Data Policy

European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant Project DeVOTE Website

As of 12 May 2021

Thank you for visiting the website of the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant Project DeVOTE project. In compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR) (in particular Article 13), with this document we aim to inform you which of your personal data are recorded when visiting our websites and for which purposes these data are used.

Since legislative changes or changes to our internal processes can necessitate adaptions to this data protection declaration, we kindly ask you to consult it regularly. The data protection declaration is available for download and print at www.votemeanings.eu at any time.

§ 1 What are Personal Data?

Personal data are particulars concerning personal or material characteristics of an identified or identifiable person (data subject). These include, for instance, information like your name, your address, your telephone number, your date of birth, and your email address. Information that cannot be linked to you personally (or only under disproportionate effort), such as anonymised information, do not count as personal data.

§ 2 General Remarks on Data Processing

a) Scope

As a basic principle, we only collect and use personal data of the website users to the extent that is necessary for providing an operational website. For the newsletter, only name, user name and e-mail address are processed to enable your registration. Data collection will be managed by the core team of DeVOTE at the University of Vienna as the data controller. For the citizen science project, we use name, user name and e-mail address to enable your registration as a perquisite of participation in the citizen science activities. Data collection for the citizen science data will be managed by a subcontractor, specialised in facilitating citizen science projects, SPOTTERON (www.spotteron.net).

We will only collect and use personal data of our users on the grounds of appropriate legal basis in compliance with the GDPR, e.g. with the user’s consent. Further details regarding declarations of consent can be found under § 3 of this data protection declaration under the respective processing operation. Personal Data are not shared by SPOTTERON or the researchers of DeVOTE with commercial and/or non-commercial entities outside the listed subcontractors. Personal data is used for login purposes on the website. Your personal data will not be transferred to third parties and your data will not be utilised for promotional purposes without your consent unless we are required to disclose any data pursuant to applicable law.

List of SPOTTERON subcontractors, which may process personal data:

hosteurope Gmbh + full address

Captcha plugin: + full address

On our websites, we integrate social plug-ins of the following social networks:

Youtube (Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043, USA)

Vimeo (Vimeo, Inc. 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA)

Twitter (Twitter, Inc., 1355 Market St, Suite 900, San Francisco, California 94103, USA)

Open Street Map

b) Legal Basis

Provided that we obtain a data subject’s consent for processing operations of personal data, Article 6 para. 1 lit. a EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) forms the legal basis for the processing of personal data.

c) Data Erasure and Storage Period

Personal data of the data subject will be erased or blocked as soon as the purpose of storing ceases to exist.

§ 3 Different processing operations

In case you wish to use services provided within our web presence, such as subscription to a newsletter or participating in the citizen science activities, you are required to provide further data. For further details see the description of specific data processing operations below. In particular, personal data will be used as follows:

a) Providing websites and creating logfiles

With every visit to our websites, our system automatically records data and information of the computer system of the calling computer. The following data will be collected:

• IP address of the requesting computer

• Date and time of access

• E-mail address

The logfiles contain IP addresses or other data that allow for linking to a specific user. This could be the case, for instance, when the link to the website from which the user is accessing the website or the link to the website to which the user is switching contains personal data.

These data are also recorded in the logfiles of our system. These data are not stored together with other personal data of the user.

Legal basis for temporarily storing data and logfiles is Article 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

Storage in the logfiles is necessary to ensure the operability of the website. Furthermore, these data help us optimise the website and guarantee security of our information technology systems. We do not analyse any data for marketing purposes.

These purposes also define our legitimate interest in data processing in accordance with Article 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

Data will be erased as soon as their collection no longer serves the fulfilment of their purpose. Collection of these data for the provision of the website is essential for operating the website. The user does not have the possibility to object.

b) Newsletter of the DeVOTE project

It is possible to subscribe to our newsletter on the website. The subscription to our newsletter is free of charge. When subscribing to the newsletter, the data entered into the input mask (i.e., name, user name and e-mail address) are transmitted to us. The disclosure of your name is used to address you personally and to personalise the contents of the newsletter. It is entirely up to you whether you wish to disclose these data or not. Without this information, however, we are not able to send our newsletters to you.

