Privacy policy

Personal data (usually referred to just as "data" below) will only be processed by us to the extent necessary and for the purpose of providing a functional and user-friendly website, including its contents, and the services offered there.

Per Art. 4 No. 1 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, i.e. the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the "GDPR"), "processing" refers to any operation or set of operations such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation, alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, or otherwise making available, alignment, or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction performed on personal data, whether by automated means or not.

The following privacy policy is intended to inform you in particular about the type, scope, purpose, duration, and legal basis for the processing of such data either under our own control or in conjunction with others. We also inform you below about the third-party components we use to optimize our website and improve the user experience which may result in said third parties also processing data they collect and control.

Our privacy policy is structured as follows:

I. Information about us as the controller of your data

II. Information about the data processing

Server data
Cookies
Contact
Matomo Analytics
eLTER Newsletter
eLTER Market Place

III. The rights of users and data subjects

IV. Information about the use of resources

I. Information about us as the controller of your data

The data controller within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other national data protection laws of the member states as well as other data protection regulations is:

Pensoft Publishers
12 Prof. Georgi Zlatarski Street
1700 Sofia, Bulgaria
Telephone: +359-2-8704281
Fax: +359-2-8704282

Pensoft is a partner of the eLTER projects eLTER PLUS, eLTER PPP, eLTER EnRich and responsible for dissemination and communication within these eLTER consortia. Pensoft is therefore the controller within the meaning of the GDPR until the future eLTER ERIC is established.

The data protection officer:

Seyhan Demirov
Pensoft Publishers
12 Prof. Georgi Zlatarski Street
1700 Sofia, Bulgaria
Telephone: +359-2-8704281
Fax: +359-2-8704282
Email: s.demirov@pensoft.net

II. Information about the data processing

Your data processed when using our website will be deleted or blocked as soon as the purpose for its storage ceases to apply, provided the deletion of the same is not in breach of any statutory storage obligations or unless otherwise stipulated below.

1. Server data

For technical reasons, the following data sent by your internet browser to us or to our server provider will be collected, especially to ensure a secure and stable website:

server log files that record the type and version of your browser,
operating system,
the website from which you came (referrer URL),
the webpages on our site visited,
the date and time of your visit,
as well as the IP address from which you visited our site.

The data thus collected will be temporarily stored, but not in association with any other of your data.

The legal basis for this storage is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the improvement, stability, functionality, and security of our website.

The data will be deleted within no more than seven days, unless continued storage is required for evidentiary purposes. In which case, all or part of the data will be excluded from deletion until the investigation of the relevant incident is finally resolved.

2. Cookies

a) Session cookies

We use cookies on our website. Cookies are small text files or other storage technologies stored on your computer by your browser. These cookies process certain specific information about you. The following data is stored and transmitted in the cookies:

your browser,
location data/ language settings,
IP address.

This processing makes our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure, allowing us, for example, to allow the "Remember me" function.

The legal basis for the data processing is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in improving the functionality of our website.

When you close your browser, these session cookies are deleted.

b) Disabling cookies

You can refuse the use of cookies by changing the settings on your browser. Likewise, you can use the browser to delete cookies that have already been stored. However, the steps and measures required vary, depending on the browser you use. If you have any questions, please consult the documentation for your browser or contact its maker for support. Browser settings cannot prevent so-called flash cookies from being set. Instead, you will need to change the setting of your Flash player. The steps and measures required for this also depend on the Flash player you are using. If you have any questions, please use the help function or consult the documentation for your Flash player or contact its maker for support.

If you prevent or restrict the installation of cookies, not all of the functions on our site may be fully usable.

3. Contact

If you contact us via email or the contact form, the data you provide will be used for the purpose of processing your request. We must have this data in order to process and answer your inquiry; otherwise we will not be able to answer it in full or at all.

The legal basis for this data processing is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a) GDPR. The user has the option to withdraw their consent to the processing of personal data at any time. In such a case, the conversation cannot be continued.

Your data will be deleted once we have fully answered your inquiry and there is no further legal obligation to store your data, such as if an order or contract resulted therefrom.

4. Matomo Analytics

This website utilises Matomo Analytics, an open-source privacy-focused analytic software that adheres to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). All data is recorded on a secure server located in the European Union and is not shared with any third parties. Data is utilised in an anonymised format and is not stored together with other personal data of the user. Matomo uses cookies to store information on the user’s device which enables an analysis of user behavior on this website.

If individual subsites of our website are accessed, the following data is stored:

two bytes of the IP address of the user's calling system,
the website accessed and the time of access,
the website from which the user accessed the website (referrer),
the subsites that are accessed from the website accessed,
the time spent on the website,
the frequency of visits to the website,
which browser with which plugins, which operating system and which screen resolution is used.

The processing of users' personal data enables us to analyse the surfing behaviour of our users. By analysing the data obtained, we are able to compile information about the use of the individual components of our website. This helps us to constantly improve our website and its user-friendliness.

The legal basis for the processing of users' personal data is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a) GDPR.

The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required for our recording purposes. The deletion takes place after 6 months. Users have the following options to prevent the use of Matomo:

a) Activate the "Do-Not-Track" setting in the browser

As long as this setting is active, no user data is saved. Important: The do-not-track instruction generally only applies to the one device and browser in which the setting has been activated. If several devices/browsers are used, the "Do-Not-Track" setting must be activated separately everywhere.

b) Use of the opt-out function

Data collection is stopped or reactivated by clicking the tick in the following checkbox. As long as the checkbox is deactivated, no user data will be saved. Important: To opt out, we must store an opt-out-cookie in the user's browser. If this is deleted or a different device/browser is used, the opt-out-cookie must be activated again.

