Privacy Notice

 

1. INTRODUCTION

European Schoolnet maintains this website, which is subject to the Privacy Notice set out below.

European Schoolnet takes the protection of your privacy seriously. We exclusively collect, store and retain our users' personal data to provide the best possible service and treat this data with the utmost care in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)[1]. This Privacy Notice outlines the policies by which the Scientix website collects, manages, and uses the data provided to us by users, and how users of the website may exercise their data protection rights. By registering on the Scientix website or using its services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the terms of this Privacy Notice.

The website is managed by European Schoolnet, located in Brussels, Belgium. European Schoolnet acts as the "Data Controller" for the processing explained in this Notice. Contact information for the Controller and our Data Protection Officer can be found at the end of this document.

 

2. WHEN DO WE COLLECT AND PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA?

You directly provide European Schoolnet with most of the personal data we collect through the Scientix website. We collect your personal data when you:

  • Visit the Scientix website.
  • Sign up for the Scientix Digest.
  • Voluntarily register for events, webinars, conferences, competitions or courses announced on the Scientix website.
  • Participate in surveys and questionnaires conducted through this website.
  • Fill in the forms to publish news, events and projects on the Scientix website.
  • Register for the Scientix website and create an account.
  • Propose a topic for the Scientix blog or leave a response to a published Scientix blog article.
  • Contribute to the Scientix website through the Scientix Forum.
  • Create an account in the Scientix Moodle.
  • Contact us directly via social media, phone, or e-mail.

 

3. WHAT PERSONAL DATA DO WE PROCESS AND WHY?

When you visit the Scientix website and engage in one of the services described in Section 2, we will collect and use your personal data to:

  • Improve the Scientix website’s content and the overall user experience.
  • Detect security incidents, protect against malicious activity and fix system errors.
  • Send you the Scientix Digest.
  • Assist you in the registration for events, webinars, conferences, competitions or courses.
  • Allow you to participate in surveys and questionnaires.
  • Publish your news, events and projects on the website.
  • Allow you to contribute to the Scientix website through the Scientix Forum and commenting on the Scientix Blog.
  • Allow you to use the Scientix Moodle.
  • Facilitate communication between you and us.

Your personal data will not be used for any automated decision-making, including profiling.

To achieve the above-mentioned purposes, we process the following personal data in the following circumstances:

  1. Website visits

    As a general policy, you are not required to disclose your personal data as a condition of using the Scientix website. No basic identity information, such as your name, postal address, or email address, is automatically collected from your visit to the website. However, we may automatically collect personal data, including technical information and information about your visit, from each of your visits to our website, as detailed in point 10 below.

  2. Subscription to the Scientix Digest

    When you visit our website, you can sign up for our newsletter: the Scientix Digest.

    When you sign up for the Scientix Digest, the website requires you to submit the following personal data as part of the registration process: first name, last name, and email address.

    You will also be asked to consent to this Privacy Notice. You will always have the opportunity to unsubscribe from the Scientix Digest by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at privacy@eun.org.

    We use MailerLite, a third-party service provider (i.e. “data processor”) to disseminate the Scientix Digest and manage the Scientix Digest subscribers list. The processing of your personal data for the purposes of sending out the Digest will be subject to this Privacy Notice as well as to the terms and conditions, including the Data Processing Addendum of MailerLite: https://www.mailerlite.com/legal/privacy-policy

  3. Registration for events, webinars, conferences, competitions and courses

    When you visit the Scientix website, you may want to register for the events, webinars, conferences, competitions and courses organised by European Schoolnet, its private spaces/projects, or members and partners of Scientix, which are promoted from time to time on this website.

    The types of personal data collected when you register for these activities are described in their own privacy statements. These statements provide details on the purpose and legal grounds of the processing, who will have access to your personal data and the period of time for which the data will be kept.