Furthermore, the following data are collected upon registration:

• IP address of the requesting computer

• Date and time of subscription

The processing of personal data is based on the following given consent according to Article 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR:

I consent that SPOTTERON contracted by the DeVOTE project, records and processes my personal data for the purpose of the project and the project communication. My data will be erased as soon as the purpose of processing is fulfilled and provided that this is not opposed by any other legal retention period. I hereby declare that this consent is given voluntarily. I have been informed that I can withdraw my consent at any time with future effect without adverse consequences. I can address my withdrawal of consent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For sending the newsletter, we use a so-called double opt-in procedure, i.e. we will only send you the newsletter once you have confirmed your registration via a link provided in the confirmation e-mail sent to you for this purpose. With this, we want to guarantee that only you as the owner of the given e-mail address can subscribe to the newsletter. Your confirmation regarding this matter must follow promptly upon receiving the confirmation e-mail since otherwise your newsletter registration is erased automatically from our database.

Collecting the user’s e-mail address serves the purpose of delivering the respective newsletter. When registering for the respective newsletter, your e-mail address will be used for our own (marketing) purposes until you deregister from the newsletter. Other personal data collected in the course of the registration process are used to prevent abuse of services or the used e-mail address.

Data will be erased as soon as their collection no longer serves the fulfilment of their purpose. Accordingly, the user’s e-mail address will be stored as long as the subscription to the respective newsletter is active. In connection with data processing for sending newsletters, no data will be disclosed to third parties. Data will be used strictly for sending the respective newsletter.

c) User Account registration

We offer you the possibility to register a user account for citizen science activities via the PARTICIPATE NOW! button and for interaction with the website. To be able to participate in these activities, the following data will need to be entered into the input mask: name, user name and e-mail address, which are transmitted to us. In addition, the following data are collected during the registration process:

• IP address of the requesting computer

• Date and time of subscription

The processing of personal data is based on the following given consent according to Article 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR:

I consent that SPOTTERON contracted by the DeVOTE project, records and processes my personal data for the purpose of the project and the project communication. My data will be erased as soon as the purpose of processing is fulfilled and provided that this is not opposed by any other legal retention period. I hereby declare that this consent is given voluntarily. I have been informed that I can withdraw my consent at any time with future effect without adverse consequences. I can address my withdrawal of consent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

d) Citizen Science Survey

During the participation in the citizen science activities, the following personal data are additionally collected:

• E-mail address

• Age / date of birth

• Gender

All data are provided by the person concerned on a voluntary basis upon registration. For data that are provided voluntarily in the course of registration, Article 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR constitutes the legal basis. Registering the user is requisite for participating in the citizen science activities.

I consent that SPOTTERON contracted by the DeVOTE project, records and processes my personal data for the purpose of the project and the project communication. My data will be erased as soon as the purpose of processing is fulfilled and provided that this is not opposed by any other legal retention period. I hereby declare that this consent is given voluntarily. I have been informed that I can withdraw my consent at any time with future effect without adverse consequences. I can address my withdrawal of consent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

§ 4 Use of Cookies

We use so-called cookies. Cookies are small text files that are sent from our webserver to your browser when accessing our websites and held available on your computer for later retrieval. Cookies contain a characteristic string that allows for a clear identification of the browser the next time the website is accessed. We only use so called session cookies (also known as temporary cookies); these are cookies which are only stored temporarily (cached) for the duration of your visit to one of our websites. The following cookies are used:

• Session cookies (ID).

The collected usage data do not allow for any conclusions regarding the user. All of these data that are collected in an anonymised way will not be linked to your personal data and will be erased immediately after their statistical analysis. After termination of the session, as soon as you end your browser session, all cookies will be erased. We do not use trackers, no social media widgets, no Analytics.

