Privacy Policy

Who we are

Our website address is: https://metab.ern-net.eu/

Accessing our website

When you access our website, the browser used for this on your end device automatically sends information to the server for our website/application, which is temporarily stored in a log file. We have no influence over this. The following information is also recorded without your input and is stored until it is automatically deleted:

·       The IP address of the Internet-enabled device making the request

·       The date and time of access

·       The name and URL of the file accessed

·       The website/application used to gain access (referrer URL)

·       The browser you used and where applicable the operating system of your Internet-enabled computer and the name of your access provider.

The legal basis for processing the IP address is art. 6 para. 1 (f) of the GDPR. Our legitimate interest arises from the following purposes for data collection. Remember that the data collected does not give us any direct indication of your identity and we do not draw any conclusions in this regard. We use the IP address of your end device and the data listed above for the following purposes:

·       To ensure that a smooth connection is established

·       To ensure that our website is pleasant to use

·       To assess system security and stability

We also use so-called cookies, tracking tools, targeting methods and social media plugins for our website. The precise procedure and how your data is used for this purpose is explained in further detail in sections about online presence & website optimisation and embedding of services and third-party content.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Newsletter

The MetabERN newsletter acts in accordance with Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council. MetabERN is both the controller and responsible for processing of any data regarding the newsletter. MetabERN does not make use of a third party for the Newsletter service. You may unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time through the unsubscribe button located in our newsletter.

Newsletter Tracking

The MetabERN newsletter makes use of tracking in order to be able to conduct a statistical analysis of the success or failure of online marketing campaigns. MetabERN may see if an email containing a newsletter was opened by a user, when it was opened, and which links were opened. The data collected through this tracking is not shared with third parties, but may be used to adapt future content of newsletters in order to better meet the interests of our subscribers.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Contact forms

When you get in touch with us (via a contact form or via email), the user details provided are used to process and carry out the request made as per art. 6 para. 1 (b) of the GDPR (to perform a pre-contractual action).

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

We use:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Linkedin
• Youtube

Analytics

We use cookies to compile visitor statistics, such as how many people have visited our website; what type of technology they are using (e.g. Mac or Windows, which helps to identify when our site isn’t working as it should for particular technologies); how long they spend on the site; what page they look at, etc. This helps us to continuously improve our website. These programs also tell us how people reached this site (e.g. from a search engine) and whether they have been here before, helping us to put more money into developing our services for you instead of marketing spend.

This site uses Google Analytics which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solution on the web for helping us to understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content.

More information about cookies and how to remove cookies

It is possible to manage multiple cookies through the pages of choice, such as: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices.

There is also a possibility to manage cookies directly from your browser settings.
To disable cookies from a specific browser, you can use following resources:

Disable in Chrome
Disable in Firefox
Disable in Internet Explorer
Disable in Safari

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

You have the right to be forgotten and removed completely from the MetabERN contact database. To request this, please contact the MetabERN coordinating office.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Additional information

How we protect your data

For users that have signed up for our MailChimp newsletter, these details are stored on the MailChimp server and all users can request to see, edit or delete their data at any time. We do not export your data for personal use. See Privacy for Contacts.

For users that have used our contact form, when you get in touch with us (via a contact form or via email), the user’s details provided are used to process and carry out the request made as per art. 6 para. 1 (b) of the GDPR (to perform a pre-contractual action).

Your data will be transmitted in an encrypted manner and then stored in a database. MetabERN will save and process your data in accordance with the applicable data privacy regulations. Your data will always be kept confidential.

General

On the basis of art. 6 para. 1 (f) of the GDPR (legitimate interest) and with the purpose of making our company more well known, we use social plugins on our website for the following social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The commercial interest behind this is deemed a legitimate interest within the sense of the GDPR. Responsibility for operation compliant with data privacy must be ensured by the relevant provider.

Twitter

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in analysis, optimisation and economical running of our online offering as defined in art. 6 para. 1 (f) of the GDPR), we also use plugins from short-message network Twitter Inc. You can recognise the Twitter plugins (“Tweet” button) by the Twitter logo (a white bird on a blue background) and the addition of “Tweet”. If you access a page on our website that contains such a plugin, a direct connection is made between your browser and the Twitter server. As a result, Twitter receives the information that you have visited our website with your IP address. If you click on the Twitter button while you are logged into your Twitter account, you can link the content of our site to your Twitter profile. This enables Twitter to assign the visit to our site to your user account. We wish to point out that, as the provider of the site, we receive no information of the content of the transmitted data or its use by Twitter. For more information on this, click here. If you do not wish Twitter to be able to assign the visit to our site, please log out of your Twitter user account.