    The privacy statements for each event, webinar, conference, competition or course will also detail your rights regarding the collected data and indicate where you can obtain further information or file a complaint if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

    We use third-party service providers (i.e. “data processors”), such as Microsoft Teams for organising online events, and Microsoft Forms or Google Forms to collect and process registration data. Please note that these platforms may also collect metadata for their own purposes; we recommend reviewing their policies regularly.

  4. Participation in surveys and questionnaires

    You may be invited to participate in surveys and questionnaires launched through the website from time to time.

    Each survey or questionnaire will include its own privacy policy describing the type of personal data collected, the purpose and legal grounds of the processing, who will have access to the data and how long it will be retained.

    The privacy policy will also explain your rights regarding the collected data and where you can obtain further information or submit a complaint if you believe your rights have been infringed.

    We use third-party service providers (i.e. “data processors”), including SurveyMonkey, Microsoft Forms and Google Forms, to process surveys and questionnaires. Please note that these platforms may also collect metadata for their own purposes; we recommend reviewing their policies regularly.

  5. Submission of news, projects and events to be published on the website

    Scientix offers organisations the possibility to disseminate news, events and projects through the Scientix website. Interested stakeholders can submit this information using dedicated submission forms.

    Through these forms, your contact details (name, surname and email address), as well as any other personal information you voluntarily disclose when submitting details about your proposed news, projects or events, may be collected and processed.

    The purpose of this processing is to evaluate the suitability of the submission for publication on the Scientix platform and to communicate with the submitter regarding the publication status. You will be asked to consent to this Privacy Notice.

    We use Google Forms and SurveyMonkey as third-party service providers (“data processors”) to process submission forms for news and events.

  6. Registration on the Scientix website

    To join the Scientix community, to access the functionalities offered by Scientix Interest Groups and to interact within these groups, as well as to connect with other like-minded educators and STEM enthusiasts, users must register here: https://www.scientix.eu/register.

    During the registration process, you will be requested to confirm that you have consented to this Privacy Notice.

    To best serve its users, the Scientix website requires users to submit the following information as part of the registration process: username, first name, last name, and email.

    Registered users’ information (except for the email addresses users provide at registration) is visible to all users on the organisation page. Any personal data mentioned in comments, blog threads, or reviews voluntarily made by a registered user is public and may be retrieved through search engines. Registered users’ information is also displayed in the Public Profiles Directory tool of the Scientix website.

    During registration, users will be asked to specify a unique username and corresponding password. Users can edit or delete their profile information at any time.

    The personal data collected when users voluntarily edit their profile includes: country, mother tongue, other languages, picture and organisation.

  7. Scientix Blog

    The Scientix Blog allows people connected to Scientix to publish personal stories on science education in Europe and beyond.

    To publish articles, you are requested to fill in an online submission form and submit the following personal data: email, name, surname, country and professional position. By agreeing to the Terms and Conditions indicated in the Scientix Blog submission form, you consent to the processing of your personal data and the publication of your name, surname and professional affiliation at the end of your article.

    You may also comment on blog articles by submitting your name and email. Your comment will be published after approval by European Schoolnet and will be displayed together with your name.

    We use Google Forms (a data processor) to process the data submitted through the online submission form.

  8. Scientix Moodle

    Scientix offers a Moodle platform to teachers across Europe and the world to facilitate remote teaching and learning. Teachers can create their own courses or enrol in courses created by others.

    To use the Scientix Moodle, you must create an account and submit the following personal data: email address, name and surname. Submission of additional data such as country or city/town is optional.

    The email address you provide is accessible only to European Schoolnet and will be used to send account confirmation emails, confirm enrolment in Moodle courses and allow password resets.

    Your name and surname are visible to users visiting the Moodle page while you are online and for five minutes after you log out. When you enrol in a course, your name and surname are also visible to the course creator.

    Users can optionally display additional information in their profile such as city/town, country and profile image. Users can edit or delete their profile information at any time.

