In accordance with regulations and guidelines in the various countries that form our Diocese, we maintain the present Web Site Privacy Policy which explains how our web site and associated media accounts deal responsibly with user personal data. If you have any queries related to the present policy, you are invited to contact the Diocesan Chancellery.
Identity – Who we are
This policy relates to the central web site and associated media accounts of the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR).
Our Diocesan web site address is: https://orthodox-europe.org
Our Diocesan FaceBook page is: https://www.facebook.com/ROCORinEurope/
Our Diocesan web site e-mail list is managed at: https://mailchimp.com
What personal data we collect and why we collect it
Comments
In general, our web site does not allow comments to be left on pages or news items, as it is principally a news-delivery site and not a discussion medium. However, in instances where the leaving of comments may be permitted, the following applies: When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service Privacy Policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your Gravatar profile picture (if any) is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the web site, the metadata associated with the image file remains with it in the upload; and, as is the case with all web sites, visitors to the site can download and extract such metadata from images. This includes any location data embedded within the images; therefore you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included.
Contact forms
When you use one of the contact forms on the web site, we collect the data shown in the contact form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection (via ReCAPCHA, etc.).
Cookies
If you visit our login page (chiefly used on our web site for editors and contributors; visitors are not normally prompted to log in), we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser. When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Analytics
As with most web sites, our site collects analytical data to help the Diocese better understand how the web site is being used, and how it can be made more useful to our faithful and other readers around the world. We use industry standard web site analytics services for this (e.g. via WordPress analytics, JetPack, Google Analytics); these may collect anonymised data about your visits to the site, including IP address, country, language, browser type, etc. This data, which is always anonymised, is used only internally for our web site management.
If you access material published on the Diocese’s social media accounts (e.g. Facebook, YouTube), you are accessing an external site and are advised that those sites maintain their own analytics over which we do not have control.
Who we share your data with
We do not share visitor data with anyone. Such data is used purely for purposes of the operation of our web site and services, as defined here.
Our opt-in mailing list is used only by the Diocese to convey information about Diocesan news, events, life, and relevant updates to our web site. Subscribed addresses are never shared with anyone.
If you access material published on the Diocese’s social media accounts (e.g. Facebook, YouTube), you are accessing an external site and are advised that those sites maintain their own privacy policies, over which we do not have control, and that these may include sharing of data, etc. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the privacy policies of the social media platforms that you choose to access and utilise.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment on our web site, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
Subscription to our e-mailing list, on an opt-in basis, adds your self-provided e-mail address and details to our list, for Diocesan use in notifying you of updates. We retain this information indefinitely, so that you continue to receive these updates; however, you can remove your details from our list at any time via the ‘unsubscribe’ links found in each message sent via the list.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for ecclesiastical, administrative, legal, or security purposes.
If you make comments on or otherwise interact with content posted on our social media accounts, you are accessing external sites with their own privacy policies. The rights that you have over your data when you utilise those services is defined by them, and is outside of the control of the Diocese.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments or the use of ‘contact us’ e-mail forms may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Opt-in e-mail mailing list subscriptions are managed through our MailChimp account.