Caring for nature also means respecting people. This page explains which data we use when you visit tartarughediterra.com or contact our editorial team, why we need them and how you can exercise your rights.
You do not need to register or provide an email address to read the guides, species profiles or Little Guardians content. This notice is provided under Articles 12 and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 — the GDPR.
1. Who the controller is and how to contact us
The data controller is Fondazione I Custodi della Terra ETS (The Guardians of the Earth Foundation ETS), Italian tax code 05616620265, with its registered and administrative office at Via Longhin 1, 31100 Treviso (TV), Italy.
For information about your data and to exercise your rights, write to info@icustodidellaterra.org or to the Foundation’s postal address, quoting “Privacy — Tartarughe di Terra”.
Tartarughe di Terra is an editorial project of the Foundation. The administrative office is not a place where visitors can see animals.
2. When you browse the website
To display pages and protect the service, our computer systems process technical data such as IP address, request date and time, the page or resource requested, browser information, any referring page and the server response. These data may appear in technical records known as logs.
The purposes are to make content available, diagnose errors, prevent unauthorised access and manage cybersecurity incidents. The legal basis is the Foundation’s legitimate interest in operating and securing the website under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, balanced against visitors’ rights. We do not use these logs to build advertising profiles.
Transmitting strictly necessary technical data is part of how the internet works: without it, the website cannot respond to your browser’s request.
3. When you write to us
If you contact the Foundation, we process your email address, any name you choose to provide, the message content and any relevant attachments. The “Write to us” link opens your email application: you compose and send the message yourself.
We use these data to read your enquiry, reply and manage any follow-up. For questions, suggestions and editorial corrections, the legal basis is our legitimate interest in handling incoming correspondence under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Where an enquiry concerns steps you request before entering into a contract, or performance of an agreement to which you are a party, Article 6(1)(b) applies instead, limited to what is necessary. Any obligations imposed by law are based on Article 6(1)(c).
Writing to us is optional and is not a condition for reading the website. A valid contact address and essential information about your enquiry are needed if you would like a reply. You do not need to send identification documents or irrelevant personal information.
Contacting us does not subscribe you to a newsletter, add you to promotional lists or authorise publication of your message.
Email is also managed through Outlook and a smartphone app used for the Foundation’s work. Retention checks cover copies on authorised devices and in authorised archives, not only the server mailbox.
4. Proposing photographs and editorial content
You may describe a contribution you would like to propose to the editorial team. Reviewing a proposal and publishing it are separate activities: no message or attachment is published automatically.
Before publication, we agree the content and attribution and establish the necessary rights and permissions. Article 6(1)(b) GDPR applies to data needed for the agreement with the author. Where consent is required for a particular use of personal data or images, we obtain it separately: sending a file does not constitute general consent. Checking copyright does not replace checking the data protection rights of people depicted.
Attribution and other details agreed for publication become publicly accessible online and may be indexed by search engines. Information strictly necessary to document an authorised use or protect a right may be retained separately from ordinary correspondence, on the basis of the agreement, an applicable obligation or a legitimate interest in protecting rights.
5. Inactive services and links to other websites
Terra does not currently offer public forms for sending enquiries or attachments, the game that collects a name and email address and sends an automatic result, PDF delivery by email, newsletters or payments. The photographic guide to recognising males and females, and its read-only comparisons, remain available without providing contact details.
Introducing services that collect additional data will require a specific privacy notice and the necessary safeguards before activation. This notice does not itself authorise the launch of those services or the sending of promotional communications.
Links to learn about or support the Foundation lead to icustodidellaterra.org; other links may lead to tartarughedacqua.it or cited sources. These are technically separate websites: consult the privacy information for the service you use. A link does not automatically transfer your enquiries to the other projects’ databases. When you open an external destination, your browser sends that website the data needed to establish the connection.
6. Cookies and tracking tools
Editorial photographs, fonts and videos are served by this website, without automatically loading third-party social or video embeds.
The area for authorised users may use technical authentication, session and preference cookies necessary for its operation. These are not used for advertising or profiling. You can manage or delete cookies in your browser settings; blocking technical cookies may prevent access to the restricted area.
Strictly necessary technical tools do not require prior cookie consent. Optional statistics remain separate and are never required to read the content.