Further information on the privacy settings of the Matomo software can be found at: https://matomo.org/docs/privacy/.

5. eLTER Newsletter

You can subscribe to a free eLTER newsletter on our website. The following data is processed when you register for the newsletter:

Email address,
first name, last name.

The following data is also collected during registration

IP address of the accessing computer (if tracking is activated),
date and time of registration.

Your consent is obtained for the processing of the data as part of the registration process and reference is made to this privacy policy.

The service provider MailerLite has been commissioned with the registration and dispatch of the newsletter. MailerLite processes your personal data exclusively on behalf of Pensoft and thus acts as a processor for Pensoft within the meaning of Art. 28 GDPR. The data is used exclusively for sending the newsletter.

The legal basis for data processing in connection with registration for the newsletter is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent). The purpose of processing the user's e-mail address is to send the newsletter.

The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected. The user's e-mail address is therefore stored for as long as the subscription to the newsletter is active. The other data collected during the registration process is generally deleted after a period of seven days.

Users can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time via a link in every newsletter.

6. eLTER Market Place

On our website, we offer the eLTER Market Place service, which connects researchers looking for data with eLTER Site and Platform coordinators who can offer a wealth of long-term observational data from their sites and platforms. On the Market Place, researchers can request data or project contributions through data or project-contribution calls. Data calls comprise specific requests for observations or measurements from eLTER Sites and Platforms. Project calls concern requests from researchers to contribute to projects through data, skills, transnational or remote access, or other contributions. On request, and following review by eLTER staff, calls for data and project contributions will be published on the Market Place. Data and project calls are public, including the contact details of the data requesters, so that data/project contribution requesters can be directly contacted by potential data/contribution providers.

a) Data calls and project calls

The following data is processed:

first name, last name, institutional affiliation, email address.

The following data is also collected during registration:

IP address of the accessing computer (if tracking is activated), date and time of registration.

The legal basis for data processing in connection with the data and project calls is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent). The purpose of processing the user's personal data is to provide the service. Any consent given can be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future. The withdrawal of consent is to be addressed to office@elter-ri.eu. In the event of withdrawal, it may no longer be possible to use the service in full.

The data will be stored until the consent is withdrawn.

b) Updates

You also have the opportunity to sign-up for updates regarding data calls and project calls.

The following data is processed when you register for the updates:

Email address, first name, last name.

The following data is also collected during registration:

IP address of the accessing computer (if tracking is activated), date and time of registration.

The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent). The purpose of processing the user's personal data is to provide the service.

Your consent is obtained for the processing of the data as part of the registration process and reference is made to this privacy policy. Any consent given can be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future. The withdrawal of consent is to be addressed to office@elter-ri.eu. In the event of withdrawal, it may no longer be possible to use the service in full.

The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected. The user's email address is therefore stored for as long as the subscription to the Market Place updates is active. The other data collected during the registration process is generally deleted after a period of seven days.

Users can unsubscribe from the updates at any time via an unsubscribe link in the update emails.

III. The rights of users and data subjects

Users and data subjects whose personal data are processed in the context of the above-mentioned services have the following rights, unless statutory exceptions apply in individual cases: the right to confirmation of whether data concerning them is being processed, information about the data being processed, further information about the nature of the data processing, and copies of the data (cf. also Art. 15 GDPR);
the right to correct or complete incorrect or incomplete data (cf. also Art. 16 GDPR);
the right to the immediate deletion of data concerning them (cf. also Art. 17 GDPR), or, alternatively, if further processing is necessary as stipulated in Art. 17 Para. 3 GDPR, to restrict said processing per Art. 18 GDPR;
the right to receive copies of the data concerning them and/or provided by them and to have the same transmitted to other providers/controllers (cf. also Art. 20 GDPR);
the right to object to the controller's future processing of their data pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. In particular, an objection to data processing for the purpose of direct advertising is permissible (cf. also Art. 21 GDPR);
the right to file complaints with a supervisory authority if they believe that data concerning them is being processed by the controller in breach of data protection provisions (see also Art. 77 GDPR).

In addition, the controller is obliged to inform all recipients to whom it discloses data of any such corrections, deletions, or restrictions placed on processing the same per Art. 16, 17 Para. 1, 18 GDPR. However, this obligation does not apply if such notification is impossible or involves a disproportionate effort. Nevertheless, users have a right to information about these recipients.

IV. Information about the use of resources

Copyright compliance and disclaimer

We strictly follow copyright legislation, making sure all the materials on our website are used in a way, which respects both the creator’s intellectual property rights and the privacy rights of the people visible in the materials. Specifically:

we collect consent from the people visible in our materials,
and we comply with the Fair Use principles and the Creative Commons copyright licences when using third-party materials.

No material on our website may be reproduced, modified, re-circulated, commercially exploited or re-used in any form whatsoever without the prior written consent of its author/creator and the person depicted on it.

Third-party resources

The third-party resources referenced on this website are intended to provide the public with access to the activities and results of the eLTER projects. And while we take extensive consideration in using third-party contents on our website, we do not guarantee that they are accurate, complete or current, nor do we accept any responsibility for the content.