AKASHA.org - Privacy Policy

Please read the Privacy Policy carefully before you start to use our Websites. By using the Websites you agree to our Privacy Policy.

We are committed to protecting your privacy. Keeping your information secure is one of the reasons AKASHA Stiftung exists — we definitely won't be joining an ad network for example. Here, you can read about the information we collect from you when you visit akasha.org and akasha.world (“Websites”) and how we use it. If you have any questions or concerns, you can email us at [email protected].

In this Privacy Policy we inform you about your possible rights. Such rights depend on the data protection laws applicable to us. Therefore, you may have further rights than set forth in this Privacy Policy or certain rights may not be accessible to you. If you do not provide the information requested from us, we may not be able to provide you information about our activities and the functionality of the Websites may be limited.

What information do we collect about you?

This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the Websites, AKASHA’s mobile sites and applications, any of the features of this site, including but not limited to software and other downloads. We collect this Information in order to conveniently inform you about our activities, or for technical reasons.

The information we may collect includes:

  • Information about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Websites and usage details;
  • Your newsletter subscription information such as your e-mail address, name or any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline;
  • Information about your IP addresses, and information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies;
  • Anonymous usage statistics.

What information do we collect through automatic data collection technologies?

Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Websites. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Websites.

Flash Cookies. Certain features of our Websites may use local stored objects (or Flash cookies) to collect and store information about your preferences and navigation to, from, and on our Website. Flash cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as are used for browser cookies. For information about managing your privacy and security settings for Flash cookies, visit the Flash player settings page on Adobe’s website.

Web Beacons (tracking pixels). Pages of the Websites and our e-mails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit us, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related Website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain Website content and verifying system and server integrity).

Newsletters. If you sign up for our newsletter, which is administered through Mailchimp, or if you register for our Websites, we will store some of your information, including your email address, IP address and certain information about the links you click within the emails we send you, on a Mailchimp server. Neither we nor Mailchimp will ever sell your email address or share it with any other party, unless we are legally compelled to do so. If you contact Mailchimp directly regarding your subscription to our newsletter, Mailchimp may contact you directly; otherwise, Mailchimp will never contact you. Only authorized Mailchimp employees have access to our subscriber list. You are always free to unsubscribe from our newsletter, but as long as you are registered with us we may use Mailchimp to send you information about our activities.

On what basis we use your personal information?

We use your personal information on the following bases:

  • To comply with legal and regulatory obligations
  • For legitimate purposes
  • With your consent

How we use your information?

We use your Information only to inform you about our activities. We do not share your information with third parties except (such as in the case of Mailchimp) when it’s necessary to complete the functions of our Websites.

When you email us, we will use your email address only for the purpose of responding to you and for no other purpose.

Sometimes we may use anonymous information about your use of our site in combination with other users’ usage to make decisions about the contents and design of the Website. We may also share these anonymous statistics with potential sponsors and partners.

We may disclose your information in response to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or to defend against legal claims.

We may disclose your information when we believe it necessary or desirable in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our policies, and/or to protect our rights and property.

What are your rights on your information?

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and other countries’ privacy laws provide certain rights for data subjects.

You can view, edit, or delete your personal data online. If you wish to confirm that we are processing your personal data, or to have access to the personal data we may have about you, please contact us at [email protected]. Reasonable access to your personal data will be provided at no cost to you by us. If access cannot be provided within a reasonable time frame, we will provide you with a date when the information will be provided. If for some reason access is denied, we will provide an explanation as to why access has been denied.

You may also request information about: the purpose of the processing; the categories of personal data concerned; who else outside us might have received the data from us; what the source of the information was (if you did not provide it directly to us); and how long it will be stored. You have a right to correct (rectify) the record of your personal data maintained by us if it is inaccurate. You may request that we erase that data, cease or restrict processing it, subject to certain exceptions. In case of automated decision making, including profiling, you may request human intervention or challenge a decision.

In many countries, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the appropriate data protection authority if you have concerns about how we process your Information. When technically feasible, we will — at your request — provide your Information to you or transmit it directly to another controller.

How we keep your information safe?

We have put in place systems to safeguard the information you provide to us. We will never provide access to our databases to any third party, except to the extent necessary to conduct the operations of the Website and our activities (such as providing user data to Mailchimp).

How long we keep information about you?

We process and store the personal data of you only for the period necessary to achieve the purpose of storage, or as far as this is granted by laws or regulations to which we are subject to. The criteria used to determine the period of storage of personal data is the respective statutory retention period. After expiration of that period, the corresponding data is routinely deleted, as long as it is no longer necessary for the fulfillment of the contract or the initiation of a contract.

If the storage purpose is not applicable, or if a storage period prescribed by the European legislator or another competent legislator expires, the personal data are routinely blocked or erased in accordance with legal requirements.

Who is responsible?

The controller of the processing of your Information is:

Our Website contains links to other websites. This Privacy Policy only applies to this Website. So when you follow a link to other websites you should read their corresponding privacy policies. We keep our Privacy Policy under regular review and we will place any updates on this Website. This Privacy Policy was last updated on 3 January 2019.