Privacy Notice
1. Who We Are
This Privacy Notice explains how personal data is collected, used, stored, and protected in connection with activities of the Alternative Proteins Research and Innovation Skills Enhancement (APRISE) project, including meetings, training activities, workshops, webinars, conferences, secondments, and other project-related activities.
APRISE is funded under the Horizon Europe programme. Middle East Technical University (METU) acts as the Project Coordinator and is responsible for the central coordination of personal data processing carried out for APRISE project activities.
Personal data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), applicable national and international data-protection legislation, and the data-protection obligations set out in Article 15 of the APRISE Horizon Europe Grant Agreement.
2. What Personal Data We Collect
Depending on the activity, APRISE may collect and process personal data such as:
- Name and contact details;
- institution, organisation, professional role, or participant category;
- registration, attendance, participation, and eligibility information;
- information relevant to secondments, mobility, training, or other APRISE activities;
- responses to assessments, exercises, reports, or other training-related activities;
- photographs, video recordings, and audio recordings, where applicable and where the necessary consent has been obtained.
Only personal data that is relevant and necessary for the respective APRISE activity will be collected and processed.
3. Why We Process Your Data
Personal data may be processed for the purposes of:
- organising and administering APRISE activities;
- managing registrations, communication, attendance, participation, and certification;
- organising and documenting training and secondment activities;
- providing access to relevant project or training materials;
- evaluating project activities and training outcomes;
- fulfilling the monitoring, reporting, documentation, record-keeping, review, and audit requirements of the APRISE Horizon Europe Grant Agreement;
- reporting relevant project activities or participation information to the European Commission or granting authority where required;
- communicating and disseminating APRISE activities, including through photographs or recordings where the participant has provided the relevant consent.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
Personal data is processed on the appropriate legal basis under Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and applicable national data-protection legislation, depending on the purpose and nature of the processing.
Where consent is the appropriate legal basis, including for certain uses of identifiable photographs, video, audio recordings, or other optional dissemination activities, consent will be requested separately.
Providing personal data for registration or participation is voluntary. However, certain information may be necessary to register for an APRISE activity, verify eligibility or attendance, administer a secondment or training activity, fulfil project reporting requirements, or issue a certificate.
Consent for optional photography, filming, recording, or public dissemination is voluntary and will not affect eligibility to participate in APRISE activities.
5. Who May Access the Data
Personal data may be accessed, only where necessary, by:
- the APRISE Project Coordination and relevant project teams;
- authorised APRISE consortium partners involved in the respective activity;
- instructors, trainers, organisers, or designated administrators;
- service providers supporting project administration, communication, online meetings, registration, or data storage, subject to appropriate data-protection arrangements;
- the European Commission, the European Research Executive Agency (REA), authorised reviewers, auditors, or other competent bodies where required for project monitoring, reporting, review, audit, or investigation.
Access to personal data will be limited to persons who require it for the implementation, management, monitoring, or reporting of APRISE activities and who are subject to appropriate confidentiality obligations.
Where personal data is transferred to the granting authority, participants will be informed as required and may also be directed to the relevant EU Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.
6. Data Retention
Personal data will be retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and for any additional period required by applicable legal, contractual, reporting, auditing, or record-keeping obligations.
In accordance with Article 20.1 of the APRISE Horizon Europe Grant Agreement and Point 6 of the Grant Agreement Data Sheet, records and supporting documents necessary to demonstrate the proper implementation of the project must be retained for five years after final payment.
Where checks, reviews, audits, investigations, litigation, or other procedures are ongoing, relevant records may be retained until those procedures are completed.
Recordings made available to participants may be removed from shared or participant access after the period specified for the relevant activity. Where a recording or related participation record is necessary as supporting documentation for project implementation, reporting, review, or audit purposes, a restricted internal copy may be retained for the applicable record-keeping period.
Personal data that is not required for such purposes will not be retained longer than necessary.
7. Photography and Recordings
Certain APRISE meetings, training activities, workshops, webinars, conferences, or other events may be photographed, filmed, or recorded.
Participants will be informed where photography or recording is planned.
Where the appropriate consent has been provided, photographs, video, or audio recordings may be used for APRISE-related communication, dissemination, and reporting through channels such as:
- the APRISE project website;
- official APRISE and partner social-media accounts;
- digital newsletters;
- presentations, brochures, posters, and other communication materials;
- project reports and other official project documentation.
Participants who do not consent to optional photography, filming, recording, or public dissemination should indicate this through the relevant consent form or inform the event organisers.
Where processing is based on consent, consent may be withdrawn at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
8. Your Rights
Under the GDPR and applicable data-protection legislation, participants may have the right to:
- access their personal data;
- request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data;
- request deletion of personal data, where applicable;
- request restriction of processing;
- object to certain processing;
- request data portability, where applicable; and
- withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.
These rights are subject to the conditions and limitations provided by applicable law.
Where personal data or records must be retained to comply with legal, Grant Agreement, reporting, review, or audit obligations, immediate deletion may not always be possible.
Participants also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent data-protection supervisory authority if they consider that their personal data has been processed unlawfully.
9. Data Security
APRISE beneficiaries will take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.
Personal data will only be made available to authorised personnel where access is necessary for the relevant project activity.
10. Contact
For questions concerning this Privacy Notice, the processing of your personal data, exercise of your data-protection rights, or withdrawal of consent, please contact the APRISE Project Coordination Team: