Privacy Policy - Brave Talks

Brave Talks is a community initiative that creates spaces for thoughtful, compassionate conversation. This Privacy Policy explains, in clear language, how we handle personal information in connection with the Brave Talks website, forms and communications.

Brave Talks is not a registered organisation or separate legal entity. It is an independent community initiative created and run by Reka Peterfi and Loredana Pod. Reka and Loredana jointly decide why and how personal data is collected and used through Brave Talks.
 

1. Who is responsible for personal data

Brave Talks is not a registered organisation or separate legal entity. It is an independent community initiative created and run by:

• Reka Peterfi

• Loredana Pod

Reka and Loredana jointly decide why and how personal data is collected and used through the Brave Talks website, forms and communications. For the purposes of data protection law, they should be treated as jointly responsible for the processing of personal data described in this notice.

When this policy says "we", "us" or "our", it refers to Reka and Loredana acting together in relation to Brave Talks.
 

2. What information we collect

Through the Brave Talks website, forms and email, we may collect:

Basic contact details

• Name

• Email address

Event registration and pre-registration details

• Which event or activity you are interested in

• Any preferences or practical information you choose to share, for example language preference, accessibility needs you decide to mention, or how you heard about the event

Contact enquiries

• The content of your message when you contact us with questions, ideas or feedback

Optional newsletter / updates sign-up

• Your name and email address

• Your choice to receive Brave Talks updates

Optional consent for official event photography

• Your yes/no answer to whether you agree to be included in official event photos

Free-text information

• Any other information you choose to write in open text fields on forms or in emails

Technical information from cookies and similar technologies

• Information about how you use the website, such as pages visited and basic device/browser details, as controlled through the cookie consent mechanism

We do not intentionally collect more information than is needed for the purposes described in this policy, and we do not deliberately seek sensitive medical or therapeutic information.
 

3. How we collect information

We collect information in these main ways:

Website forms (Wix Forms)

When you fill in and submit forms on the Brave Talks website, for example event registration, pre-registration of interest, "Create With Us" or contact forms, the information you enter is collected through Wix.

Email (Google Workspace)

When you email us, for example using contact@bravetalksromania.com, your message and contact details are received in the Brave Talks Google Workspace email account. Both Reka and Loredana have access to this account.

Optional newsletter / marketing sign-up

Where there is an option to sign up for Brave Talks updates or newsletters, the information you provide, such as your name and email address, is collected through the relevant form.

Cookies and similar technologies

When you visit the website, cookies and similar technologies may collect information about how you use the site. Your choices are managed through the Usercentrics cookie consent mechanism shown on the website.
 

4. Why we use information

We use personal information for the following purposes:

Event registration and pre-registration

• To receive and manage your registration or pre-registration for Brave Talks events

• To confirm your interest and, where applicable, provide essential event information

• To understand interest in current and future events

Contact enquiries

• To read and respond to your questions, ideas, feedback or collaboration proposals

• To follow up with you where a response is needed

Optional newsletters and updates

• To send you Brave Talks news, event announcements and related updates only if you have clearly chosen to receive them

Optional consent for official event photography

• To record whether you have agreed to be included in official event photos, where this is clearly asked and relevant for a specific event

Understanding community interests

• To get a general sense of what topics, formats and events people are interested in, so we can shape Brave Talks in a thoughtful way

Website administration and improvement

• To operate, maintain and improve the website and its forms

• To understand how the website is used, in order to keep it functional and user-friendly

We do not use the information described here to make automated decisions about you.
 

5. Legal basis for processing

Under the GDPR, we need a legal basis for each type of processing. The legal basis depends on why we are processing your information.

Event administration

Where you purchase or register for an event, we may process the information necessary to administer your participation, provide essential event information and manage practical arrangements relating to the event.

Pre-registration and expressions of interest

When you pre-register your interest in a Brave Talks event or future activity, we process the information you provide to manage your expression of interest, understand demand and communicate relevant information about the activity. Pre-registration is not a ticket reservation or booking confirmation.