7. How long we retain data
We do not retain all data indiscriminately for the same period.
| Category | Retention period or criterion |
|---|---|
| Emails, ordinary enquiries and necessary related attachments | For handling the enquiry and, after it is closed, up to 12 months for follow-up and reference to the correspondence. Material that is no longer needed is deleted sooner. |
| Ordinary technical access and error logs managed within the hosting service | The plan sets a maximum of 30 days from recording for operation, diagnosis and security; the retention setting in the hosting panel when checked on 11 September 2026 was 3 days. This value does not describe every other internal log kept by the provider. |
| Operational backups containing personal data, managed directly by the Foundation | Rotation or manual deletion within 30 days of each copy being created, with access limited to recovery and service continuity, subject to the specific exceptions below. |
| The provider’s internal technical backup copies, not directly accessible to the Foundation | These follow the rotation and overwriting cycle of the service used for recovery and business continuity. Deleting files accessible to the Foundation does not necessarily delete these copies immediately or establish their retention period. The Foundation is responsible for checking the applicable cycle; the 30-day limit for directly managed copies is not a guarantee concerning the provider’s internal systems. |
| Published contributions and agreed attribution | For the duration of publication and while a relevant editorial purpose remains, with requests for updates or removal reviewed. |
| Agreements, permissions and records of obligations or rights | For the duration of the use or relationship and then for the period needed to meet the specific legal obligation or protect the right, limited to relevant documents. |
In the event of a specific incident, dispute or request from an authority, we retain only the necessary data separately for as long as handling the case or the applicable obligation requires. This does not automatically extend retention of all logs or emails. System administrator access logs, where subject to specific requirements, follow those requirements rather than the period for ordinary visitor logs.
Deletion from active systems may take place before all backup copies expire. For copies managed directly by the Foundation, any residual retention falls within 30 days of the copy’s creation, unless a specific, documented exception applies; the provider’s internal copies follow the separate cycle described above. Remaining copies are for recovery, not reuse in ordinary or promotional activities. If a backup is restored, deletions already due must be reapplied. These criteria do not authorise indefinite retention or limit your ability to exercise your rights against the Foundation.
The Foundation’s administrator is responsible for checking correspondence retention deadlines each month and deleting expired items. The website does not perform this deletion automatically.
8. Who can access the data and international transfers
Data are accessible to authorised Foundation personnel as required to handle the enquiry, and to providers of hosting, email, support and maintenance services. Providers processing data on our behalf act as processors under Article 28 GDPR, in accordance with the relevant agreements and instructions.
Hosting is provided by Register S.p.A. (Register.it). Data may also be disclosed to advisers or authorities where necessary to meet legal obligations or protect rights. We do not sell personal data or disclose contact details to third parties for their promotional campaigns.
Where a service involves transferring data outside the European Economic Area, transfers must be covered by an applicable adequacy decision or the safeguards required by Chapter V GDPR, such as standard contractual clauses and any necessary supplementary measures. You may ask the Foundation about the actual recipients and applicable safeguards, and how to obtain a copy. A provider being based in Italy does not, on its own, guarantee that no international transfers occur.
9. Minors and information you should not send
Little Guardians content is available without signing up. We do not ask children for a name, email address or other data in order to read it; any contact with the editorial team must be handled by an adult.
Do not send unsolicited photographs of identifiable minors, personal health data, identity documents, full CITES certificates containing personal data, coordinates of animal locations or bank details. An initial description is enough for an editorial proposal: if more material is needed, we will agree a suitable channel and instructions.
10. Your rights
In the circumstances and within the limits set by the GDPR, you may request access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and, where applicable, data portability. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests on grounds relating to your particular situation. Where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw it without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Write to info@icustodidellaterra.org, providing enough information to identify your request. You do not need to attach an identity document immediately: any checks must be proportionate to doubts about identity and the risks of disclosing data.
We respond without undue delay and in any event within one month of receipt. Where necessary because of the complexity or number of requests, this period may be extended by two further months; we will inform you of the extension and reasons within the first month. Exercising your rights is normally free of charge; exceptions under Article 12 GDPR must be justified.
You may lodge a complaint with the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali) without first making a request to the Foundation, and seek other remedies provided by law. Rights, including erasure, apply taking account of the obligations and exceptions in the GDPR.
Within the services described here, we do not make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.
11. Updates
This notice concerns the processing described for Tartarughe di Terra. If new features or significant changes are introduced, we update this page and provide the necessary information before using data for new purposes.
Game with results by email
The interactive game with results sent by email is not active and does not collect names or email addresses. The guide, photographic comparisons and read-only answers remain available without providing these data.
