Privacy Policy | Digital Cities Foundation

I. Information we process

1. When you use our Site, we may ask you to provide us with certain personal information that can be used to contact or identify you. Personal information may include, but is not limited to, your name (“Personal Information”), email address, telephone number or other data that helps you use the services.

2. We collect information from you when you register on our site, when you subscribe to newsletters, when you respond to surveys, when you fill in forms, when you use live (online) chat or when you enter information on our site.

II. Cookies

1. “Cookies” are small data files that may include anonymous unique identifiers. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and are stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies are small files that sites or service providers transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow this), which enables the systems of the site or the service provider to recognise your browser and to capture and remember certain information. For example, we use Google Analytics, AdWords conversion tracking cookies and Facebook Pixel, which helps us create more useful articles and improve the user experience. They are also used to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current activity on the site, which allows us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies that help us collect aggregated data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site features and tools in the future.

2. We use “cookies” to collect information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to signal when a cookie is being sent. Even if you do not wish to allow cookies, you will still be able to use our website – simply switch them off in your browser settings. You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to switch off all cookies. Because browsers differ slightly, consult your browser’s Help menu to find out exactly how to configure cookies. Even if you decide to refuse cookies, you will still be able to use our website, although your access to some features and areas of our website may be limited.

III. “Logs”

1. Like many site operators, we collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Site (“Log Data”).

2. This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages and other statistics.

IV. Contacting you

1. We may use your Personal Data to contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information.

2. We may use the information we collect from you when you register, when you make purchases, when you sign up for our newsletter, when you respond to surveys or marketing communications, when you browse the website or use certain other site features, in the following ways:

2.1. To personalise your experience and to enable us to deliver the kind of content and product offerings you are most interested in.

2.2. To improve our website in order to serve you better.

2.3. To enable us to serve you better in response to your service requests.

2.4. To administer contests, promotions, surveys or other site features.

2.5. To process your transactions quickly.

2.6. To request ratings and reviews of services or products.

2.7. To follow them up after correspondence (live chat, email or telephone enquiries).

3. We store your data (in most cases only an email address) in our CRM system for the purposes set out above. You can Unsubscribe at any time and stop receiving messages from us.

V. Working with third parties

1. We do not sell, trade or otherwise transfer your personal information to outside parties unless we have given users prior notice. This does not include web hosting partners and other parties who help us operate our website, conduct our business or serve our users. We may also disclose information where that disclosure is made in order to comply with the law, to enforce our site policies, or to protect our rights, property or safety, or those of others.

2. Non-personal visitor information, however, may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising or other uses.

3. Please note that if you choose to subscribe to our newsletter, we may send you information on behalf of our partners that relates to what you do. You can unsubscribe at any time.

4. We may also include or offer third-party products or services on our website and/or in our newsletter, and partner with trusted third parties in order to provide you with joint marketing content that we believe may be relevant to you. We are not, however, responsible for the data protection practices used by those third-party websites, or for the information or content they contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Site. For this reason, this Privacy Policy does not apply to your use of third-party websites reached by selecting a link placed on our Site or in our newsletter. Those other websites or applications are governed by their own data protection (privacy) policies when you access or use those sites or applications. We encourage our users to read the data protection policies of other websites before using them.

5. Our Site may include Social Media Features, such as the “Facebook Like” button and “Widgets”, such as the “Share This” button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site. These features may collect data about your IP address and which page you are visiting on our site, and they may set cookies so that the feature works correctly. Social media features and widgets are hosted by a third party. This Privacy Policy does not apply to these features. Your interactions with these features are governed by the data protection (privacy) policies and other rules of the companies that provide them. We have no control over these Social Media Features and are therefore not responsible for the information/features they contain.

6. In addition, we may use third-party services such as:

6.1. Google Analytics, which collects, monitors and analyses how you interact with the Site.

6.2. UseSend, to store your email address and other data associated with it. We use UseSend as our platform for sending email and for managing the newsletter list. By submitting a form on the Site you confirm that the information you provide will be transferred to UseSend for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms.

6.3. Facebook Pixel.

6.4. Google Remarketing Tag.

VI. Security

The security of your Personal Information is important to us, but remember that no means of transmitting data over the Internet, and no method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Although we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

VII. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at [email protected]. You can find more information on the protection of personal data, as well as contact details for the Data Protection Authorities, at https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en.

VIII. Events

If we (or our assets) are acquired by another organisation (company), whether through a merger, an acquisition, a declaration of insolvency or otherwise, that organisation will receive all the information collected by us on the Site. In that case you will be notified by email and/or by a notice in a prominent place on our website about the change of ownership.

IX. Liability

1. We do not guarantee the uninterrupted operation of the Site.

2. We reserve the right to interrupt access to particular material or to the entire website for an unlimited period of time, whether planned or incidental. We are not liable for any damage suffered by Users as a result of such interruptions.

3. We reserve the right to redirect Users to other websites that are controlled by us. In that case the User must accept the terms of those websites.

4. We reserve the right to redirect Users to other websites that are owned and controlled by third parties. We have no control over the content of those websites and are therefore not responsible for the content of those websites.

5. The information on the Site must in no way be construed as advice or consultancy. All actions taken by Users in connection with the protection of their rights and legitimate interests should be taken after consulting a specialist in the relevant field.

6. The information provided on the Site may be general and abstract. Applying it correctly in practice depends on the law, including the legal facts of the specific situation, which cannot be described on the Site. This is why we are not liable for the way Users apply the information in various more complex situations, or in situations with specific characteristics that lead to damage for the User.

X. Changes to these policies

1. govalet.org (“the Site”, “we”, “us” or “our”). This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information we receive from users of the Site. By using the Site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with these policies. The Site is owned by “Digital Cities” – a public-benefit foundation registered in Bulgaria under UIC number: 208496657.

2. This Privacy Policy is in force and remains in force, save for any future changes to its provisions, which take effect immediately upon their publication on this page.

3. We reserve the right to update or change our Privacy Policy at any time, and you should review this Privacy Policy periodically. If you continue to use the Site after we publish changes to the Privacy Policy on this page, this will constitute acceptance of the amendments and your agreement to comply with and be bound by the amended Privacy Policy.

Addendum to the Privacy Policy (2026-10-22)

This addendum was added when the Site was rebuilt. The text above is preserved unchanged, except for section V.6.2, which named a provider the Site no longer uses.

1. Meta Conversions API. In addition to the Facebook Pixel in the browser, when you submit a contact or subscription form the Site sends Meta a server-side event containing your email address in hashed form (SHA-256), your IP address and your browser details. This transfer happens only if you have consented to cookies and tracking.

2. Retention periods. Your cookie-consent record is stored for 91 days if you accept and 30 days if you decline. Messages sent through the contact forms are kept in our mailbox. Newsletter subscriber data is kept until you unsubscribe.

3. Consent and withdrawal. Tracking is enabled only after explicit consent via the cookie banner. You may withdraw consent at any time using the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of every page; on withdrawal we delete the identifiers set by Meta and Google.

4. Legal basis. We process tracking and marketing data on the basis of your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), and contact-form messages on the basis of our legitimate interest in replying to your enquiry.

5. Your rights. You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection. You may exercise these rights at [email protected].

6. Transfers outside the EEA. Meta and Google process data outside the European Economic Area. Such transfers rely on the European Commission's adequacy decision regarding the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.