    Moodle is used as a third-party service provider (data processor) to host the Scientix Moodle platform. Processing of personal data is subject to this Privacy Notice and the Moodle Privacy Notice: https://moodle.com/privacy-notice/.

  9. Contacting European Schoolnet

    We collect personal data such as your full name, email, professional title, organisation name and any other information you choose to share when you communicate with us through social media, phone or email.

    This information will only be used to respond to your message and, if necessary, provide the requested service.

  10. Other forms of collection / Information collected by automated means

    Personal data such as your IP address, internet service provider (ISP), web browser, operating system, approximate times of use, referring site and user interactions with the website may be collected automatically.

    These data are not linked to specific user accounts. We use Matomo for this purpose. This information is accessible only to the systems administrators of European Schoolnet and is used to ensure compatibility and connectivity between users and the Scientix website and to respond to unlawful or inappropriate behaviour.

    Aggregated statistics are also collected regularly, including the number of users during a specific period, preferred subjects and/or countries chosen by teachers or other users and account usage.

    Some parts of the website use YouTube video services. YouTube may use cookies to collect usage information about your visit. No personal data is automatically transmitted to YouTube when you visit the Scientix website.

 

4. WHO DO WE SHARE YOUR DATA WITH?

European Schoolnet has access to full account information and can modify and/or delete information as needed to maintain the integrity of the user database or to ensure the proper operation of the Scientix website.

European Schoolnet does not sell your personal data to third parties. Apart from the third parties referred to in this Privacy Notice, no third parties will receive your data unless explicitly disclosed in advance in a separate privacy policy or required by law (e.g., in a judicial enquiry or at the request of legal authorities). Upon request, data may be transferred in an anonymized way to third parties for research purposes.

Third-party service providers process your personal data only on behalf of European Schoolnet. We only disclose personal data necessary for them to provide their services. They are not allowed to use your data for their own purposes and must follow our instructions. Selected providers are bound by contractual clauses to ensure confidentiality and GDPR-compliant data processing.

Personal data submitted by registered users, as specified in points 3.5–3.8, may be displayed publicly on the Scientix website, accessible on the internet and potentially indexed by search engines. European Schoolnet cannot control subsequent reuse by third parties.

 

5. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

Your personal data may be transferred to and stored outside the EU/EEA, where some third-party service providers are located or have servers. European Schoolnet ensures these transfers are protected through appropriate safeguards, such as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework or Standard Contractual Clauses, ensuring GDPR-equivalent protection.

Your data may also be accessible outside the EU/EEA via European Schoolnet’s or Scientix’s social media pages (Facebook, X, YouTube, etc.). These platforms are independent data controllers and may process or store your data under different laws. European Schoolnet does not control these platforms. Apart from these circumstances, your personal data is not sent outside the EU/EEA.

 

6. THE LEGAL BASIS OF PROCESSING

In terms of personal data processing activities for the purpose of facilitating communication between you and us, we rely on our legitimate interest to be able to respond to requests, questions, or remarks when you contact us via social media, phone or e-mail.

In terms of personal data processing activities for the purpose of improving the Scientix website's content and the overall experience, we rely on our own legitimate interest in providing an interesting online space to our visitors.

In terms of personal data processing activities for the purposes of detecting and preventing malware, illegal content, and other types of misuse, we rely on our legitimate interest to keep our online presence safe.

When you register for the Scientix website, the Scientix Blog, the Scientix Digest, the Scientix Moodle and the Scientix Digest, or any event/webinar/conference/competition/course promoted on this website, contribute to the various platforms and discussion tools of the Scientix website, participate in surveys/questionnaires, and submit news, projects and events to be published on the website, and opt-in to non-essential cookies, your consent serves as the legal basis for our processing of your personal data.

If you consent to us processing your personal information, please note that you may withdraw this consent at any time. If you have problems withdrawing your earlier given consent, you can contact us as indicated in Section 14 below.

