Privacy Statement for Research

1. Responsible for the processing

The responsible party for the processing is Artesis Plantijn University College Antwerp (hereinafter "AP" or "we"). AP is according to Belgian law, a legal entity governed by public law, with its registered office at Lange Nieuwstraat 101, 2000 Antwerp, and CBE number 0535.880.359.

2. Participation in our projects

Your participation in a research project (e.g. by completing a survey, participating in a user test or participating in an interview/focus group) is non-binding and obligation-free. You always have the right to terminate your participation in the project.

As a research participant, you give the researchers associated with AP the right to process the personal data you have shared for research purposes, in accordance with this statement.

You also agree that the results of the research project become the property of AP or, when applicable, the research originator. This allows us to fully use these results for the research purposes associated with our projects.

3. What data do we collect about you?

As a research participant, we may collect and process the following data about you:

• Data that you provide to us as part of the research activities. This can be done by telephone, in writing, verbally (e.g. when you participate in an interview or a focus group) or electronically (e.g. when you complete an online survey).
• Data collected by our systems (e.g. an IP address in online surveys), or, in certain cases, also data which we obtain from others (e.g. through research partners or customers who already have data about you).
• Sound, video and/or visual recordings of you when they fit within our research projects.

This data may also contain personal data. Personal data is data which you can link to a specific person (a living natural person). This may also include sensitive personal data. As soon as we anonymise the data, it is no longer personal data. From that moment on, it is no longer possible to link the anonymized data to any specific persons.

4. For what purpose do we use your personal data?

4.1. Research purposes

We process your personal data for research purposes. All reporting is anonymous and on an aggregated level (for example, we may calculate averages based on the answers from a group of participants to a certain question). For these processing activities, we base ourselves on your agreement.

4.2. Communication and information

If applicable, we will process your personal data to (1) inform you about the results of the research in which you participated, (2) provide you with a gift or compensation, or (3) send you invitations for follow-up research or for participation in other research projects. We will use your consent or a legitimate interest as a basis for such processing.

5. With whom do we share your personal data?

Your personal data will not be passed on to others, except to the following persons:

• AP researchers involved in the research project for which the data was collected.
• Organisations, governments and companies we collaborate with in research projects, either within or outside the European Union. The transfer of your data is for research purposes only and it is limited to the data they require for conducting and/or managing the research.
• In addition, we use specialised external suppliers who carry out certain types of processing on our behalf, such as computer or IT services (for example, the maintenance of computer infrastructure used for the research).

In all other situations, we always ask for your permission to pass on personal data to third parties. We will pass on this personal information only if you give us your permission to do so.

6. Where is the data stored and processed?

In general, your data is stored and processed within the European Union (EU). Only when strictly necessary for the research (e.g. international research with non-European partners) can your personal data be transported outside the EU. We will then ensure that your data is protected just as well as within the EU. If we plan your data to be stored and processed by us outside the EU, we will report this to you.

7. How long do we keep your personal data?

We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this statement. To determine how long to keep your data, we consider the following aspects:

• Have we set and announced a specific retention period?
• Have we obtained permission for a longer retention period?
• Do we have a legal, contractual or similar obligation to retain the data?

As soon as we no longer require your personal data and we do not have a legal obligation to retain it, we will permanently delete the data or (if impossible) anonymise it in our systems.

8. How do we secure your personal data?

Your personal data is considered strictly confidential. We take the appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect these personal details against destruction, loss, unintentional alteration, damage, accidental or unlawful access, or any other unauthorised processing.

9. What are your rights?

The regulations give you the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• You have the right to consult your personal data and to receive a free copy of the personal data we process about you.
• You have the right to correct erroneous personal data.
• If processing is based on your consent, you have the right to revoke this consent at any time.
• If your personal details are processed based on a legitimate interest, you have the right to object to their processing.
• You have the right, in specific cases, to delete your personal data (or have it deleted).
• In specific cases, you have the right to receive your personal data in digital form or to have them forwarded directly to another data controller, as far as this is technically possible for us.

In case we process your personal data for scientific research purposes, we may sometimes deviate from the above rights. This is only possible if these rights threaten to make the scientific objectives impossible or seriously impede them. Deviations are only possible if they are necessary to achieve the specific purposes.

10. How can you ask questions or exercise your rights?

If you wish to exercise the rights under section 9 or if you have a question or complaint about our processing of personal data, please contact us via one of the following channels. Always indicate clearly which project or research it concerns.

Email: gegevensbescherming@ap.be

Post: AP Research Office, Lange Nieuwstraat 101, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium for the attention of the data protection officer.

You also have the right to file a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority. You can find more information at https://www.dataprotectionauthority.be/.