Trust
How information is stored
This section answers a question that matters more here than elsewhere: what exactly is retained about you, and where.
We describe the real state of affairs, including the uncomfortable parts — such as the fact that a form submission reaches us through Telegram. Promising absolute protection while quietly using a messenger would be precisely the behaviour we warn our readers about.
What we actually receive
Only what you send: a name or how to address you, a contact channel, and a description of the situation if you filled it in. The description is optional. Plus the technical data any website collects: page, referrer, device, browser, approximate region, and your IP address on the hosting and analytics side.
Where an enquiry goes
The form sends a message to Telegram. That means the contents of the form pass through Telegram's servers and are stored in our conversation. We say this plainly, because promising a secure channel while quietly using a messenger would be deceit. If Telegram does not suit you, write by email — the address is in the footer.
Two analytics services instead of three
Two statistics systems run on this site: Google Analytics 4 with anonymised IP and Yandex Metrica. Session recording (Webvisor) in Metrica is switched off — nothing you type into forms is recorded. Note that Metrica's servers are in Russia; if that is a risk for you, use a blocker — the site works fully without the counters. Vercel Analytics and the Cloudflare counter were dropped — they added nothing new.
What we do not do
We do not record what you do on the site. We do not sell data. We do not pass it to advertisers, data brokers or state authorities on our own initiative. We do not use your enquiry as an example in our materials — not anonymised, not with your consent: the people you are hiding from can recognise it too.
How long things are kept
Correspondence about an enquiry is kept while the matter is being worked on and is deleted at your request at any time, without explanation. Anonymised statistics remain with the analytics service under its own schedule — we cannot influence that, so we do not promise otherwise.
Who has access
Access to enquiries is limited to those directly doing the work. We do not involve contractors in handling your messages and do not export correspondence into third-party services for convenience.
What is and is not worth writing first
Worth writing: the country, the nature of the situation, what specifically worries you, where you plan to travel. Not at the first step: case numbers, scanned documents, full names of third parties. Not because we would not see them, but because before agreeing a channel they are better not stored anywhere.
Your rights
You may ask what data we hold about you, request correction or deletion, withdraw consent, or object to processing. We handle such requests as a priority and do not ask you to justify them. Writing to any of the listed contacts is enough.
How to opt out of statistics
The usual tools work: Do Not Track in your browser, a blocker, or Google’s official opt-out add-on. The site works fully without analytics.
If something changes
The data we collect and the services we use are listed in the privacy policy, which carries a version date. Change the list and the date changes too. We do not rewrite the policy retroactively.