Introduction
The European Commission (hereafter ‘the Commission’) is committed to protect your personal data and to respect your privacy. The Commission collects and further processes personal data pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001).
This privacy statement explains the reason for the processing of your personal data, the way we collect, handle and ensure protection of all personal data provided, how that information is used and what rights you have in relation to your personal data. It also specifies the contact details of the responsible Data Controller with whom you may exercise your rights, the Data Protection Officer and the European Data Protection Supervisor.
The information in relation to processing of data in connection with User Feedback Forms, undertaken by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communication and its unit ”Europa Web Communication” is presented below.
Why and how do we process your personal data?
The DG Communication Unit “Europa Web Communication” (referred to hereafter as the Data Controller) collects feedback from users regarding the content or functioning of selected sites of the European Commission, and of the interinstitutional website europa.eu with the aim of improving the European Commission online communication and of providing a better online service to users/citizens.
Feedback can be provided anonymously, but you have the option to opt-in and give consent to receiving further information and to be contacted for clarifications.
In case of an opt-in, your data are collected via “Formtools” (hosted on Commission servers) and subsequently manually copied on a spreadsheet, stored on a shared drive on the operating DG network.
Your personal data will not be used for an automated decision-making, including profiling.
On what legal ground(s) do we process your personal data
We process your personal data, because:
- the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes.
This is in accordance with EU Regulation 2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, in particular article 5(1).
Informing the broad public via online communication is a task resulting from the European Commission's own prerogatives at institutional level, as provided for in Article 58(2) (d) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2018/1046 of 18 July 2018 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1).
Which personal data do we collect and further process?
You have the option to opt-in and give consent to receive further information and to be contacted for clarifications and further information.
In case of an opt-in we collect and process only data that is necessary for further contacts, namely: name and e-mail address.
How long do we keep your personal data?
Personal data is kept as long as follow-up actions to the feedback provided via the online forms are necessary with regard to the purpose(s) of the processing of personal data and no longer than two (2) years from the feedback submission’s date.
How do we protect and safeguard your personal data?
All personal data in electronic are stored either on the servers of the European Commission or of its contractors under Framework Contract PO/2016/20/A5. All processing operations are carried out pursuant to the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46 of 10 January 2017 on the security of communication and information systems in the European Commission.
The Commission’s contractors are bound by a specific contractual clause for any processing operations of your data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations deriving from the transposition of the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU Member States (‘GDPR’ Regulation (EU) 2016/679)
In order to protect your personal data, the Commission has put in place a number of technical and organisational measures in place. Technical measures include appropriate actions to address online security, risk of data loss, alteration of data or unauthorised access, taking into consideration the risk presented by the processing and the nature of the personal data being processed. Organisational measures include restricting access to the personal data solely to authorised persons with a legitimate need to know for the purposes of this processing operation.
Who has access to your personal data and to whom is it disclosed?
Access to your personal data is provided to Commission staff responsible for carrying out this processing operation according to the “need to know” principle. Such staff abide by statutory, and when required, additional confidentiality agreements.
Access to your personal data is also possible for contractors’ staff in charge of Web Services Tests on behalf of the European Commission.
The information we collect will not be given to any other third party, except to the extent and for the purpose we may be required to do so by law.
What are your rights and how can you exercise them?
You have specific rights as a ‘data subject’ under Chapter III (Articles 14-25) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, in particular the right to access, rectify or erase your personal data and the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Where applicable, you also have the right to object to the processing or the right to data portability.
You can exercise your rights by contacting the Data Controller, or in case of conflict the Data Protection Officer. If necessary, you can also address the European Data Protection Supervisor. Their contact information is given under Heading 9 below.
Where you wish to exercise your rights in the context of one or several specific processing operations, please provide their description (i.e. their Record reference(s) as specified under Heading 10 below) in your request.
Contact information
The Data Controller
If you want to verify, modify or delete your personal data stored by the Europa website and its sub-sites, you can contact the Europa Web Communication unit in DG Communication.
The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Commission
You may contact the Data Protection Officer (DATA-PROTECTION-OFFICER
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (DATA-PROTECTION-OFFICER[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)) with regard to issues related to the processing of your personal data under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
You have the right to have recourse (i.e. you can lodge a complaint) to the European Data Protection Supervisor (edpsedps [dot] europa [dot] eu (edps[at]edps[dot]europa[dot]eu)) if you consider that your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data by the Data Controller.
Where to find more detailed information?
The Commission Data Protection Officer (DPO) publishes the register of all processing operations on personal data by the Commission, which have been documented and notified to him. You may access the register via the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/dpo-register.
This specific processing operation has been included in the DPO’s public register with the following Record reference: DPR-EC-01064.