Facebook

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in analysis, optimisation and economical running of our online offering as defined in art. 6 para. 1 (f) of the GDPR) we use social plugins (“plugins”) from social network facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland (“Facebook”). The plugins may be interactive elements or content (e.g. videos, graphics or text) and can be recognised by one of the Facebook logos (white “f” on blue tile, the term “Like” or a “thumb up” symbol) or by the addition of the phrase “Facebook Social Plugin”. The list and appearance of Facebook social plugins can be seen here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/.

Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield agreement and thus offers a guarantee to comply with European data privacy law.

If a user accesses a function of this online offering that contains such a plugin, the user’s device will connect directly to the Facebook servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted from Facebook directly to the user’s device and embedded by this into the online offering. In doing so, usage profiles for users may be created from the data processed. We have no control of the scope of data that Facebook collects using this plugin and we inform users as such according to our level of knowledge.

Through the embedding of the plugin, Facebook is informed that a user has accessed the corresponding page within the online offering. If the user is logged into Facebook, Facebook can assign the visit to the user’s Facebook account. If users interact with the plugins, e.g. click the Like button or add a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted directly from your device to Facebook and stored there. If a user is not a member of Facebook, it is still possible that Facebook will be aware of and store that user’s IP address. According to Facebook, only an anonymised IP address is stored in Germany.

For more information regarding the purpose and scope of this data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook as well as the rights in this respect and the settings options for protecting user privacy, please visit Facebook’s data privacy notice: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

If a user is a Facebook member and does not want Facebook to collect data about him via this online offering and link it with his member details stored at Facebook, he must log out of Facebook and delete his cookies before using our online offering. aAdditional settings and objections to the usage of data for commercial purposes are possible within the Facebook profile settings: www.facebook.com/settings or via the US site http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU site http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. The settings are not platform-dependent, i.e. they apply across all devices, such as desktop computers and mobile devices.

LinkedIn

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in analysis, optimisation and economical running of our online offering as defined in art. 6 para. 1 (f) of the GDPR), our online offering uses functions of the LinkedIn network. The provider thereof is LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Each time one of our pages that contains LinkedIn functions is accessed, a connection is made to LinkedIn servers. LinkedIn is informed that you have visited our Internet pages with your IP address. If you click the LinkedIn “Recommend” button and you are logged into your LinkedIn account, LinkedIn is able to assign your visit to our Internet site to you and your user account. We wish to point out that, as the provider of the site, we receive no information of the content of the transmitted data or its use by LinkedIn. Data privacy declaration: www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

Google reCAPTCHA

On the basis of art. 6 para. 1 (f) of the GDPR (legitimate interest), we use the reCAPTCHA service provided by Google Inc. (Google). This request is used to determine whether an entry has been made by a person or represents misuse through automated machine processing. The request includes sending to Google the IP address and where necessary other data required by Google for the reCAPTCHA service. For this purpose, your entry is transmitted to Google and undergoes further usage there. By using reCaptcha, you agree that your recognition can be used in the digitalisation of old works. However, by activating the IP anonymisation on this website, your IP address will be truncated by Google within the Member States of the European Union and other contracting parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the complete IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. Google will use this information on the behalf of the operator of this website to evaluate the usage of this service. The IP address transmitted by your browser within the scope of reCaptcha will not be united with any other data held by Google. The diverging data privacy regulations of Google apply to this data.

Additional information on the Google data privacy regulations can be found at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en

Google Maps

This website uses Google Maps to depict maps. Google Maps is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. By using this website, the user agrees to the recording, processing and usage of data both automatically collected and input by the user (including the IP address) by Google, one of its representatives or a third-party provider. The data processing takes place based on your agreement as defined in art. 6 para. 1 (a) of the GDPR. The terms of use for Google Maps can be found at the following link: https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en&gl=en

Express details on transparency and choices as well as the data privacy regulations can be found at the data privacy centre on google.de: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en

SurveyMonkey

We will receive your IP address when filling out one of our SurveyMonkey surveys from our website. We may ask for personal details on our surveys for future collaborations, and it is your choice to send us this data. This data will be stored on encrypted computers and will not be shared with third party entities.