Privacy Policy

Last updated: 13 April 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how the Free Bashkortostan Initiative ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects information when you visit this website. We comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy Directive.

1. Who we are

The website is operated by the Free Bashkortostan Initiative — a non-commercial human rights awareness project run by members of the Bashkir diaspora community. For questions regarding this policy or your personal data, please contact us using the details at the bottom of this page.

2. What information we collect

We collect only the minimum amount of data necessary to operate this website and to respond to people who choose to contact us.

2.1. Information you provide to us

• Petition signatures — if you sign the petition, we may collect your name, email address, and country. This data is used solely to verify signatures and deliver the petition to relevant institutions.
• Contact messages — if you email us, we process the content of your message and your email address in order to reply.

2.2. Information collected automatically

• Technical data — IP address (truncated), browser type, operating system, referring page, and pages visited. This is standard server log data used for security and to diagnose problems.
• Cookies and similar technologies — see section 4 below.

3. Legal basis and purposes

We process personal data on the following legal bases under Article 6 GDPR:

• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — for non-essential cookies and for processing petition signatures.
• Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) — for basic website security, prevention of abuse, and aggregated traffic statistics.
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) — where we are required by law to retain certain records.

4. Cookies

A cookie is a small text file stored in your browser. We use the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly necessary — required for the site to function, including remembering your cookie preferences and language selection. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics — only loaded if you give consent. Help us understand how visitors use the site (aggregated and anonymized). We do not use them to identify individual visitors.
• Marketing — only loaded if you give consent. Currently we do not run any marketing cookies; this category is reserved for future use and requires your explicit opt-in.

You can change or withdraw your choices at any time via the "Cookie settings" link in the footer or by clearing your browser cookies.

5. Third-party services

The website loads fonts from Google Fonts (fonts.google.com). When you visit the site, your browser may contact Google servers, which may process your IP address. You can find Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for advertising purposes.

6. Data retention

• Server log data is retained for no longer than 30 days, after which it is deleted or anonymized.
• Petition data is retained only for the duration of the campaign and then securely deleted.
• Email correspondence is retained for as long as needed to handle your request, and for a reasonable period afterwards.

7. Your rights under the GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• The right of access — to receive a copy of the data we hold about you.
• The right to rectification — to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• The right to erasure ("right to be forgotten").
• The right to restrict processing.
• The right to data portability.
• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• The right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
• The right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Data security

We apply reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, but we take protection seriously.

9. International transfers

Where data is transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.

10. Children

This website is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe a child has provided us with data, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be communicated via a notice on the website.

12. Contact