Privacy Policy

We strongly appreciate your contributions on our websites as well as you becoming member of Earth.org. Therefore it is more than just our duty to respect your privacy. We have created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy.

The policy below is applicable to all Earth.org sites and to Earth.org in general.

This Privacy Policy is about the usage of personal information that Earth.org collects when you use our services. The German law is relevant for this Privacy Policy ("Bundesdatenschutzgesetz" and "Teledienste-Datenschutzgesetz").

1. Your user information will not be sold or lent away, neither to marketing companies nor to any other group.

Collection and usage of data

2. When you create and edit an article we store all this information. We conserve older versions and even after "deletion" we store the information for an adequate period.

3. Earth.org collects two types of information about users: personal information such as name, email address, password, etc. (this information is collected when users voluntarily register at Earth.org) and aggregate information such as information about how many users log on to our sites on a daily basis, which places are the most visited, which are the most frequent search terms, etc. We also collect email addresses from users who send us support mail or request technical or other help.

4. Your username or IP address is associated with changes. When you create and edit an article, your username will be associated and displayed with that change on our website or any other media where the article is published.

5. We give users the option to remove their email address from our database at any time or to not receive future communications. To completely cancel your membership, please visit our Contact Us page and submit your request with the title "unsubscribe"; you may get one further confirmation mail in this case. In the event you want to keep membership but you don't want to receive any emails from us please click on the link which you can find in any email. Anyhow, all new articles created by the user and all edited articles by the user will still be associated and displayed with that change in the future.

6. Our web logs collect standard web log entries for each page served, including your IP address, page URL, and timestamp. We solely share this data in case of legal hassle; IP address log information will then be turned over to courts or law enforcement officials. In general, your Earth.org identity will not be protected in case of legal investigation.

Other

7. Earth.org uses email to inform you of the status of your Travel Page, new membership benefits and features, to let you know of urgent problems on our site, and to present special members-only opportunities to use or buy products and services that we think are appropriate to the interests of our community. Anyhow, you can elect not to receive our email messages by removing yourself from our mailing list; you will find an easy way to do so in every email.

8. Earth.org sites use 'cookies' to record information. A cookie is a small data file that Web sites store on your hard drive when you visit them. Cookies make navigation on Earth.org easier since you don't have to enter all information each time when you surf on Earth.org (e.g. your language version). Cookies allow us to measure activity on our sites and to improve your surfing on Earth.org by remembering some of your personal adjustments. Cookies allow us to determine which areas and features of our sites are most popular by measuring user activity. Earth.org sites do not use cookies to retrieve any information from your computer.

Most browsers are set to accept cookies. If you prefer, you may set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. However, some parts of our sites, such as the change of a language will not function properly if you choose not to accept cookies.

Earth.org might also use a third-party ad company to display ads on our site. These ads may contain cookies. While we use cookies in other parts of our Web site, cookies received with banner ads are collected by our ad company, and we do not have access to this information.

9. No transmission of data over the Internet is guaranteed to be completely secure. It may be possible for third parties not under our control to intercept or access transmissions or private communications unlawfully. While we strive to protect your personal information, Earth.org cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us.

Under no circumstances, including but not limited to negligence, shall Earth.org be liable for any special, incidental or consequential damages that result from the use of the information or materials on Earth.org sites, even if Earth.org or an authorized representative of Earth.org has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

10. Earth.org reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time without notice. Any such changes will be posted online. Use of this site signifies your understanding and agreement to comply with the entire Privacy Policy.

No warranty whatsoever is made that any of the articles we publish on our website are accurate. There is no assurance that any statement contained in one or all of the articles is true, correct, up to date or precise.