This privacy policy is intended to inform users of this website in accordance with the French Data Protection Act on the type, scope and purpose of the collection and use of personal data by the website operator Ashram de Yoga Sivananda France.
When visiting this page, the web server automatically logs log files. This data includes for example, browser type and version, operating system used, referrer URL (previously visited page), IP address of the requesting computer, server request date and time of access, and client file request (file name and URL). These data are collected only for the purpose of statistical evaluation. A transfer to third parties, for commercial or non-commercial purposes, does not take place.
The use of our website is usually possible without providing personal information. We only collect data that you voluntarily share with us. These data will not be disclosed to third parties without your explicit consent.
Keep in mind that data transmission over the Internet (for example, when communicating via e-mail) is subject to security vulnerabilities. Absolute protection of data from access by strangers is not possible.
We collect personal data for the processing of your selected course according to the website or program booklet. A course would include attending a yoga class, seminar, or other event organized by the Ashram de Yoga Sivananda. It is information that is used to identify your person and can be traced back to you, including name, address, telephone number and email address.
When registering for one of our residential courses, Yoga Teacher Training, Advanced Yoga Teacher Training, Sadhana Intensive, we also collect additional data relevant to registering and conducting the course. These include health data and third party data (emergency contact). You should therefore ensure that all information relating to third parties is provided by you with the consent of such persons.
By completing an application form or registering for one of our events by email, by telephone, in person or by post, you consent to the storage and processing of your personal data for the creation, implementation and processing of your booked offer.
We use “Retreat Guru”, a business management software, located at 303 Vernon Street, Nelson, BC, Canada. Retreat Guru (“RG”) may collect and use users personal information for the following purposes:
Information you provide helps us respond to your customer service requests and support needs more efficiently.
RG may use information in the aggregate to understand how their users as a group use the services and resources provided on their site.
RG may use the information users provide about themselves when placing an order only to provide service to that order. RG does not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to provide the service.
Web browser cookies: RG site may use “cookies” to enhance user experience.
User’s web browser places cookies on their hard drive for record-keeping purposes and sometimes to track information about them. Users may choose to set their web browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If they do so, note that some parts of the site may not function properly.
they adopt appropriate data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction of your personal information, username, password, transaction information and data stored on our site.
Sensitive and private data exchange between the site and its users happens over a SSL secured communication channel and is encrypted and protected with digital signatures.
Sharing your personal information: Retreat guru do not sell, trade, or rent users personal identification information to others. RG may share generic aggregated demographic information not linked to any personal identification information regarding visitors and users with their business partners, trusted affiliates and advertisers for the purposes outlined above. RG may use third party service providers to help us operate our business and the site or administer activities on their behalf, such as sending out newsletters or surveys. RG may share your information with these third parties for those limited purposes provided that you have given us your permission.
Retreat Guru web host and server infrastructure providers are EU-US privacy shield certified companies. Retreat Guru uses a cloud based technology.
We have concluded a Terms of Service with Retreat Guru.
In addition to processing your data to process your course booking, we also use this data to inform you about further offers by post. Furthermore, we use your data to inform you by telephone about courses and offers on courses that we deem of interest to you. You may revoke the use of your personal data for advertising purposes at any time. An email is sufficient. Use the following email address: orleans@sivananda.net.
In addition to processing your data to process your course booking, we also use this data to inform you about further offers through newsletters. You may revoke the use of your personal data for advertising purposes at any time. An email is sufficient. Use the following email address: orleans@sivananda.net.
This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information we receive from users subscribing to our newsletter as well as the contents of our newsletter. The policy covers distribution and statistical evaluation procedures as well as your right of objection. By subscribing to our newsletter, you agree to the receipt and the procedures described.
Content of the Newsletter
We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications with advertising information (hereinafter “newsletter”) only with the consent of the recipient or a legal permission. Incidentally, our newsletters contain information on programmes at the Ashram de Yoga Sivananda including yoga vacation, yoga further education programs, and yoga teacher training courses as well as information about offers in other Sivananda Yoga Centers worldwide. This may in particular include references to blog posts, lectures or workshops or online presence.