§ 5 Security measures for protecting stored data

We commit ourselves to protecting your privacy and treating your data as confidential. The website has appropriate technical and organisational safety precautions in place. All transfer of personal data and all website login activities are encrypted industry-standard TLS/SSL. The maintenance of the website is protected by login with strong password policy in place for all administrators. Server security, system security and physical access security is provided by the hosting subcontractor (please see above) on base of industry standards and physical access control.

The transfer of project-specific data (CSV export) is encrypted via SSL/TLS and is only available to the project partner after login as admin user. Thereby, the scientific researchers of DeVOTE have access to this data.

We take the protection of your personal data seriously and handle it professionally. Team members are committed to secrecy and are dedicated to continuously improve their knowledge about modern data protection measures.

However, we would like to point out that due to the nature of internet it is possible that other persons or institutions outside of our control do not abide by the rules of data protection and the above-mentioned security precautions. In particular, data that are revealed without encryption – e.g. where data are transmitted via e-mail – can be read by third parties. Technically, we have no influence on this. It is in the user’s responsibility to protect the provided data against abuse by means of encryption or other measures

§ 6 Hyperlinks to Third-Party Websites

On our websites, we place so-called hyperlinks to websites of other providers. Activating these hyperlinks will forward you from one of our pages directly to the website(s) of the other provider. You can recognize this for instance by the URL changing. We cannot assume any responsibility for the confidential handling of your data on such websites of third parties since it is beyond our control whether these companies abide by data protection regulations. Concerning the handling of your personal data by these companies, please consult the respective company’s website(s) directly.

§ 7 Objection

Concerning the processing of your personal data based on legitimate interests corresponding to Article 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR you have the right to enter an objection against processing of your personal data based on Article 21 GDPR provided there are reasons relating to your particular situation, or in case the objection is directed towards direct advertising. In the case of direct advertising, you have a general right to object that we will enforce without requiring a particular situation or reason. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. along with the respective processing.

§ 8 Your Rights as a Data Subject

The following rights arise from the GDPR for you as the subject of processing of personal data:

• According to Article 15 GDPR, you have the right to demand information on your personal data processed by us. In particular, you can demand information on processing purposes, the categories of personal data, categories of recipients to whom your data were or are disclosed, planned storage periods, the existence of the right to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing or objection, the existence of the right to lodge a complaint, the source of your data provided they have not been collected by us, the transfer of data to third countries or international organisations, as well as the existence of automated decision-making and profiling and, if applicable, meaningful and significant information on their details.

• According to Article 16 GDPR, you have the right to demand the rectification of incorrect personal data or the completion of incomplete personal data stored by us without any undue delay.

• According to Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to demand the erasure of personal data stored by us provided that the processing is not imperative for exercising the right to freedom of speech and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest, or for the assertion, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

• According to Article 18 GDPR, you have the right to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data provided that you deny the correctness of data, the processing is unlawful, we do not require the data in question anymore and you object to their erasure because you need them for the assertion, exercise, or defence of legal claims. The right arising from Article 18 GDPR remains in force even if you objected to processing in accordance with Article 21 GDPR.

• According to Article 20 GDPR, you have the right to obtain personal data that you provided to us in a structured, common, and machine-processable format, or you can demand the transmission to another responsible body.

• According to Article 7 para. 3 GDPR, you have the right to withdraw your consent that you once granted us at all times. This implicates that, with future effect, we may no longer pursue the data processing that was based on this consent.

• According to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. As a rule, you can consult the supervisory authority of your usual residence, your workplace, or our place of business. In Austria, the responsible supervisory authority is the Austrian Data Protection Authority, Barichgasse 40–42, 1030 Vienna, telephone: +43 1 52 152-0, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., website: dsb.gv.at.

§ 9 Project Principal Investigator and Contact Data

• Project Principal Investigator

Ass. Prof. Dr. Carolina Plescia - Principal Investigator

University of Vienna

• Contact Data

Department of Government

Kolingasse 14-16, 1090, Vienna

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.