Consent

We rely on your consent where you have actively chosen:

• to receive optional Brave Talks newsletters or updates

• to accept optional cookies or similar technologies that require consent

• to appear in official event photographs where separate consent is requested

Legitimate interests

We may rely on legitimate interests to:

• respond to enquiries that you send us

• manage reasonable records of communications

• understand general community interests and plan future Brave Talks activities

• operate, maintain and improve the website and its basic functionality

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider our interests alongside your rights, freedoms and reasonable expectations.

If a different legal basis is required for a particular processing activity, we will apply the appropriate legal basis and update this policy where necessary.
 

6. Event registration and pre-registration

When you register or pre-register for a Brave Talks event:

• The information you provide through the Wix forms is collected and stored through Wix.

• We use this information to:

  • Confirm your interest and, where applicable, provide essential event information

  • Share essential event information, such as time, location, format and access details

  • Understand interest in the event and plan capacity

Where needed, we may also use your contact details to let you know about important changes to the event, for example time or venue changes.

We do not sell or trade event registration information.

If you later decide you no longer wish to attend or be contacted about a specific event, you can let us know using the contact details in the "How to contact us about privacy" section.
 

7. Contact enquiries

When you contact us, for example by email or through a contact form:

• Your message and contact details are received in the Brave Talks Google Workspace email account, which both Reka and Loredana can access.

• We use this information to:

  • Read and respond to your enquiry

  • Follow up where needed

  • Keep a reasonable record of our communication

We rely mainly on legitimate interests to handle contact enquiries, as it is expected that we will read and respond to messages you choose to send us.
 

8. Optional newsletters and updates

If there is an option to sign up for Brave Talks newsletters or updates:

• We will only send you these optional communications if you have clearly opted in.

• We use your name and email address to send you information about Brave Talks events, news and related updates.

• We retain your newsletter or update information while you remain subscribed.

• If you unsubscribe, we remove you from the active mailing list within 30 days.

• We may retain a minimal record of your withdrawal, for example your email address and the fact that you unsubscribed, where reasonably necessary to ensure that we do not send you future unwanted communications.

We rely on consent as the legal basis for these optional communications and do not intend to keep newsletter data indefinitely without purpose.
 

9. Optional consent for official event photography

For some events, we may ask whether you agree to be included in official event photographs, for example photographs used to document or communicate about Brave Talks.

Where separate consent is requested, we will clearly explain what you are being asked to consent to and record your yes or no choice.

We rely on consent for this optional photography permission.

If you do not consent, we will respect that choice in how we take and use official event photographs, subject to the practical limitations of photographing a public event and the specific arrangements communicated for that event.

We retain the record of your photography consent or refusal for up to 3 years after the relevant event so that we can keep an appropriate record of the choice you made.
 

10. Free-text information and sensitive topics

Brave Talks is a community space, not therapy, counselling, healthcare or a clinical service.

In free-text fields on forms and in emails, you are free to share what feels right for you. However, we strongly encourage you not to submit:

• Detailed medical information

• Therapeutic or clinical case details

• Highly confidential personal histories

• Information about other people that they would reasonably expect to remain private

We do not deliberately seek or encourage sensitive personal information through general forms or email. If you are unsure whether something is appropriate to share through a form, you can contact us first.

If you do share sensitive information, it may still be stored in our email or form records, but we do not actively request this type of information.
 

11. Cookies and Usercentrics consent mechanism

The Brave Talks website uses cookies and similar technologies to help it function and to understand how visitors use the site.

• Some cookies are strictly necessary for the website to work properly.

• Other cookies, for example for preferences, statistics or marketing, are optional.

The website uses Usercentrics to manage cookie consent:

• When you visit the site, you will see a cookie banner or consent interface provided by Usercentrics.

• You can choose which categories of cookies you accept or reject, except for those that are strictly necessary.

• You can usually change your cookie preferences later through the same mechanism.

Your choices in Usercentrics control which optional cookies are used in your browser. Cookie preferences and consent records are managed through the Usercentrics consent mechanism and according to the applicable settings and retention practices of that service.
 