Confirmed Opt-in
The registration for our newsletter takes place in a confirmed opt-in procedure. After registration, you will receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that nobody can register with third-party e-mail addresses. The registration for the newsletter will be logged in order to prove the registration process according to the legal requirements. This includes the storage of the login and the confirmation time, as well as the IP address. Similarly, the changes to your data stored with iContact will be logged.
Use of the Email Marketing Service Provider “iContact”
The newsletter is distributed via iContact LLC, a newsletter shipping platform located at 2121 RDU Center Drive, Fourth Floor, Morrisville, North Carolina 27560, part of CISION, 130 E Randolph St 60601, Chicago, USA.
The e-mail addresses of our Newsletter recipients, as well as their other information described herein, are stored on the servers of iContact in the USA. iContact uses this information to send and evaluate the newsletters on our behalf. Furthermore, iContact may, according to its own information, use this data to optimise or improve its own services, e.g. for the technical optimisation of the shipping and the presentation of the newsletter or for economic purposes, to determine from which countries the recipients come. However, iContact does not use the data of our newsletter recipients to write them down or to pass them on to third parties.
We rely on the reliability, IT and data security of iContact. iContact complies with the Privacy Shield Framework. Furthermore, we have concluded an end user agreement with iContact. This is a contract in which iContact pledges to protect the data of our users, to process it in accordance with its privacy policy on our behalf and, in particular, not to disclose it to third parties. The privacy policy of iContact can be viewed here.
We are required as customer of iContact, to use their platform only for permission-based email marketing, in compliance with their Anti-Spam Policy. To sign up for the newsletter, it is sufficient to provide your email address.
Optionally, we ask you to provide your name. This information is only used to personalise the newsletter.
Statistical Survey and Analyses
iContact collects information uploaded to their platform by us, including your email addresses or contact information and any campaigns we send you. They also collect information sent from you directly when you submit information via our newsletter sign-up page. Campaigns sent from the iContact platform may include a web beacon or other tracking technology, which allows iContact to determine if you open an email, as well as what you click on, the email delivery status and geographic location. iContact also collects log data, including your IP address, browser type, and version. iContact shares this information with us so that we can recognise the reading habits of our users, optimise our newsletters to you, understand your level of engagement with the newsletters. iContact may also set a cookie on your browser so that we can develop more efficient ways of getting in touch with you.
Image web beacons can be refused when delivered via email by disabling HTML images or refusing HTML (select Text only) emails via your email software. For more information on how to manage cookies in your web browser, see www.aboutcookies.org.
iContact is the owner of the data collected through web beacons, cookies and other tracking technologies present in campaigns.
Online Call and Data Management
There are cases in which we direct the newsletter recipients to the iContact websites. For example, our newsletters contain a link that allows newsletter recipients to retrieve newsletters online (for example, in the case of display problems in the e-mail program). Furthermore, newsletter recipients can store their data, such as correct the e-mail address later. Similarly, the privacy policy of iContact is only available on their page.
In this context, we pointed out that on the websites of iContact cookies are used and thus personal data processed by iContact, their partners and service providers used (for example, Google Analytics). We have no influence on this data collection. For more information, see the privacy policy of iContact. Please also refer to the possibility of objecting to the data collection for advertising purposes on the websites http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ and http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ (for the European area).
Choice/Opt-out
You can choose to stop receiveing our newsletter at any time. Every email message sent contains an “unsubscribe” link that allows you to remove yourselves from our mailing list.
We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about the use of the online offer by the users are usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.
Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate the use of our online offering by users, to compile reports on the activities within this online offering and to provide us with other services related to the use of this online offer and Internet usage. In this case, pseudonymous user profiles of the processed data can be created.
We only use Google Analytics with activated IP anonymisation. This means that the IP address of the users will be shortened by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be sent to a Google server in the US and shortened there. The IP address submitted by the user’s browser will not be merged with other data provided by Google.Users can prevent the storage of cookies by setting their browser software accordingly; Users may also prevent the collection by Google of the data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the online offer as well as the processing of such data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link.
