What I measure and what I don’t

Who is responsible for the data

Nicolae Urs, author of nicolaeurs.ro. You can reach me at nicuurs@gmail.com.

What I measure

• The page view: which page, date and time, the site you came from (its name only, for example facebook.com), campaign parameters in the address (utm_), the type of device (phone, tablet or computer), the family of browser and operating system (for example Chrome on Android, without version), the browser language, the time zone, light or dark theme and the approximate window width.
• How long the page was open and visible, and how far you scrolled.
• What you do on the pages: on the presentation pages, clicks on the main buttons and on links, and the city chosen from the list in “How is your city doing?”; on Ghicește bugetul, your answers and score; on Primar pentru un an, the problem chosen and the decisions in the signed budget; on Chitanța orașului, the types of income you ticked, the salary or pension band (not the exact amount) and how far down the page you got; on Câte voturi aduce un primar?, the locality you picked from the search or the map (or that came in a link), the chapters you reached, the maps you switched and the “Cum am calculat” (how I calculated) notes you opened; on Bula ta, how many rounds you start and finish, how far you get in a round and which “Metodă” (method) boxes you open, without your answers or points. I also count clicks on the share buttons.

The answers in Bula ta

Bula ta also has a separate collection, for research: the answers and points of each round, sent only if you leave the box at the start ticked, without the IP address and without the time of day. It is described on the game’s page, under “Confidențialitate: ce trimitem și de ce” (privacy: what we send and why).

What I do not measure

• Your IP address, cookies or codes stored in your browser.
• What you type into fields. A city typed freely that is not on the list is recorded only as “altul” (other). Exact amounts you enter are not recorded either.
• Your name, e-mail or location. I have your e-mail address only if you subscribe to the monthly letter (see below).

How actions in the same visit are linked

When a page loads, it receives a random code, kept only in the browser’s memory while the page is open. That is how I know, for example, that someone who started a game also finished it. The code disappears when you close or reload the page, so you cannot be recognised on a later visit.

How unique visitors are counted

For each day, the server mixes the IP address and the browser type with a random key and keeps only the result. The key changes at midnight and the old one is deleted, so the IP address cannot be recovered from the result and two days cannot be linked. The IP address is never stored.

What stays in your browser

The presentation pages, Câte voturi aduce un primar? and Bula ta store nothing on your device. Chitanța orașului remembers the city and the incomes you entered, and the two games remember the chosen city, so you do not have to type them again next time. If you press “Don’t measure me”, that choice is stored too. All of this stays on your device and is not sent to me. You can delete it in your browser settings, under site data.

Legal basis

The legal basis is legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) in measuring anonymously how the pages are used, and scientific research (Art. 89 GDPR). The data do not identify anyone, so they cannot be linked to a specific person (Art. 11 GDPR).

Where the data are kept, and for how long

On the server that hosts nicolaeurs.ro. They are not sold or given to anyone. Aggregated results, without data on individual visits, may appear in articles and presentations. Being anonymous, the data are kept for research.

Like any web server, the hosting company’s server (Hostinger) may keep technical logs, including IP addresses, for security, under its own rules.

Fonts and the steps chart

The fonts of the presentation pages are hosted on this server. The data for the steps chart are read by the server from a Google spreadsheet, so your browser does not contact Google. The fonts of the projects are also served from this server.

Automatic opt-out

If your browser sends the “Global Privacy Control” or “Do Not Track” signal, the pages send nothing, without you pressing any button.

Links to other sites

Links to orase-digitale.ro, CSLDI, LinkedIn, Google Scholar or ResearchGate lead to sites with their own privacy rules.

The monthly letter

If you subscribe, I keep your e-mail address, the language of the page you subscribed from, and the dates of the request and of the confirmation. I use them only to send you the letter, once a month.

The subscription starts only after you confirm it from the e-mail I send you. An unconfirmed request is deleted after 7 days. Every letter has an unsubscribe link; when you use it, your address is deleted from the list completely. You can also ask me by e-mail to delete it.

The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). The addresses are kept on the server that hosts the site, are not given to anyone and are not used for anything else. The letters are sent through the hosting company’s mail server.

If you write to me

I use your e-mail address only to reply. I do not add it to any list without your explicit consent.

Your rights

For any question, write to me at the address above. You can also complain to the Romanian data protection authority, ANSPDCP (dataprotection.ro).