What happens to your data.

Who is responsible for your data

The person responsible for the personal data described here — the data controller, in the words of the European regulation — is Rita Roncassaglia, working from Emilia-Romagna, Italy. You can reach her at info@ritaitalianroots.com about anything on this page.

What this website collects on its own

Nothing. There is no analytics service, no advertising, no tracking pixel, no social media plugin and no embedded third-party content on these pages. The typefaces are served from this site itself rather than from Google, so simply reading a page sends your data nowhere.

When you ask for a quote

The form on the quote page asks for your name, your email address, optionally your phone number and country, and what you are looking for: the package, the add-ons, the surnames and villages you already know, your travel preferences, and anything you choose to write in the notes.

• Why we need it. To write your quote and to reply to you. Nothing else.
• The legal basis. Steps taken at your own request before a contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). If you write to us out of simple curiosity, the basis is our legitimate interest in answering you (Art. 6(1)(f)).
• Where it goes. The form is delivered by Formspree, Inc. (United States), which acts only as our processor and passes the message on to Rita's mailbox. The transfer relies on the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
• How long we keep it. For as long as the conversation is alive, and afterwards for as long as we are required to keep records of our correspondence. If you ask us to delete your request, we delete it.
• What we never do. We do not sell your data, we do not share it with hotels, restaurants or tour operators, and we do not add you to a mailing list.

What is stored in your browser

This site sets no cookies. It uses your browser's local storage for two small things, both of which stay on your own device — see the cookie page for the detail.

The people we find in Italy

This is the part that deserves more than a line. Genealogical research works on civil and parish records, and sometimes it leads to people who are still alive. Those people did not ask to be found, so:

• Rita approaches them first, in person or by letter, and tells them plainly who is looking for them and why (this is the information notice required by Art. 14 GDPR).
• Nothing about them reaches the client until they say yes. No name, no address, no photograph, no introduction.
• They can say no, say nothing, or change their mind later, and that decision is final. They can also ask Rita to erase whatever she holds about them, at any time.
• Records concerning people who have died are not personal data under the GDPR, but they are still treated with care, because they belong to families who are alive.

Your rights

You can ask to see the data we hold about you, to correct it, to have it deleted, to restrict how we use it, to receive a copy in a portable format, or to object to our using it. Write to info@ritaitalianroots.com and you will get an answer within a month.

If you believe we have handled your data badly, you can complain to the Italian supervisory authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, or to the authority in the country where you live.

Changes to this notice

If the way this site works changes — a new form, a new service, anything that touches your data — this page is updated first, and the date below changes with it.

Last updated: 26 August 2026.