Last updated: 17 June 2026
This Privacy Notice for META Circularity, advisory and innovation, d.o.o. (“META Circularity”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) explains how and why we may collect, store, use and share personal information when you visit or interact with the Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic website and related activities.
Our website address is: https://www.hydrogen-ecosystem.eu/.
The Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic is a regional cooperation platform focused on hydrogen-related projects, initiatives, events and stakeholder engagement in the North Adriatic area. The website provides information on ecosystem activities, events, partners, HE Listing, innovators, investors and related hydrogen opportunities.
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Notice or the way we process your personal data, you can contact us at:
META Circularity, advisory and innovation, d.o.o.
Kersnikova ulica 12
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Email: info@meta-circularity.eu
Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic enquiries: info@hydrogen-ecosystem.eu
Summary of key points
What personal information do we process?
We may process personal information that you provide to us when you contact us, subscribe to updates, register for events, join ecosystem activities, leave comments on the website, or otherwise communicate with us.
Do we process sensitive personal information?
We do not intentionally collect or process sensitive personal information through the website.
How do we process your information?
We process your information to communicate with you, manage event registrations, send updates, support ecosystem activities, publish communication and dissemination materials, maintain website security, prevent spam, and comply with legal or reporting obligations.
With whom do we share personal information?
We may share information with service providers, website and IT providers, newsletter or event registration tools, event co-organisers, ecosystem partners, or public and funding bodies where necessary and appropriate.
What are your rights?
Depending on where you are located, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the processing of your personal data, and to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
How can you exercise your rights?
You can contact us at info@meta-circularity.eu or info@hydrogen-ecosystem.eu.
1. What information do we collect?
Personal information you disclose to us
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities, contact us, subscribe to updates, register for events, leave comments on the website, or otherwise communicate with us.
The personal information we may collect includes:
- name and surname;
- email address;
- organisation or company;
- job title or professional role;
- phone number, if provided;
- country or region;
- event registration details;
- communication preferences;
- information you include in messages, forms, comments or enquiries;
- photos, videos, recordings or statements from public events, where relevant.
We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information through the website.
All personal information that you provide to us should be true, complete and accurate. Please notify us of any changes to your personal information.
Information automatically collected
When you visit the website, certain technical information may be collected automatically. This information does not usually reveal your specific identity, but may include:
- IP address;
- browser and device characteristics;
- browser user agent string;
- operating system;
- language preferences;
- referring URLs;
- device name;
- country or approximate location;
- information about how and when you use the website;
- pages viewed;
- date and time of visits;
- technical information needed for security, analytics, website maintenance and spam detection.
This information is primarily used to maintain the security and functionality of the website, understand website performance, prevent spam and improve our communication activities.
Information from other sources
We may receive limited information from other sources where relevant to Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities. This may include:
- event partners or co-organisers;
- ecosystem partners;
- public professional sources;
- public websites or professional profiles;
- organisations involved in hydrogen, innovation, investment or related fields.
This information may be used for stakeholder communication, event organisation, partnership development, dissemination activities and ecosystem engagement.
2. Comments
When visitors leave comments on the website, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string. This information is collected to help detect and prevent spam.
An anonymised string created from your email address, also called a hash, may be provided to the Gravatar service to check whether you use it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at: https://automattic.com/privacy/.
After your comment has been approved, your profile picture may be visible to the public in the context of your comment.
3. Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data, such as EXIF GPS data. Visitors to the website may be able to download and extract location data from images published on the website.
4. Cookies
We may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, improve user experience, analyse website traffic, support communication activities and enable certain website functions.
Cookies may include:
- strictly necessary cookies, needed for the website to function;
- preference cookies, where applicable;
- analytics cookies, where used;
- third-party cookies linked to embedded content, social media, videos or external services, where applicable;
- cookies related to comments, login and website administration.
If you leave a comment on the website, you may choose to save your name, email address and website in cookies. These cookies are used for your convenience so that you do not have to enter your details again when leaving another comment. These cookies last for one year.
If you visit the website login page, a temporary cookie may be set to determine whether your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is deleted when you close your browser.
When authorised users log in, the website may set cookies to save login information and screen display choices. Login cookies usually last for two days, while screen options cookies may last for one year. If the “Remember Me” option is selected, the login may persist for two weeks. When the user logs out, the login cookies are removed.
If an authorised user edits or publishes an article, an additional cookie may be saved in their browser. This cookie contains no personal data and only indicates the post ID of the article that was edited. It expires after one day.
Where required by law, non-essential cookies are used only with your consent. You can manage cookie preferences through the cookie banner or cookie settings on the website, where available, or through your browser settings.
5. Embedded content from other websites
Articles and pages on this website may include embedded content, such as videos, images, posts, maps, forms, articles or other external content.
Embedded content from other websites behaves in the same way as if the visitor had visited the external website directly. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking technologies, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content. This may also include tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account with that external service and are logged in while visiting our website.
6. How do we process your information?
We may process your personal information for the following purposes:
- to respond to your enquiries;
- to provide information you requested;
- to send Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic news and updates;
- to manage newsletter subscriptions;
- to organise and manage events, conferences, meetings, webinars and related activities;
- to manage registrations for Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic events;
- to communicate with ecosystem partners, innovators, investors and stakeholders;
- to manage HE Listing-related communication and participation;
- to promote Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities, events and opportunities;
- to prepare communication, dissemination and reporting materials;
- to publish news, event reports, photos, videos and public statements;
- to maintain website security and functionality;
- to prevent spam and misuse of the website;
- to analyse website performance and improve content;
- to comply with legal, contractual, administrative or reporting obligations.
