Terms and conditions, the data protection policy and the cookie policy whenever you access the site.