Ethics and Privacy

This section informs you of the ethics, data protection and privacy practices for eHERITAGE website, specifically:

  • What personally identifiable information is collected
  • Which organization is collecting this information
  • How this information is used
  • Our policy on sharing this information
  • How we protect your information
  • How you can correct any inaccuracies in this information

Contents

Privacy Summary

We take your privacy very seriously. Children (under 18s) are not eligible to use our services and should not submit any personal information to our website. eHERITAGE.org does not actively track you as an individual and only analyses summarized information about general visitor traffic flows. Should you send us an email via the contact link below, your name, email address and message will be emailed to us (as you would expect). This information is kept private. We will store this information within our own email system so that, in this way, we are able to respond to you.

Should you comment on a blog post or web page on this site, then your name, email address, IP address and message will be stored in our website database (as you would expect). This makes your name, website address and comment (but not your email address) viewable by the general public on the website.

This website uses some cookies. A cookie is a piece of information in the form of a very small text file that is placed on an internet user’s hard drive. It is generated by a web page server, which is basically the computer that operates a web site. The information the cookie contains is set by the server and it can be used by that server whenever the user visits the site. A cookie can be thought of as an internet user’s identification card, which tell a web site when the user has returned. These cookies are used to ensure proper running of this website, and also to help us improve your experience when browsing. We do not use 3rd Party / Tracking / advertising cookies. None of the information we gather via cookies identifies you as an individual – it is all entirely anonymous.

To have more information about cookies you could visit the definition of the term “Cookies” or make an Internet search about it.

Which organization is collecting this information

eHERITAGE.org is a website managed by the eHERITAGE consortium, which includes all the 3 members UTBv, JSI and SSSA. We analyze integrated information about navigation on website to improve contents purposes giving also better experience to visitors.

How this information is used

If you have chosen to share it with us, we use your email address to contact you in reply to your message, or to send you emails or newsletters. If you have entered your email address to leave a comment on the blog, it is used to identify your comment, however it is not displayed on the website or shared with any third party.

We may also use your email to help resolve issues or disputes, for example if you tell us that you cannot see any of your posts on the website, we would probably search our database using your email address to help diagnose the problem.

Information disclosure

We do not share your personal information or email address with third parties. However, we will release your information if that is required by the law.

Email opt-out

We will not send you spam emails. You may opt-out of our emails/newsletter at any time. An ‘unsubscribe’ link is included in all of our email and newsletters.

Data protection

eHERITAGE.org uses best endeavors to safeguard the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information but we do not use encryption (such as SSL) or firewalls to further protect the information as it travels across the Internet. We do not believe that the personal information we collect warrants this level of security. It is important to be aware that there is no such thing as “perfect internet security”.

How to correct inaccurate information

Once posted, you cannot change or remove any comments you have submitted on our website pages and/or posts. However, if you would like to have this information removed please contact us and we will do this for you.

How to contact us

Please use the contact page.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

From time to time we may update this Privacy Policy in line with website changes that may affect the personal information we gather about you. It is assumed that you accept such changes if you continue to use the site and services. If you do not accept such changes then you should stop using eHERITAGE.org’s website and services, and contact us (details above) if you would like any sent information to be removed.


Ethics

Detailed information on the protection of personal data will be hosted on project’s website.

1. Will any type of personal data be used and/or stored within the framework of the research?

Since this project is a Twinning, some personal data will be collected via interviews and workshops and will be used during WP 2 and 3 as the collection of data from stakeholders.

2. What kind of human participants/data are involved within the research?

Mostly project participants and a few volunteers. Their basic information will be involved (names, gender, technological background). Appropriate authorizations will be provided according to the legal requirements of the area where the research is planned to take place.

3. Are all sensitive data that are planned to be collected really focused on the research question and is relevant for the foreseeable research?

Data will be collected for research studies and marketing initiatives related to the focus of our project, expanding the R&D profile on UTBv in the field of virtual heritage.

4. For how long will the collected data be collected, used and when will it be irreversibly destroyed?

Data will be collected solely for as long as the project lasts (3 years from the start of the project). Upon the completion of the project, after final audits, data will be electronically erased from consortium’s computers/servers.

5. Do the applicants have the necessary legal permission to obtain and process the data?

A planned informed consent system will be detailed in the deliverable D5.4 Ethics assurance plan, which will also contain copies of ethical approvals for the collection of personal data by the competent University Data Protection Officer / National Data Protection authorities.

6. How will the collected personal data be securely accessed?

Personnel data will be accessed on a “need to know basis” principle (only the users that need to access the data will be allowed to do so). This will be accomplished using a password protected system.

7. How will the data be securely stored: data structure and format?

Data structures will be stored on private servers and personal computers. Most data will be stored in Excel files/SQL databases. No sensitive data such as health data will be used, thus none will also be stored.

8. How will the data be securely stored: location & hardware?

Data will be stored mostly on non-WAN connected computer servers or internal/external HARD disks.

9. How will data transfer be monitored?

Since all consortium partners are from EU countries, we foresee no transfer of data outside the EU.