Please note that your consent can only be withdrawn with future effect, and such a withdrawal does not have any influence on the lawfulness of past processing. In some cases, we may be entitled, despite your withdrawal, to continue to process your personal information on a different legal basis.

 

7. HOW LONG DO WE STORE YOUR DATA?

Your personal data is only processed for as long as needed to achieve the purposes which are described above or, when we ask for your consent, up until such time when you withdraw your consent. As a general rule, we will de-identify your personal data when it is no longer necessary for the purposes outlined above or when the retention period as explained in this section has expired.

All personal data we collect through our interactions with you via the Scientix website, European Schoolnet and/or Scientix social media accounts and e-mails will be kept for as long as required to communicate with you. This allows us to revert back to earlier communications if you return to us with new questions, requests, or other input.

 

8. WHAT ARE YOUR DATA PROTECTION RIGHTS?

European Schoolnet would like to make sure you are fully aware of all your data protection rights. Every Scientix website user is entitled to the following:

  • The right to access – You have the right to request European Schoolnet for copies of the personal data we have about you. However, note that you must specify for which processing activities you would like to have access to your personal data.
  • The right to rectification – You have the right to request that European Schoolnet correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that European Schoolnet complete the information you believe is incomplete. Please specify the context in which we use your personal data (e.g., to send you the Digest or to register for an event), so that we may assess your request swiftly and accurately.
  • The right to erasure – You have the right to request that European Schoolnet erase your personal data, if these personal data are no longer needed for the purposes for which we collected them in the first place, if our collection of them was illegitimate or if you have successfully exercised your right to withdraw your consent or your right to object to the processing of your personal data. When one of these circumstances applies, we will immediately delete your personal data unless the law, regulatory obligations or administrative or judicial orders prohibit us to delete your personal data.
  • The right to restrict processing – You can ask that we restrict the processing of your personal data:
    • during the time we are assessing your request for the correction of your personal data;
    • during the time we are assessing your objection to the processing of your personal data;
    • when such processing was unlawful, but you prefer restriction to erasure.
  • The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to European Schoolnet's processing of your personal data, when we process your personal data on the basis of our own legitimate interests, i.e., you have not given us your consent, and we do not need them for the execution or performance of an agreement nor to comply with legal obligations.
  • The right to data portability – You have the right to request that European Schoolnet transfer the data that we have collected to another organisation, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

Whenever we process your personal data based on your consent, you also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, we ask that you send us an email. You can reach us at privacy@eun.org. Your request should clearly state and specify which right you wish to exercise. Your request should also be dated and signed. We will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and at the latest thirty (30) days after having received the request. Please note that whenever you wish to exercise a right, we may ask you to provide proof of identity. We do this to avoid having a data breach on our hands, e.g., because an unauthorised person pretends to be you and exercises a right in your name.

 

9. DATA SECURITY

Your personal data is stored on secure, EU-based servers operated by European Schoolnet. We have put in place appropriate technical and security measures to protect our infrastructure, systems, applications, premises, and processes where your personal data is stored, from accidental loss, alteration, disclosure or use or access in an unauthorised way. We process only the personal data required for achieving the purposes we have communicated to you, and we restrict access to your personal data to European Schoolnet designated staff and specified third parties with a business need to know.

We have also put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

Specified third-party tools or service providers who have access to your personal data are contractually bound to keep the data they process confidential, and protect it from unauthorized access and use.

 

10. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES

The Scientix website contains links to other websites. This Privacy Notice applies only to this website, so if you click on a link to another website, you should read its privacy policy.

This Privacy Notice does not apply to European Schoolnet private projects/spaces, including but not limited to the European Schoolnet Academy, Future Classroom Lab, STEM Alliance, and STEM School Label, as well as current and past projects carried out by the European Schoolnet, whose links are shared on our website and which have their own privacy statements.

