The Place Brand Observer is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This webpage tells you the data protection and privacy practices for PlaceBrandObserver.com, specifically:
- What personally identifiable information is collected
- Who is collecting this information
- How this information is used
- Our policy on sharing this information
- How we protect your information
- How you can correct any inaccuracies in this information
What personal data we collect, and why we collect it
Comments
Should you comment on a blog post or web page on this site, then your name, email address, IP address and message will be stored in our website database (as you would expect). This makes your name, website address and comment (but not your email address) viewable by the general public on the website.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Contact forms and newsletter
Should you send us an email via one of our contact forms, your name, email address and message will be emailed to us (as you would expect). This information is kept private. We will store this information within our own email system so that we are able to respond to you.
If you have chosen to share it with us, we use your email address to contact you in reply to your message, or to send you our newsletter. If you have entered your email address to leave a comment on the blog, it is used to identify your comment, however it is not displayed on the website or shared with any third party.
We may also use your email to help resolve issues or disputes, for example if you tell us that you cannot see any of your posts on the website, we would probably search our database using your email address to help diagnose the problem.
We do not share your personal information or email address with third parties.
Email opt-out
Just like you, we do not like spam. We do not send you spam emails.
You may opt-out of our emails at any time. An ‘unsubscribe’ link is included in all of our email newsletters.
Protection of your information
PlaceBrandObserver.com uses best endeavour to safeguard the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information. We use encryption (SSL) to further protect the information as it travels across the Internet. It is important to be aware that there is no such thing as “perfect internet security”.
How to correct inaccurate information
Once posted, you cannot change or remove any comments you have submitted on our website pages and/or posts. However, if you would like to have this information removed please contact us and we will do this for you.
How to contact us
Please use this contact form.
PlaceBrandObserver.com is a website owned by Dr Florian Kaefer. You can contact him anytime via [email protected], or by using the above contact form.
Cookies
As is common practice with almost all professional websites, this site uses cookies – tiny files that are downloaded to your computer, to improve your browsing experience. Below we tell you what information they gather, how we use it and why we sometimes need to store these cookies. We will also share how you can prevent these cookies from being stored (however this may downgrade or ‘break’ certain elements of the site functionality).
For general information on cookies we recommend this Wikipedia article on HTTP Cookies.
How we use cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
This site offers an email newsletter subscription service. Cookies may be used to remember if you are already registered, and whether to show certain notifications, which might only be valid to subscribed/unsubscribed users.
This site offers e-commerce or payment facilities and some cookies are essential to ensure that your order is remembered between pages so that we can process it properly.
From time to time we offer user surveys and questionnaires to provide you with interesting insights, helpful tools, or to understand our users more accurately. These surveys may use cookies to remember who has already taken part in a survey, or to provide you with accurate results after you change pages.
When you submit data to us through a form, such as those found on contact pages or comment forms, cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. YouTube videos). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics, which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solutions on the web. It helps us understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit, so we can continue to produce engaging content.
Disabling cookies
You can prevent cookies by adjusting the settings in your browser (see your browser’s Help section for how to do this). Be aware that disabling cookies might affect the functionality of the websites that you visit. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not disable cookies.
Use of Google Ads and Compliance with Regulations
Our website uses Google Ads, a third-party service provided by Google, to deliver relevant advertisements to our visitors. By using our website, you consent to the use of cookies and other tracking technologies by Google Ads and our advertising partners. This section outlines how we comply with the relevant regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and other applicable privacy laws.
1. Data Collection and Use
- Google Ads may collect information about your interactions with our website, such as the pages you visit and the links you click on.
- This data is used to personalize the ads you see, improve the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns, and deliver more relevant content.
- We do not have access to personal data collected by Google Ads, and we do not use this data for purposes other than those described in this policy.
2. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
- Google Ads uses cookies and similar technologies to collect and store information about your visit to our website. These cookies help us understand how you use our site and enable us to provide a better user experience.
- You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. For more information on how Google uses cookies, please visit Google’s Privacy & Terms.
3. Your Rights and Choices
- Under the GDPR and other applicable laws, you have the right to access, rectify, or delete your personal data. You also have the right to object to the processing of your data and to withdraw your consent at any time.
- To exercise these rights, or if you have any questions about how your data is used, please contact us.
- You can also opt out of personalized ads by visiting the Google Ads Settings or using the Your Online Choices tool.
4. Data Transfers
- Google Ads may transfer your data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or your home country. Google adheres to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and other relevant frameworks to ensure that your data is protected during such transfers.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable laws. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.
By continuing to use our website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy, and you agree to its terms.