Last updated: May 5, 2019
Effective: May 5, 2019

You came to this website to enjoy some stories about travel and science and maybe get inspired for your next trip. It would suck for privacy issues to put a damper on this. I am therefore committed to protecting your privacy when you visit this website, thetravellingscientist.com (also known as thetravelingbiologist.com, thetravellingbiologist.com and, in this policy, as ‘Website’).

Personal data

You can access and browse this Website without sharing any of your personal data such as name or e-mail. If you want to interact with this Website’s content, for example by posting comments, you will be informed explicitly of the personal data required for the interaction. By engaging in the interaction, you agree to share the personal data required and the terms under which these data will be used by the Website (see “Data collected and how it will be used” below). By interacting with the Website’s content, you also agree to the Website’s Privacy Policy. Please read the following Privacy Policy before you start to interact with the Website; I promise it isn’t too long.

Commitment to children’s privacy

Although I don’t expect readers of this Website to be younger than 18, I still find it very important to state here that I am committed to the privacy of children. I do not collect or maintain information from people I know are under 18. If you are under 18 and happen to read this, you are welcome to browse the Website and read its content, but do not provide any personal information like your name and e-mail address anywhere on this Website such as by posting comments. If I learn I have received or collected personal information from a person under 18 without verification of parental consent, I will delete that information. If you believe I might have information from or about a person under 18, please contact me through the contact page

Data collected and how it will be used

On this Website, I collect data from you in a few ways:

1. Comments: your name, e-mail address, and comment. Please be aware that the name you provide will be posted along with your comment and be visible to any other visitor of this Website. I have no control and cannot be held responsible for how these visitors use your posted personal data (name) and the content of your comment.
2. Opt-in to emails such as newsletters or email series: your name and e-mail address.
3. Contact page: your name, e-mail address, and message.
4. Cookies (see Cookie Policy).

The information collected may be used

• to operate and maintain this Website;
• to improve your experience on this Website;
• to respond to your comments and messages you sent through the contact page;
• to provide and deliver the information, products and services you request;
• to communicate with you about the Website’s content, products, services, surveys, and events offered by Successful Grad and others, and provide news and information that might be of interest to you;
• to monitor and analyze trends, usage and user activity on the Website;
• to improve the content or features that match user profiles or interests.

The information and personal data collected through comments, opt-in emails, and the contact form will be stored until 1) you ask me to delete it, 2) I decide to stop using my current data providers (contact form plugins, etc.), or 3) I decide that the value of keeping the data is outweighed by the time and cost of keeping it, whichever occurs first. Your information and personal data will not be sold or otherwise passed on to third parties.

In all cases, you will be informed explicitly about the data to be collected and asked for your explicit consent. You can withdraw consent at any time by changing your cookie preferences on the Cookie Policy page, clicking on the link to unsubscribe from the email messages, or contacting me at julia@thetravellingscientist.com.

Your rights under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

If you are visiting this Website from a location within the European Union, you are entitled to information about the collection and use of your personal data by this Website. You also have rights concerning these data and should feel free to use them at any point in time. Your rights under the GDPR include:

• the right to be informed:  I am informing you now with this Privacy Policy;
• the right of access: I will provide you with the data I have about you at your request;
• the right to rectification: I will fix incorrect data about you at your request;
• the right to erasure: I will erase the data I have about you at your request;
• the right to restrict processing: you can ask me to restrict certain types of processing on your personal data;
• the right to object: you can object to how I use your data;
• the right to data portability: I will provide the data I have about you for export at your request.

I don’t think these rights should be limited to people located in the European Union. So, regardless of your location, if you want to exercise any of the above-mentioned rights, please contact me at julia@thetravellingscientist.com.

If, after contacting me, you feel a privacy issue has not been resolved, you have the right to file a complaint with a supervisory authority.

External websites

On this Website, I often link to other sites. Please keep in mind that I do not control the privacy policies or data collection and usage of those other websites. I encourage you to read the privacy and cookie policies of each website you visit that may collect personal data from you.

Changes and updates to this Privacy Policy

I may change and/or update this Privacy Policy at any time. When doing so, I will revise the update and effective dates at the top of the policy. I encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about the latest information practices and the ways you can help protect your privacy on this Website.