This Privacy Policy explains how the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Patriarchate processes personal data when users visit and use the official website https://bg-patriarshia.bg/.

We respect privacy and process personal data only where there is a lawful basis, for specific and clearly defined purposes, in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the Bulgarian Personal Data Protection Act, and the applicable Bulgarian legislation.

1. Data Controller

The data controller is:

Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Patriarchate
Address: 4 Oborishte Street, Sofia 1000, Bulgaria
Official website: https://bg-patriarshia.bg/
Telephone: +359 (2) 987 56 11
Email: [email protected]

For questions related to the processing of personal data through the website, you may also contact us through the contact form available on the website.

2. What Personal Data We Process

When you use the website, we may process the following categories of personal data:

2.1. Data You Send Us Through a Contact Form or by Email

When you contact us, we may process:

first and last name;
email address;
telephone number, if you provide one;
content of the message sent;
other data that you voluntarily include in your message.

Please do not send sensitive personal data through the website forms unless this is necessary for your specific inquiry.

2.2. Technical Data Collected When Visiting the Website

When you visit the website, technical data necessary for the normal operation, security, and maintenance of the website may be processed automatically, including:

IP address;
date and time of the visit;
pages visited;
browser and device type;
operating system;
data related to errors, attempted unauthorized access, and other system logs.

2.3. Data Related to Published Content

The website publishes news, official announcements, photographs, video materials, documents, and archive materials related to the activities of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Patriarchate.

These materials may contain personal data such as names, positions, images, voice recordings, or information about participation in public church, social, educational, or cultural events.

Where applicable, publication is carried out for the purpose of informing the public, documenting the activities of the Church, and maintaining a public archive.

3. Purposes of Processing Personal Data

We process personal data for the following purposes:

providing access to the website and its functionalities;
maintaining, protecting, and improving the website;
responding to inquiries submitted through a contact form, email, or another official communication channel;
publishing official information, news, statements, documents, photographs, and video materials;
protection against abuse, unauthorized access, technical incidents, and cyberattacks;
compliance with legal obligations;
protection of the rights and legitimate interests of the controller or third parties.

4. Legal Bases for Processing

Depending on the specific case, personal data is processed on one or more of the following legal bases:

consent, where you have given explicit consent for a specific purpose;
performance of a contract or taking steps prior to entering into a contract, where applicable;
legal obligation, where processing is required by law;
legitimate interest, including maintenance and protection of the website, responding to inquiries, documenting activities, and informing the public;
performance of a task carried out in the public interest, where applicable to the specific activity.

5. Sensitive Personal Data

As a rule, we do not request the provision of special categories of personal data through the website.

However, it is possible that, in a message sent by you, you may voluntarily include information that reveals religious beliefs, health status, or other sensitive data. In such cases, we will process this data only to the extent necessary to review and respond to your message, while applying appropriate protection measures.

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The website may use cookies and similar technologies for:

the normal technical operation of the website;
security;
remembering user settings;
website traffic statistics, if such functionality is enabled;
displaying external content, for example video content from external platforms, if such content is embedded.

Strictly necessary technical cookies are used without consent where they are required for the operation of the website.

All non-essential cookies, including analytical, advertising, or third-party cookies, should be used only after your consent, where such consent is required by law.

Note for publication: If the website uses Google Analytics, Matomo, YouTube embedded player, Facebook plugins, reCAPTCHA, or another external tool, add a specific description of the provider, purpose, and retention period.

7. Links to Other Websites and Social Networks

The website may contain links to external websites and platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, the App Store, and Google Play.

When you follow such a link, the processing of personal data is carried out in accordance with the privacy policies of the relevant external platform. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Patriarchate is not responsible for the way in which third parties process personal data through their own websites and services.

8. Who We May Share Personal Data With

Personal data may be shared only where necessary and lawful, including with:

persons and organizations providing hosting, technical support, administration, and website security;
providers of email and communication services;
competent public authorities, where required by law;
lawyers, auditors, consultants, or other professional advisers, where necessary for the protection of rights and legitimate interests.

All persons processing personal data on our behalf must process such data only on our instructions and in compliance with confidentiality and security requirements.

9. Transfer of Data Outside the European Economic Area

As a rule, we do not transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area.

Such transfer may occur when external platforms or services are used, for example social networks, video platforms, cloud services, or analytics services. In such cases, the transfer must take place only where an applicable legal mechanism under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 is in place.

10. Retention Periods

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, unless a longer period is required by law.

11. Security of Personal Data

We apply appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction.

Such measures may include access control, secure connection, system logs, restriction of administrative rights, backups, software updates, and other measures according to the nature of the processing.

12. Your Rights

Under the applicable legislation, you have the following rights:

right to information regarding the processing of your personal data;
right of access to your personal data;
right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data;
right to erasure, where the legal grounds for this are present;
right to restriction of processing;
right to object to processing;
right to data portability, where applicable;
right to withdraw consent, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal;
right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority.

The rights of data subjects are set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679, including Articles 15 to 22.

13. How to Exercise Your Rights

You may exercise your rights by submitting a written request to the controller using the contact details specified in this policy.

To protect your personal data, we may request additional information to verify your identity where this is necessary.

We will review your request within the time limits provided by law.

14. Complaint to the Supervisory Authority

If you believe that the processing of your personal data violates the applicable legislation, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Bulgarian Commission for Personal Data Protection.

Commission for Personal Data Protection
Address: 2 Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov Blvd., Sofia 1592, Bulgaria
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.cpdp.bg/

15. Children’s Personal Data

The website is not intended to collect personal data from children without the knowledge and consent of their parents or legal representatives.

Where information, photographs, or materials related to children are published, this should be done only where an appropriate legal basis exists and with enhanced protection measures in place.

16. Changes to This Policy

This policy may be amended in the event of changes to legislation, the functionalities of the website, or the way in which we process personal data.

The current version of the policy is published on this page. In the event of material changes, we will indicate the date of the latest update.

Last modified: 05.05.2026