โ Legal review required before launch. This is a working draft written to be honest and readable, not a lawyer-reviewed document. Before publishing you'll need to confirm the controller identity and contact details, real data retention periods, and your form handler's data processing terms. GDPR applies fully here โ this needs a proper review, particularly given the site handles enquiries from people in vulnerable immigration situations.
The Short Version
We run a guides website. We don't sell your data, we don't require accounts, our analytics is cookieless, and we collect as little as we can while still knowing which pages are useful.
What we do
- โ Measure which pages people read, without cookies
- โ Log which partner link was followed, from which page, anonymously
- โ Store what you send via our contact form
- โ Keep data only as long as we need it
What we don't do
- โ Set tracking cookies, or show a cookie banner (there's nothing non-essential to consent to)
- โ Sell or rent your personal data
- โ Require you to create an account
- โ Ask for immigration or financial details to read a guide
- โ Track you across unrelated websites for advertising
Who We Are
HowToLithuania.com publishes guides for foreigners living in, moving to or studying in Lithuania. For the purposes of data protection law, the controller of any personal data collected through this site is the site's operator.
โ To complete. Insert the controller's legal name, registered address and a data protection contact email. GDPR requires a clearly identified controller โ a website name alone isn't sufficient.
What We Collect
Information you give us
If you use our contact form or an enquiry form, we receive what you choose to send โ typically your name, email address and message.
Please don't send sensitive personal details through our forms. We don't need your passport number, permit reference, financial details or medical information to answer a question, and we'd rather not hold them. If you're seeking professional help, share those details directly with the licensed specialist, not with us.
Cookieless analytics
We use Plausible, an EU-hosted analytics tool that does not use cookies or any other persistent identifier, and does not collect personal data. It tells us which pages get read and roughly where traffic comes from, aggregated across all visitors โ it cannot single you out or follow you between visits.
Why there's no cookie banner
A consent banner is required when a site sets non-essential cookies. This site doesn't โ our analytics is cookieless by design, and we don't run advertising trackers. So there's nothing non-essential to ask your permission for, and we haven't added a banner that would just be theatre. The only cookies this site sets are strictly necessary ones (for example, remembering that you dismissed the Facebook-group banner).
Following a partner link
When you click a link to a bank, broker, insurer or other partner, it routes through this site first (a /go/... address) before sending you on. That step lets us log, anonymously, which partner was linked and which page sent you there โ no cookie, no personal data, nothing that identifies you individually. Once you land on the partner's own site, their privacy policy governs your data, not ours.
Information collected automatically
Like most websites, our hosting records basic technical information such as pages viewed, approximate location derived from IP address, browser and device type, and referring website. We use this, together with Plausible, to understand which guides are useful and where readers get stuck.
Affiliate Links
Some links to banks, fintechs and insurers are affiliate links. If you follow one and open an account or buy a policy, the provider may pay us a commission โ at no additional cost to you.
What that means for your data:
- Following a partner link tells us, anonymously, which partner and which source page โ see above
- Once you're on the provider's site, their privacy policy governs your data, not ours
- We generally receive only aggregate reporting from partners โ that a referral converted, not who you are
- We don't pass your personal data to affiliate partners
How this funding affects our editorial choices โ and specifically how we keep it from affecting them โ is set out in our editorial guidelines.
Referral Enquiries
If you use a form to be matched with an immigration specialist, we share the details you provide with a relevant partner so they can contact you. We only do this when you've submitted a request, we tell you at the point of submission, and we only work with licensed practitioners.
Once your details are with the specialist, their own privacy policy and professional obligations apply.
Legal Basis for Processing
| What | Why | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Essential cookies and site security | To make the site work safely | Legitimate interests |
| Cookieless analytics (Plausible) | To improve our guides | Legitimate interests |
| Anonymous partner-link click logging | To fund the site and see what earns | Legitimate interests |
| Responding to your message | Because you asked us something | Legitimate interests / consent |
| Passing a referral to a specialist | Because you requested a match | Consent |
How Long We Keep Things
- Contact form messages โ kept while we deal with your enquiry and for a reasonable period after, then deleted
- Analytics data โ retained according to our analytics provider's configured retention period
- Cookies โ expire according to their individual lifespans; you can clear them at any time
โ To complete. Replace the general descriptions above with specific retention periods once your analytics and form-handling providers are chosen. GDPR expects defined periods, not "as long as necessary".
Your Rights
Under the GDPR you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Rectify inaccurate data
- Erase your data in certain circumstances
- Restrict or object to processing
- Data portability where applicable
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing already carried out
- Complain to a supervisory authority
To exercise any of these, get in touch. In Lithuania, the supervisory authority is the State Data Protection Inspectorate (Valstybinฤ duomenลณ apsaugos inspekcija).
Sharing and Transfers
We share personal data only with:
- Service providers who help run the site โ hosting, analytics, form handling โ under appropriate agreements
- Referral partners, where you've specifically asked to be matched
- Authorities, where we're legally required to
Some providers may process data outside the European Economic Area. Where that happens, appropriate safeguards apply.
Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect data, including encrypted connections. No website can promise perfect security, so we limit what we collect in the first place โ the most reliable protection for data is not holding it.
Children
This site is aimed at adults. We don't knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we'll delete it.
External Links
We link extensively to official Lithuanian sources โ the Migration Department, VMI, Sodra, studyin.lt โ and to providers. We're not responsible for their privacy practices. Their policies apply once you leave our site.
Changes
We'll update this policy when our practices change, and the date at the top will reflect that. Material changes will be flagged on the site.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or want to exercise your rights? Use our contact page.