Privacy policy

The controller under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is:

Luiza Ivanova Samarova (Луиза Иванова Самарова), ul. Hristo Botev 33, 2760 Razlog, Bulgaria

Email: luizasammarova@gmail.com · UIC (ЕИК): 180828378

For any question about your data, just email me.

This website is hosted by Vercel Inc., 440 N Barranca Ave #4133, Covina, CA 91723, USA. When you open a page, Vercel’s servers automatically process technical data so the page can be delivered and kept secure:

• →your IP address
• →date and time of the visit
• →the page you opened and the page you came from
• →browser, operating system and device type

Legal basis: my legitimate interest in running a secure, working website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Vercel processes the data on my behalf under a data processing agreement. Data can be transferred to the USA; Vercel is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and Standard Contractual Clauses apply as well.

This site stores a few small pieces of information in your browser:

• →“cookie-consent” (local storage): remembers whether you accepted or declined analytics, so the banner doesn’t ask you again. Needed for the site to work.
• →“lang” (cookie, 1 year): remembers if you switched between English and Bulgarian. Needed for the site to work.
• →Google Analytics cookies (“_ga”, “_ga_…”, up to 2 years): only if you click “Accept”. See section 4.
• →“_adhara_sid” (local storage): a random ID for Adhara Analytics, only if you click “Accept”. See section 4.
• →“adhara_visitor_id” (local storage): a random ID used by the blog’s sign-up boxes. See section 6.

Storing information that the site needs to work is allowed without consent. Everything else only happens with your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and the ePrivacy rules). You can change your choice at any time via “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page.

If you click “Accept” in the cookie banner, this site uses Google Analytics 4, a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. It helps me understand how visitors use the site (which pages are read, how people find the site, which device they use) so I can improve it. If you don’t accept, Google Analytics is not loaded at all.

Google Analytics uses cookies and processes data such as pages viewed, approximate location (country/city), device and browser information and a shortened IP address. Google may transfer data to the USA; Google is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw it at any time via “Cookie settings”; the analytics cookies are then deleted. Data in Google Analytics is kept for up to 14 months. More: policies.google.com/privacy

If you click “Accept”, the site also uses Adhara Analytics (adharaweb.com) to count page views. For each page you open it sends the page address, the page you came from, campaign tags in the link (utm_…), whether you use a mobile or desktop device, and a random ID stored in your browser (“_adhara_sid”). It contains no name or email. Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). If you withdraw it via “Cookie settings”, the ID is deleted and Adhara Analytics is no longer loaded.

Video covers on this site are delivered through this website’s own server, so no data goes to YouTube just by looking at them. A video only loads from YouTube (in privacy-enhanced mode, youtube-nocookie.com) when you click play. From that moment Google receives your IP address and information about your device and the video. Legal basis: your action of starting the video (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). More: policies.google.com/privacy

Some blog articles contain a podcast player. The audio file is loaded from the podcast hosting service, which receives your IP address and browser details to deliver the audio.

The blog runs on Adhara (adharaweb.com). Some articles show boxes where you can sign up, for example to get a free resource or updates. If you fill one in, the data you enter (your email and, depending on the box, your name, phone number or company) is sent to Adhara so I can send you what you asked for and get back to you.

To count how often these boxes are seen and clicked, the site sends anonymous events to Adhara together with a random visitor ID stored in your browser (“adhara_visitor_id”). This ID does not contain your name or email.

If you also tick the box to get my emails, Adhara records your consent: the exact wording you agreed to, the date and time, the page and your IP address. Without that tick you only get what you asked for, not marketing emails.

Legal basis: your consent when you submit a form (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) and my legitimate interest in seeing which offers are useful (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). I keep your details until you unsubscribe or ask me to delete them.

If you email me (for example via the “Pitch yourself as a guest”, “Book me to speak” or newsletter buttons, which open your own email program), I process your email address and what you write so I can reply. Legal basis: steps before a possible agreement (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and my legitimate interest in answering messages (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). I delete the messages when they are no longer needed, unless the law requires me to keep them (for example for tax reasons).

This site only links to YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn; it does not embed their tracking buttons. Data only goes to these platforms when you click a link and visit them. Their own privacy policies apply there.

You have the right to:

• →get information about the data I hold about you (Art. 15 GDPR)
• →have incorrect data corrected (Art. 16)
• →have your data deleted (Art. 17)
• →restrict processing (Art. 18)
• →receive your data in a portable format (Art. 20)
• →object to processing based on legitimate interest (Art. 21)
• →withdraw your consent at any time, with effect for the future (Art. 7(3))

To use any of these rights, email luizasammarova@gmail.com.

You can also complain to a data protection authority, for example in Bulgaria: Commission for Personal Data Protection (КЗЛД), 2 Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov Blvd., 1592 Sofia · www.cpdp.bg, or the authority in the EU country where you live.

I update this policy when the website changes. The current version is always on this page.