Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2025

This Privacy Policy explains how Baltic News Today (referred to as “we”, “us” or “the site”) collects, uses and protects the personal data of users of balticnewstoday.com. We process data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — Regulation (EU) 2016/679 — and applicable national data protection laws across the Baltic states.

1. Data Controller

The data controller is the operator of Baltic News Today, accessible at balticnewstoday.com. For any data protection queries or to exercise your rights, please use the contact form on our Contact page.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect data only to the extent necessary to operate the site:

  • Voluntarily submitted data — your name, email address and message content when you use the contact form or sign up for the newsletter.
  • Technical data — IP address, browser type, operating system, pages visited and visit duration — collected automatically by our servers and analytics tools.
  • Cookies — see the cookies section below for full details.

3. Purpose and Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data for the following purposes:

  • Responding to messages submitted via the contact form (legal basis: legitimate interests or performance of a contract).
  • Sending the newsletter — only with your explicit consent (legal basis: consent).
  • Statistical analysis of site traffic to improve the site (legal basis: legitimate interests).
  • Displaying advertisements, including personalised ads — where you have given consent (legal basis: consent).

4. Cookies

Baltic News Today uses cookies — small text files stored on your device. We use the following categories:

  • Essential cookies — required for the site to function correctly. No consent required.
  • Analytics cookies — help us understand how users interact with the site (e.g. Google Analytics). Consent required.
  • Advertising cookies — used to serve personalised advertisements. Consent required.

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time through your browser settings or the consent management tool available on the site.

5. Google AdSense

Baltic News Today may display advertisements via Google AdSense. Google, as a third-party advertising provider, may use cookies (including the DART cookie) to serve ads based on your previous visits to our site and other sites on the internet. You can opt out of personalised Google advertising by visiting Google’s Ad Settings or the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

6. Sharing of Data

We do not sell, rent or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. Data may be shared only with:

  • Technical service providers (e.g. hosting, email, analytics) — only to the extent necessary for service delivery and under appropriate data processing agreements.
  • Public authorities — where required by law.

7. Data Retention

We retain data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Data submitted via the contact form is retained for a maximum of 12 months from the last contact.

8. Your Rights

Under the GDPR you have the following rights:

  • Right of access — you can request information about the personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to rectification — you can request that inaccurate data be corrected.
  • Right to erasure — you can request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”).
  • Right to restriction of processing — you can request that processing be restricted in certain circumstances.
  • Right to data portability — you can receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
  • Right to object — you can object to processing based on legitimate interests.
  • Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please use the form below. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant national data protection authority — the Data Inspectorate in Estonia (AKI), the Data State Inspectorate in Latvia (DVI) or the State Data Protection Inspectorate in Lithuania (VDAI).

9. Data Security

We apply appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss or destruction. Data transmission is secured using SSL/TLS encryption.

10. Changes to This Policy

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy. Material changes will be signalled by updating the date at the top of this document. We recommend reviewing the policy periodically.

11. Contact

For any questions about data protection or to exercise your rights, please contact us using the form below.