PROTECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
This privacy statement provides information about
the processing and the protection of your personal data.
Processing operation: First level Helpdesk for users of the Publications Office's electronic services and other products
Data Controller: Publications Office of the European Union, unit D.1, Stakeholder Relations and Outreach
Record reference: DPR-EC-00493
1. Introduction
The European Commission (hereafter ‘the Commission’) is committed to protect your personal data and to respect 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 reason 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.
The information in relation to processing operation "First level Helpdesk for users of the Publications Office's electronic services and other products" undertaken by unit D.1 "Stakeholder Relations and Outreach" of the Publications Office of the European Union (hereafter ‘the First level Helpdesk’) is presented below.
2. Why and how do we process your personnal data?
Purpose of the processing operation: Unit D.1 "Stakeholder Relations and Outreach" of the Publications Office collects and uses your personal information to answer any queries or address any technical issues that you raise when contacting the First level Helpdesk.
The processing operation consists in registering the personal data you provide us with when you contact us and in using it to reply to you, once we have resolved your query or technical issue.
In exceptional cases where you may send a question or request that the Publications office is not competent to answer, the Helpdesk may transfer this question to the Europe Direct Contact Centre operated by Commission DG COMM, or another competent service of the European Commission. The request will then be processed in accordance with record DPR-EC-01386 and the privacy statement on the Contact the European Commission page.
3. On what legal ground(s) do we process your personal data
We process your personal data, because:
- 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
- you have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes.
Legal basis for the processing: mandate of the Publications Office, Decision 2009/496/EC, Euratom of the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 26 June 2009 on the organisation and operation of the Publications Office of the European Union.
4. Which personal data do we collect and further process
In order to carry out this processing operation, unit D.1 "Stakeholder Relations and Outreach" of the Publications Office collects the following categories of personal data:
In case of contact by email: email address, first name and surname, language and country of residence.
In case of contact by telephone: telephone number, first name and surname, recordings of phone calls, language and country of residence.
In case of contact by letter (exceptional): first name and surname, postal address, language and country of residence.
5. How long do we keep your personal data?
Unit D.1 "Stakeholder Relations and Outreach" of the Publications Office only keeps your personal data for the time necessary to fulfil the purpose of collection or further processing, namely for providing you with the requested services.
Once the services are no longer requested, we will keep your data for a maximum of five years and then delete it.
6. How do we protect and safeguard your personal data?
All personal data in electronic format (emails, documents, databases, uploaded batches of data, etc.) are stored either on the servers of the European Commission or of its contractors under contract 10839, 01/08/2022-31/07/2026 (framework contract with cascade): Netcompany-Intrasoft S.A. (2b, rue Nicolas Bové, 1253 Luxembourg) and Infeurope S.A. (62 rue Charles Martel, L-2134 Luxembourg ). 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 your data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations deriving from the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’ Regulation (EU) 2016/679).
In order to protect your personal data, the Commission has put in place a number of technical and organisational measures in place. 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 the personal data solely to authorised persons with a legitimate need to know for the purposes of this processing operation.
7. Who has access to your personal data and to whom is it disclosed?
Access to your personal data is provided to the Commission staff responsible for carrying out this processing operation and to authorised staff according to the “need to know” principle. Such staff abide by statutory, and when required, additional confidentiality agreements.
8. 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, in particular the right to access, rectify or erase your personal data and the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Where applicable, you also have the right to object to the processing or the right to data portability.
You have consented to provide your personal data to unit D.1 "Stakeholder Relations and Outreach" of the Publications Office for the present processing operation. You can withdraw your consent at any time by notifying the Data Controller. The withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out before you have withdrawn the 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 Heading 9 below.
Where you wish to exercise your rights in the context of one or several specific processing operations, please provide their description (i.e. their Record reference(s) as specified under Heading 10 below) in your request.
9. Contact information
- The Data Controller
If you wish to exercise your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, if you have comments, questions or concerns, or if you wish to submit a complaint regarding the collection and use of your personal data, please feel free to contact the Data Controller, unit D.1 "Stakeholder Relations and Outreach" of the Publications Office: info@publications.europa.eu.
- The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Commission
You may contact the Data Protection Officer (DATA-PROTECTION-OFFICER@ec.europa.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 (edps@edps.europa.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.
10. 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-00493.