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Learning corner

Learning Corner privacy statement

PROTECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA

This privacy statement provides information about
the processing and the protection of your personal data.

Processing operation: Learning Corner

Data Controller: Directorate-General for Communication, Directorate A, Unit A.2

Record reference: DPR-EC-03612

Introduction

The European Commission (hereafter ‘the Commission’) is committed to protecting your personal data and to respecting 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 reasons 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.

This privacy statement concerns the processing of personal data by the Commission when managing the Learning Corner services, administered by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communication Unit A.2, and by the units responsible for dealing with processing activities related to the Learning Corner in the competent Commission department or service.

Why and how do we process your personal data?

Learning Corner is a website providing educational material and services, available in all EU official languages, which is dedicated to discovering the EU in an entertaining manner. Targeted mainly at primary and secondary school pupils and their teachers, Learning Corner is a repository of games, quizzes, learning and teaching materials focusing on the EU and its benefits for European citizens. The website is managed by the Editorial Service and Targeted Outreach Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communication.

The processing of personal data is based on the voluntary registration of the user concerned. Data is collected in order to facilitate the operation and management of the Learning Corner online services, which may include:

  • games, competitions, and interaction with competition participants;
  • an online forum for registered users;
  • a link to an online store, which allows users to order publications directly from the Learning Corner website (DPR-EC-00449);
  • a feedback form where visitors to the site can provide feedback on the pages visited, report bugs/technical issues, and send spontaneous comments on the content. Visitors interacting in this way are invited to provide an e-mail address so that clarifications can be requested from them if necessary and questions can be answered (DPR-EC-01064).

On what legal ground(s) do we process your personal data?

We process your personal data, because:

  1. you have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes (Article 5(1)(d) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725).

For specific processing activities, the consent of the data subject is necessary. In compliance with Article 3(15) and Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, the consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.

We have obtained your consent directly from you, while subscribing to the Learning Corner services.

  1. processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Union institution or body (Article 5(1)(a) of Regulation 2018/1725).

In accordance with the General budget of the European Union for the ongoing financial year, the processing operations linked to the management of the Learning Corner educational services and other multimedia and communication tools concerning the Union, for the purpose of providing all citizens with general information on the work of the Union institutions, is a public service task resulting from the Commission’s prerogatives at institutional level, as provided for in Article 58(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1).

Which personal data do we collect and further process?

We collect the personal data provided when using one of the Learning Corner services: name, username, country, phone number, e-mail address, postal address (in case the user orders publications), and online identifiers (device ID, IP address and/or cookie identifier).

The categories of data processed by the EU Login application are described in the respective record of DIGIT (see Identity & Access Management Service ref. DPR-EC-03817).

You have the option to opt-in and give consent to receive further information and to be contacted for clarifications and replies to questions posed. If you opt-in, we collect and process only the data that is necessary for further contact (i.e. your name and e-mail address).

You also have the option to opt-in and give consent to the processing of your data if you wish to order publications directly from the Learning Corner website. In this case, the data processed will include your name and telephone number, as well as your postal address, which are necessary for the sending of the publications you wish to order.

If you opt-in and give your consent to the processing of your data in order to take part in a competition, the data to be collected will be that which is strictly necessary for the effective running of the competition and will be clearly specified.

Finally, you have the option to opt-in and give consent if you wish to participate in a forum. In this case, the data processed will solely comprise the username required to participate in the forum.

The Data Controller may share aggregate or de-identified information with other Commission Directorates and/or other EU institutions or third parties for archiving or statistical purposes.

How long do we keep your personal data?

5.1. Personal data provided when using one of the Learning Corner services

Personal data is kept for as long as follow-up actions related to one of the Learning Corner services are necessary with regard to the purpose(s) of the processing of personal data and no longer than two (2) years from the date of submission of the data.

5.2 Reports, paper and electronic records, including ARES records kept by DG COMM

All paper and electronic records concerning the day-to-day correspondence and reports containing aggregated data, including ARES records, are kept for a period of ten (10) years according to the Common Commission Level Retention List (SEC(2019)900/2). They will be archived according to the Commission's legal framework and stored in ARES (Advanced Records System) under the responsibility of Secretariat-General (For more information, see Management and (short- and medium-term) preservation of Commission documents ref. DPR-EC-00536).

How do we protect and safeguard your personal data?

All personal data in electronic format (e-mails, documents, databases, uploaded batches of data, etc.) are stored on the servers of the Commission. 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 personal data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations deriving from the Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (GDPR).

In order to protect your personal data, the Commission has put in place a number of technical and organisational measures. 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 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 the authorised personnel of the EU institutions and the contractors responsible for carrying out the processing operation according to the “need to know” principle. Such staff and contractors abide by statutory and, when required, additional confidentiality agreements.

Authorised staff of the Commission have access to the personal data provided by a user using one of the Learning Corner services, in order to perform related follow-up actions.

When the request concerns publications, the user’s name, postal address, and telephone number are transmitted to the EU's Publications Office, which dispatches the publications requested through its contractor. (see: DPR-EC-00449);

If relevant, a contractor can receive the personal data provided by the users of the Learning Corner service on a need-to-know basis. For example if the Commission contracts their services to follow up on the feedback, or to help moderate the forum.

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. As regards this processing operation, you can exercise the following rights:

  • the right to access your personal data (Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725);
  • the right to rectification in the case that your personal data is inaccurate or incomplete (Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725);
  • the right to erasure of your personal data (Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725);
  • where applicable, the right to restrict the processing of your personal data (Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725);
  • the right to data portability (Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725).

If you have provided your consent the European Commission for the present processing operation, you can withdraw it at any time by notifying the Data Controller. The withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out before you have withdrawn your consent.

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 Section 9.

Where you wish to exercise your rights in the context of one or several specific processing operations, please provide their description (i.e. Record reference(s) as specified under Section 10) in your request.

Contact information

The Data Controller

If you would like to exercise your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, or if you have comments, questions or concerns, or if you would like to submit a complaint regarding the collection and use of your personal data, please feel free to contact the Data Controller, Directorate-General for Communication, Unit A.2 (COMM-A2atec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMM-A2[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)).

The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Commission

You may contact the Data Protection Officer (DATA-PROTECTION-OFFICERatec [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 (edpsatedps [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-03612.