Privacy Policy

Last update: July 2026

The "AQUATERRA" Ecological Society is firmly committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of your personal data, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the Romanian legislation in force. This policy explains in a transparent manner what data we collect, for what purposes we process it, how we secure it, and what rights you have in relation to the use of our services and platforms.

1. Data Controller

The controller of your personal data is the "AQUATERRA" ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY for the Study and Protection of Wild Flora and Fauna, with registered office at Splaiul Independenței no. 91-95, Room no. 7, Sector 5, Bucharest (within the Faculty of Biology), e-mail: office@seaquaterra.org.

Legal representative: President Associate Prof. Dr. Nicolai Crăciun.

2. Data We Collect and Its Source

We collect only the data strictly necessary for the proper functioning of the main platform and the management of our relationship with our supporters, through the following means:

  • Through the Contact Form: Name, e-mail address, and any other information voluntarily sent by you in the body of the message.
  • Through Donation and Sponsorship Modules: First name, last name, e-mail address, phone number, billing details (where required by law for issuing donation contracts or receipts).
  • 🔒 Note: card details are entered directly into the secured payment processor's platform and never reach our servers.
  • Technical and Browsing Data (Cookies): IP address, type of browser used, operating system, pages viewed, and duration of the visit. This data is collected anonymously to optimize website performance and diagnose any server errors.

3. Purposes and Legal Bases for Processing

We process your data exclusively for legitimate and lawful purposes:

  • Responding to requests: To process and answer questions or messages received through active forms (Legal basis: the legitimate interest of the association to communicate with the public and provide assistance).
  • Donation management and administrative activities: For mandatory accounting records, transaction confirmations, and issuing supporting documents in accordance with fiscal legislation in Romania (Legal basis: performance of a contract / legal obligation).
  • Website improvement: For technical optimization, cyber security, and server error diagnosis (Legal basis: legitimate interest in providing a stable and secure platform).

4. Data Retention Period

We do not keep your data longer than necessary:

  • Data from contact forms is kept for a maximum period of 2 years from the last interaction, in order to resolve the communication history.
  • Data related to donations and sponsorships is kept for a period of 10 years, according to the legal obligations of financial-accounting archiving imposed by the fiscal legislation in Romania.

5. Data Security and Transmission to Third Parties

We implement advanced technical, administrative, and managerial measures (SSL/HTTPS encryption, restricted access based on username and password, firewalls) to prevent unauthorized access, loss, or modification of your data.

  • Disclosure to third parties: Your data will not be sold, rented, or alienated for commercial purposes.
  • Certain technical contractual partners (web hosting service provider, authorized payment processor, accounting services) may have limited access to specific data, all of them being subject to strict confidentiality agreements.
  • Data will be transmitted to public authorities (ANAF, courts of law) only under the conditions where there is an express legal obligation to do so.

6. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject, you benefit from a series of clear rights, which you can exercise at any time:

  1. Right of access: You can request a confirmation of whether or not your data is being processed, as well as a copy of it.
  2. Right to rectification: You can request the correction of inaccurate data or the completion of incomplete data.
  3. Right to erasure ("the right to be forgotten"): You can request the deletion of data if it is no longer necessary for the original purposes or if you have withdrawn your consent (except for data we are legally obliged to keep for accounting).
  4. Right to restriction of processing: You can request the temporary blocking of processing if you contest the accuracy of the data.
  5. Right to data portability: You can request the transfer of your data in a structured and readable format to another controller.
  6. Right to withdraw consent: Easily, at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of the processing prior to withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, you can send us a simple written request to the e-mail address: office@seaquaterra.org.

Also, if you consider that your rights have been violated, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the national supervisory authority: ANSPDCP (28-30 G-ral. Gheorghe Magheru Blvd., Sector 1, Bucharest, e-mail: anspdcp@dataprotection.ro).