The Scientix website also includes links to third-party websites, including European Schoolnet and/or Scientix Twitter, Facebook, YouTube accounts and social media pages, among others. Clicking on those links may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party social media tools, which act as independent data controllers, and we are not responsible for their use of your personal data. We recommend that users carefully read the relevant privacy policies of the social media tools concerned.

 

11. MATOMO

Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform. A web analytics platform is used by a website owner in order to measure, collect, analyse and report visitors' data for purposes of understanding and optimising their website. If you would like to see what Matomo looks like, you can access a demo version at: https://demo.matomo.cloud. Matomo is used to analyse the behaviour of the website visitors to identify potential pitfalls; not found pages, search engine indexing issues, which content is the most appreciated, etc. Once the data is processed (number of visitors reaching a not found page, viewing only one page, etc.), Matomo generates reports so that we can take action, for example, changing the layout of the pages, publishing some fresh content, etc. Matomo collects information without identifying you directly.

 

12. COOKIES

To make this website work properly, we sometimes place small data files called cookies on your device. Most big websites do this too.

What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the website. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don't have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the website or browse from one page to another.

How do we use cookies?

On our website, we only use a very limited number of cookies: User preferences: These cookies help to improve a user's experience of a website by providing a more personalised service, without having to ask you every time again; more specifically, our Liferay Portal stores a limited number of user preferences, such as language.

More detailed information about the type of cookies we are using can be found in the following table:

Name Type Purpose
COOKIE_SUPPORT Liferay Cookie Support Indicates if the website supports cookies.
GUEST_LANGUAGE_ID Liferay Language Indicates your language preference.
JSESSIONID JSESSIONID This cookie is used to create and maintain your (anonymous) user session by the server.
LFR_SESSION_STATE Liferay ID Cookies It is used for controlling the timestamp of user session expiration: a JavaScript warning is displayed to the user when their session is about to expire or has expired, without making any request to the Liferay server.
_pk_id Matomo Used to distinguish users (expiration time: 13 months).
_pk_ses Matomo Temporarily stores data for the visit (expiration time: 30 minutes).
_pk_ref Matomo Attribution information (how users were referred to the website) (expiration time: 6 months).
_pk_testcookie Matomo Temporary cookie to check if a visitor's browser supports cookies (set in Internet Explorer only). (Expires almost immediately).
__atrfs AddThis This cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget which is commonly embedded in websites to enable visitors to share content with a range of networking and sharing platforms. It is used to collect anonymous statistical data.
__atuvc AddThis It stores an updated page share count.
__atuvs AddThis This is a new cookie from AddThis, which is not yet documented but has been categorised on the assumption that it serves a similar purpose to other cookies set by the service.
awt Cookie preference setting Keeps track of the user's consent to enable non-essential cookies on the website (e.g., tracking cookies).
How to control cookies?

You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details, see aboutcookies.org. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer, and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a website, and some services and functionalities may not work.

Non essential cookies, including analytics and tracking cookies, are only placed after you have provided explicit consent through the cookie banner. You may withdraw or modify your consent at any time via the cookie settings.

 

13. CHANGES WITHIN THIS PRIVACY NOTICE

This Privacy Notice may be updated periodically. Any and all changes to this Privacy Notice will be posted here and will take effect upon their publication. Your further use of this website and our services after a change to our Privacy Notice will be subject to the updated Privacy Notice. This Privacy Notice was last updated on 30/01/2025.

 

14. CONTACTING EUROPEAN SCHOOLNET

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, the processing of your personal data, if you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, or if you have any complaint regarding the processing of your personal data by European Schoolnet, you can always contact us:

via email:
Data controller: privacy@eun.org

via post:
Data controller
EUN Partnership AISBL
Rue de Trèves 61
B-1040 Brussels
Belgium

Data Protection Officer: as above

 

15. MAKING AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT

If you feel that we have infringed your data protection rights, you may make an official complaint to the Belgian Data Protection Authorities at the following address:

Belgian Data Protection Authority
Rue de la Presse 35
B-1000 Bruxelles