For more information about Google’s use of the Google data, settings and opt-out options, please visit Google’s websites: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/partners/ (“How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps”), https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/technologies/ads/ (“How Google uses cookies in advertising”), and https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated (“Make the ads you see more useful to you”).
On our website features of the service YouTube are included. These features are offered through YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave. San Bruno, CA 94066 USA. For more information, see the YouTube Privacy Policy.
The GDPR taking effect on 25th May 2018, gives you a number of rights.
These are:
For more information about your rights under the data protection law, please refer to the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés website.
However, we would like to point out that the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre is subject to legal obligations that do not allow us to delete certain information directly. These obligations result from accounting and tax laws. We may, however, block your personal information, thereby preventing processing for purposes other than those required by law.
In addition, you can make use of your right of objection at any time without stating reasons and amend or revoke the given declaration of consent with immediate effect. You may revoke the use of your personal data for advertising purposes at any time. An email is sufficient. Use the following email address: orleans@sivananda.net.
Last updated: January 4, 2026
We would like to inform you in the following about the processing of personal data in connection with the use of “Zoom”.
We use the “Zoom” tool to conduct online yoga classes and online meditations (hereinafter referred to as “Online Meetings”). “Zoom” is a service of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. which is based in the USA.
The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres are responsible for data processing directly related to the holding of online meetings.
Note: If you access the “Zoom” website, the provider of “Zoom” is responsible for data processing. However, to use “Zoom” it is only necessary to call up the website in order to download the software for using “Zoom”.
You can also use “Zoom” if you enter the respective meeting ID and, if necessary, other access data for the meeting directly in the “Zoom” app.
If you do not want to or cannot use the “Zoom” app, the basic functions can also be used via a browser version, which you can also find on the “Zoom” website.
Various types of data are processed when using “Zoom”. The extent of the data depends on the data you provide before or during participation in an “online meeting”.
The following personal data are processed:
We use “zoom” to conduct online meetings. If we want to record online meetings, we will inform you in advance in a transparent manner and – if necessary – ask for your consent. The fact of the recording will also be displayed in the “Zoom” app.
If it is necessary for the purpose of recording the results of an online meeting, we will log the chat content. However, this will not be the case as a rule.
In the case of webinars, we may also process the questions asked by webinar participants for the purposes of recording and follow-up of webinars.
If you are registered as a user at “Zoom”, reports of online meetings (meeting metadata, telephone dial-in data, questions and answers in webinars, survey function in webinars) can be stored at “Zoom” for up to one month.
The possibility of a software-based “attention tracking” in “online meeting” tools like “Zoom” is deactivated.
Automated decision making within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR is not used.
For employees of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, the French Data Protection Act is the legal basis for data processing. Should data not be required for data processing in connection with the use of “Zoom”, but nevertheless be an elementary component in the use of “Zoom”, Art. 6 Para. 1 letter f) GDPR is the legal basis for data processing. In these cases, we are interested in the effective implementation of “online meetings”.
For other participants in “online meetings” – insofar as the meetings are held within the framework of contractual relationships – Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. b) GDPR is the legal basis for data processing.
If no contractual relationship exists, the legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Here too, we are interested in the effective implementation of “online meetings”.
Personal data processed in connection with participation in “online meetings” is generally not passed on to third parties, unless it is specifically intended to be passed on. Please note that the contents of “online meetings” as well as personal meetings are often used to communicate information with customers, interested parties or third parties and are therefore intended to be passed on.
Other recipients: The provider of “Zoom” necessarily obtains knowledge of the above-mentioned data, insofar as this is provided for in the context of our data processing agreement with “Zoom”.
Data processing outside the European Union
“Zoom” is a service provider based in the USA. Processing of personal data is therefore also carried out in a third country. We have concluded a data processing agreement with the provider of “Zoom” which meets the requirements of Art. 28 GDPR.
An appropriate level of data protection is guaranteed on the one hand by the “Privacy Shield” certification of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. and on the other hand by the conclusion of the so-called EU standard contractual clauses.
Last updated: 1 April 2020
