SHERPA PRIVACY STATEMENT

SHERPA complies with the General Data Protection Regulation and Privacy legislation. Find out below what this means in practice.

Data collection

We are using cookies on the website to facilitate browsing on the website. During your session we temporarily store your IP address. This information will only be used for the consultation statistics. For more information on Cookies, please read the “Our use of cookie policy terms and conditions ” section below.

For the subscription to our newsletter, we collect your email address. This is used only for the purpose of sending you the newsletter and related statistics. We will also collect other data (country, position, organisation and type of stakeholder) for research purposes. Your contact details will not be used in any other context without asking your consent before.

We consider that it is in your legitimate interest so that you can read our news without having to provide us with your contact details every month. Each newsletter also gives you the right to unsubscribe.

Data storage

Your data is processed securely: we use various technologies and security measures to properly protect your data against unauthorised access, use, loss or disclosure. Where necessary, these technologies and measures are tested and adapted at regular intervals.

In accordance with the GDPR, we only use servers that are internal or located in Europe and that comply with the regulations in force in the European Union since 25 May 2018. In addition, personal information stored in paper form is only accessible to those who need it to perform the requested service. Your personal data will be kept only until the end of the contractual obligation (3 years after the end of the project).

In the event of an uncontrolled data leak, we are committed to informing anyone affected by the leak and to do all that is necessary to repair the system as soon as possible.

We never share your data with third parties for commercial purposes.

If a subcontractor is involved in the processing of the data, we ensure that the subcontractor complies with the GDPR and that he/she complies with our privacy policy.

We also apply the principle of information. This means that, anyone who provides personal data is invited to read the present statement before providing any information.

You may, at any time, request access to your personal data as mentioned in the next paragraph.

Your rights regarding the storage of your personal data

You can, at any time, consult the personal data that the SHERPA team keeps on you and, if necessary, request correction or deletion (if your data is not necessary for the performance of the contract) of all or part of your data. In this case, please contact us at info@rural-interfaces.eu.

You also have the right to be forgotten and therefore request the complete deletion of your data in the event that its storage is not part of a contractual or legal obligation. To do so, send your request to info@rural-interfaces.eu.

With regards to the newsletter, you have the possibility to access your personal data directly via the registration system on the website as well as the possibility to unsubscribe directly via the address: info@rural-interfaces.eu

Organisations have an obligation to respond to any request to consult, modify or delete your personal data within thirty days. However, this period may be renewed if the request concerns a large amount of data. In
any case, you will be informed as soon as possible of the time required for processing the request.

Our Use of Cookie Policy Terms and Conditions

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information, which are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a certain webpage. Cookies are then sent back to the originating webpage on each subsequent visit, or to another webpage, that recognises that cookie. Cookies are widely used in order to make SHERPA Platform work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide information.

Cookies do many different things, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improving the user experience. Cookies may tell us, for example, whether you have visited the SHERPA Platform before or whether you are a new visitor.

There are two broad categories of cookies:
i. first party cookies, served directly by us to your computer or mobile device;
ii. third-party cookies, which are served by a third-party on our behalf. We may use third-party cookies for functionality, performance/analytics,tracking and social media purposes.

Cookies can remain on your computer or mobile device for different periods of time. Some cookies are session cookies, meaning that they are stored only temporarily during a browsing session and expire when you close your browser. Other cookies are persistent cookies, meaning that they are saved on your computer or mobile device for a fixed period and are not deleted when browser is closed. They can be used by the SHERPA Platform to recognise your computer or mobile device when you open your browser and browse the Internet again.

For more information about cookies, please visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org/

Why Do We Use Cookies?

We use cookies for a variety of reasons, including to:

enable, facilitate and streamline the functioning of and your access to SHERPA Platform;
track traffic flow and patterns of travel in connection with the SHERPA Platform;
understand the total number of visitors to our Platform on an ongoing basis and the types of internet browsers (e.g. Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer) and operating systems (e.g. Windows or Mac OS) used by our visitors;
monitor the performance of the Platform and continually improve it;
customise and enhance your online experience.

What Types of Cookies Do We Use?

The types of cookies used by us and our partners in connection with the SHERPA Platform can be classified into one of four categories, namely cookies necessary for essential Website purposes, ‘functionality cookies’, performance and analytics cookies’, ‘ tracking cookies’, and ‘social media cookies’. We have set out some further information about each category, and the purposes of the cookies we and third-parties set in the following table.

Cookies necessary for essential Platform purposes

These cookies are essential to provide you with the SHERPA Platform and any services available through the Platform and to use some of its features, such as access to secure areas. Without these cookies, services you have asked for, like transactional pages and secure login accounts, would not be possible. Please see the instructions set out in ‘How to control or
delete cookies’ below.

Functionality Cookies

Functionality cookies record information about choices you have made and allow us to tailor the Platform to you. These cookies mean that when you continue to use or come back to the Platform, we can provide you with our services as you have asked for them to be provided. For example, these cookies allow us to:

Save your location preference if you have set your location on your homepage, if applicable.
Remember settings you have applied, such as layout, text size, preferences, and colours;
Show you when you are logged in; and
Store accessibility options. Please see the instructions set out in ‘How to control or delete cookies’ below.

Performance and Analytics Cookies

We use Matomo site web analytics tools that helps us understand how users engage with the Platform. Like many services, these web analytics services use firstparty cookies to track user interactions as in our case, where they are used to collect information about how users use our site and how they use it. This information is used to compile reports and create services to help us improve our Platform and the services associated with it.

The reports disclose Platform trends without identifying individual visitors. Some services will allow you to opt out of tracking with their services directly. For instance, while you cannot opt out of use of cookies with our site, you can opt out of Matomo without affecting how you visit our site. For more information on opting out of being tracked by Matomo across all websites you use, visit this Matomo page.

Social Media Cookies

On some pages of our Platform, third-parties that provide applications through our Platform may set their own cookies in order to track the success of their applications or customise applications for you. For example, when you share a content using a social media sharing button on our Platform (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus), the social network that has created the button will record that you have done this. Because of how cookies work, we cannot access these cookies, nor can the third-parties access the data in cookies used by us. Some pages of our Platform may also contain embedded content, such as video content from You-Tube, and these third-party sites may set their own cookies. Please see the instructions set out in ‘How to control or delete cookies’ below.

How to Control or Delete Cookies

You have the right to accept or stop cookies from being stored on your device at any time by modifying the settings in your web browser to reflect your cookie preferences.
Please be aware that you may not be able to use all the interactive features of our services, the Platform and its content once cookies are disabled.
Most browsers offer instructions on how to change your cookie settings. These settings will typically be found in the options or preferences menu of your browser. In order to understand these settings, the following links may be helpful, otherwise you should use the ‘Help’ option in your browser for more details.

What to do in case of a complaint or question?

The project team is available for any questions or access requests via info@rural-interfaces.eu

If you believe that your data is being processed incorrectly, please do not hesitate to inform us.

As a last resort, you also have the possibility to file a complaint with the data protection authority (formerly the Privacy Commission). This is the Belgian body that oversees the application of the GDPR throughout Belgium. https://www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be

Do not hesitate to contact us to learn more about our personal data processing policy.