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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 B, Unit B.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 European Commission in the context of managing the Learning Corner website. The data are processed by the Directorate-General for Communication, Unit B.2, together with the units responsible for specific processing activities related to the Learning Corner in the competent Commission departments or services.

 

Why and how do we process your personal data? 

Learning Corner is a website providing educational resources and services on the EU, available in all EU official languages,. 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 Youth Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communication. 

Data is collected in order to facilitate the operation and management of the Learning Corner resources and services, which may include: 

  • games, competitions, and interaction with competition participants, a link to the “Publications Office of the European Union” website (OP Portal), where users can order publications (DPR-EC-00449);
  • a feedback form allowing visitors to provide feedback on the pages they have visited, report bugs/technical issues, and share spontaneous comments on the content. Visitors using this form are invited to provide an e-mail address so that, if necessary they can be contacted for clarifications or to receive answers to their questions (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 subscribe to the Learning Corner News (Article 5(1)(d) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725);

 

  1. the 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) based on the Union law below:
  • Article 11(1) and (2) of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU);
  • Article 15(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU);
  • Article 58(2)(d) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 (Financial Regulation);
  • Commission Decision C(2024) 8793 on the financing of Directorate-General for Communication’s operational activities and on the adoption of the work programme for 2025 and from its Annex, Section 4.3.5: on “Communication materials and General Report”: All online and offline communication materials, including the Learning Corner website and the ‘EU made easy’ page, are suitable for a wide range of audiences and age groups, in Member States and beyond. “

Which personal data do we collect and further process? 

Please note that there is no need to register and to provide personal data on the Learning Corner website to use most of its resources and services. 

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). 

 In case of competitions, your data and consent will be collected by the Commission service or EU institution posting the competition on the Learning Corner website.

Publicly available data of relevant stakeholders and multipliers - such as name of organisation, email address, name of the contact person - are collected for carrying out awareness raising activities.

 The Data Controller may share anonymous 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 resources and 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 confidentiality obligations. 

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 resources and services, in order to perform related follow-up actions. 

Where relevant, external contractors may receive the personal data of users of the Learning Corner resources or services on a need-to-know basis, for example when the Commission contracts them to follow up on feedback. 

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 B.2 (COMM-B2atec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMM-B2[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.