12. Service providers and international transfers

To run the Brave Talks website and communications, we currently use:

Wix

• For website hosting, design and functionality

• For collecting information through website forms, such as event registration, pre-registration and contact forms

Google Workspace (email)

• For the Brave Talks email account, for example contact@bravetalksromania.com

• For receiving and storing email communications related to Brave Talks

These service providers process personal data on our behalf in order to provide their services. They each have their own privacy policies and terms, which describe how they handle data in more detail.

Depending on the services and configurations used, our service providers may process personal data in countries outside the European Economic Area. Where this occurs, the relevant provider is responsible for applying the safeguards required by applicable data protection law. We will update this section if our use of services changes in a way that materially affects international data transfers.

We have not listed any additional providers here. If we start using other tools or services that affect how personal data is handled, this section should be updated.
 

13. Data retention

We keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless we are required to keep it for longer by law.

Our current retention approach is:

Event registration and pre-registration information

We normally retain this information for up to 12 months after the relevant event or activity, unless there is a specific reason to retain it for longer.

Contact enquiries

We normally retain correspondence for up to 12 months after the last meaningful communication, unless there is an ongoing reason to retain it.

Newsletter and update subscriptions

We retain your subscription information while you remain subscribed. If you unsubscribe, we remove you from the active mailing list within 30 days. We may retain a minimal record of your withdrawal where reasonably necessary to ensure that we do not contact you again.

Official event photography consent

Where we collect a record of your consent or refusal to appear in official event photographs, we normally retain that consent record for up to 3 years after the relevant event.

Unnecessary sensitive information

If unnecessary sensitive or highly confidential information is submitted through a general form or email, we aim to delete it as soon as reasonably practicable once we identify that it is not needed.

We periodically review the information we hold and aim to delete or anonymise information when it is no longer needed.
 

14. Data security

We take reasonable steps to help protect the personal data we handle from loss, misuse or unauthorised access. This includes relying on established service providers, such as Wix and Google Workspace, that offer security features as part of their services.

However, no system or method of transmission is completely secure, and we cannot promise or guarantee absolute security.

If we become aware of a situation that may significantly affect your privacy, we will consider appropriate steps in line with applicable laws and good practice.
 

15. Your rights under GDPR

If you are in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or another region with similar data protection laws, such as the GDPR, you may have rights that can include:

• Right of access: to ask whether we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data.

• Right to rectification: to ask us to correct personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.

• Right to erasure: to ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the original purpose.

• Right to restriction of processing: to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.

• Right to object: to object to certain types of processing, such as processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.

• Right to data portability: to ask for your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to have it transmitted to another controller where technically possible and required by law.

How these rights apply in practice can depend on the specific situation and the legal basis we rely on.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, you can contact us using the details in the "How to contact us about privacy" section. We will do our best to respond in a way that is consistent with applicable data protection laws.
 

16. Withdrawing consent

Where we rely on your consent, for example for optional newsletters, certain cookies, or official event photography, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

You can usually do this by:

• Using any "unsubscribe" or similar option provided in our messages, where available

• Adjusting your cookie preferences through the Usercentrics consent mechanism on the website

• Contacting us using the details below and telling us which consent you wish to withdraw

Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of any use of your information that took place before you withdrew it. It may, however, mean that we can no longer provide certain optional features, for example newsletters.
 

17. Right to complain to the supervisory authority

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us first so we can try to address them.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. For Brave Talks, the relevant authority is the Romanian National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing (Autoritatea Națională de Supraveghere a Prelucrării Datelor cu Caracter Personal).

You can find more information there about how to contact the authority and how to submit a complaint.
 

18. How to contact us about privacy

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal data, you can contact us at:

contact@bravetalksromania.com

Brave Talks
Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Please note that Brave Talks is a community initiative run by Reka Peterfi and Loredana Pod, not a registered organisation.
 

19. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example when:

• We change the website or introduce new features

• We start using new tools or services that affect how personal data is handled

• Legal requirements or guidance change

When we make significant changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the bottom of this page. In some cases, we may also provide a more visible notice on the website.

Last updated: September 2026