The Albanian Center for Quality Journalism (ACQJ) is an independent, non-political and non-profit organization based in Tirana, Albania, run by young professionals with backgrounds in media and law. Our mission is to improve the quality of journalism through training and fostering collaboration among young investigative journalists, promoting ethical journalism based on accurate and fair reporting. We aim to ensure that journalists are fast, independent and responsive to the needs of readers.
What information do we collect?
The information we collect is generally of two types (please see below for how we collect it and what we use it for):
1.1 Information that is directly linked to you (eg your name, email address and contact details, communication preferences and customer history – when you make them available to us).
1.2 Information that does not directly identify you (eg how you browse our website), specifically:
(1) Your IP address through the setting of "cookies";
(2) Location data, which may be obtained through your postal address (where you have provided this to us), IP address or GPS data).
(3) Information from your browser such as screen size, browser type, device type and pages viewed. Please note that not all cookies are personally identifiable information or unique identifiers.
1.3 Children under 14 years of age. We will not knowingly collect any information about children under 14 years of age. We will delete any data about these users whenever a parent or guardian notifies us that such data has been recorded.
How we use your information
2.1 When we ask for your permission. Often we will use your information in accordance with your consent or specific instructions: for example, because you have requested or agreed to receive certain information, or entered into a contract with us for goods and Services. In other cases we will use your information on one of the other legal bases according to Albanian legislation.
2.2 Contract. (1) When you enter into a contract for goods or Services with us, we will use your personal data to fulfill our contractual relationship with you. (2) Fulfilling our contract with you means being able to manage and administer our Services and maintain our standards of personalized service, customer care and customer satisfaction.
2.3 Legitimate interests. Other uses of your information are for ordinary and clear purposes which we believe are necessary for our legitimate interests as a provider of news, content and other Services. We use your information for the following reasons: (1) To recognize and remember you when you visit our website and to better understand how you use our website and others by using cookies to track your use. (2) We may then place your information in aggregated form into groups (known as “segments”) according to a particular audience, which means that we may offer you articles that will interest you within the site of the Internet, including references to data we receive from third parties. (3) To contact you to notify you of products or Services, including by email and telephone, always taking into account data protection legislation and your preferences. (4) Contact you, or have one of our trusted research partners contact you, for market research purposes, for example to ask if you would like to take part in a survey. You can let us know if you no longer want us to contact you in this way. If you choose to participate in a survey, we will use any data you provide under the survey in an anonymized and aggregated format. We may work with and share certain information with our trusted research partners, such as information about your subscription. When we do this, we will ensure that we have an appropriate structure in place to protect your information. You can notify us at any time if you do not want this data to be shared in this way. (5) To ensure that the materials on the Website are presented in the most effective way for you and your computer or mobile device; (6) Collect and record numerical Internet addresses to improve the Website and to monitor the use of the Website; and (7) Evaluate and understand the feedback of our readers, customers, site users and account holders and identify key points of use; (8) To analyze browsing information and cookie data using machine learning, for example to determine which articles may be of most interest to you.
2.4 Our main activities as a media and publishing organisation, in print or online, are classified as special purpose (which includes journalism and the arts). Please be aware that we fall under a series of exceptions to data protection law when we process personal data for these purposes, and these purposes are not relevant to this Privacy Policy unless they are clearly stated.
2.5 We sometimes work with partners to compare their customer database with ours.
This is called “data matching” and allows our partners to see if they can reach their audiences on our platforms. This will usually be done on an aggregated audience group level rather than on an individual basis, although your information may be used to generate these insights. This knowledge can show, for example, whether there is a match between our audiences and our partner's audience and other information to understand whether a visibility campaign would be effective.
How do we collect information?
Information is collected in the following ways:
(1) indirectly (eg from third-party data providers or using website technology that tracks and administers your visits through your browser;
(2) directly (eg when you sign up for the monthly newsletter);
(3) through your device (eg mobile, PC or tablet) where you have enabled location Services for the relevant browser.
How do you decide how you want to hear from us?
In accordance with data protection legislation and your preferences, we may contact you including by email and telephone.
Where we store your personal information
5.1 The personal information we collect from you will only be stored within Albania.
5.2 We will only keep your personal information for as long as we need it for a legal purpose: either because of the products and Services we have provided to you, for example as a subscriber, or because we believe you still want to hear from us. This is again separate from our role as a media organization and the information we are legally able to withhold in the public interest because it is relevant to our journalistic and publishing activities.
Changes to this policy
This policy is valid from October 1, 2024. This policy may change based on changes in legislation, identified best practices, or site improvement.