7. Legal bases for processing
We process your personal information only when we have a valid legal basis to do so under applicable data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation.
We may rely on the following legal bases:
Consent
We may process your information if you have given us consent for a specific purpose, such as subscribing to updates, accepting non-essential cookies, or agreeing to receive certain communications.
You can withdraw your consent at any time.
Legitimate interests
We may process your information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided that these interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include:
- responding to enquiries;
- communicating with stakeholders;
- organising and promoting public events;
- maintaining professional contact lists;
- publishing event-related communication materials;
- developing and promoting Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities;
- maintaining website security and performance;
- preventing spam and misuse of the website.
Performance of a contract or pre-contractual steps
We may process your personal information where necessary to manage registrations, participation or arrangements related to events, meetings or other activities you requested.
Legal obligations
We may process your information where necessary to comply with legal, administrative, audit, reporting or regulatory obligations.
8. Event photos, videos and public communication
Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities may include public events, conferences, workshops, meetings and networking sessions. During these activities, photos, videos or recordings may be taken.
These materials may be used for:
- website news and event reports;
- social media posts;
- newsletters;
- press releases;
- presentations;
- reports;
- communication and dissemination materials;
- archival documentation of Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities.
Where photography or recording takes place, participants should be informed through event registration forms, invitations, signs at the event venue, or other appropriate notices.
If you have concerns about appearing in photos or videos, you may contact us at info@hydrogen-ecosystem.eu or info@meta-circularity.eu.
9. Who we share your data with
We may share your personal information where necessary and appropriate with:
- website hosting and IT service providers;
- email, newsletter or mailing list providers;
- event registration platforms;
- analytics or cookie service providers, where used;
- automated spam detection services;
- communication and dissemination partners;
- event co-organisers;
- Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic partners;
- public institutions, funding bodies, auditors or authorities, where required;
- professional service providers, such as legal, accounting or technical advisers.
If you request a password reset, your IP address may be included in the password reset email.
We do not sell personal data.
10. Where your data is sent
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
Personal data may also be processed through website hosting, email, newsletter, analytics, event registration or other technical service providers where necessary for the operation of the website and Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities.
Where we use service providers located outside the European Economic Area, we will take appropriate safeguards to protect personal data in accordance with applicable data protection law.
11. How long we retain your data
We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, contractual obligations, audit requirements or reporting obligations.
In general:
- enquiry data is kept for as long as necessary to respond and manage follow-up communication;
- newsletter subscription data is kept until you unsubscribe or request deletion;
- event registration data is kept for as long as necessary for event organisation, reporting and audit purposes;
- stakeholder communication data may be kept for as long as relevant to Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic activities;
- photos, videos, articles and published communication materials may be kept for communication, dissemination, reporting and archival purposes;
- technical and analytics data is kept according to the settings of the relevant website, analytics or cookie tools.
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata may be retained indefinitely. This allows us to recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on the website, if any, we store the personal information they provide in their user profile. Registered users can see, edit or delete their personal information at any time, except that they cannot change their username. Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
When we no longer need personal information, we will delete, anonymise or securely archive it, unless retention is required for administrative, legal, security, reporting or other legitimate purposes.
12. Do we collect information from minors?
The Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic website and related activities are not directed at children.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we can take appropriate measures.
13. What rights you have over your data
Depending on your location and applicable data protection law, you may have the right to:
- request access to your personal information;
- request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
- request deletion of your personal information;
- request restriction of processing;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
- request data portability, where applicable;
- lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.
If you have an account on this website or have left comments, you may request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including data you have provided to us. You may also request that we erase personal data we hold about you.
This does not include data that we are required to keep for administrative, legal, security, reporting or other legitimate purposes.
If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have the right to contact your local data protection authority if you believe that your personal data is being processed unlawfully.
To exercise your rights, contact us at:
info@meta-circularity.eu
or
info@hydrogen-ecosystem.eu
We will consider and respond to requests in accordance with applicable data protection law.
14. Controls for Do-Not-Track features
Some web browsers and mobile operating systems include a Do-Not-Track feature. At this stage, no uniform technology standard for recognising and implementing Do-Not-Track signals has been finalised.
Because of this, we do not currently respond to Do-Not-Track browser signals. If a standard is adopted in the future that we are required to follow, we will update this Privacy Notice accordingly.
15. Updates to this Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our activities, website functionality, data processing practices or legal requirements.
The updated version will be indicated by a revised “Last updated” date and will become effective once published on the website.
We encourage you to review this Privacy Notice periodically.
16. Contact
If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Notice or the way we process personal information, you may contact us at:
META Circularity, advisory and innovation, d.o.o.
Kersnikova ulica 12
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Email: info@meta-circularity.eu
Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic enquiries: info@hydrogen-ecosystem.eu
17. How can you review, update or delete the data we collect from you?
You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of the personal information we hold about you by contacting us at:
info@meta-circularity.eu
or
info@hydrogen-ecosystem.eu
Please include enough information for us to identify your request and respond appropriately.