Data Protection

Data Protection Information
– VRGeo –

VRGeo is a project of the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS. The VRGeo Consortium is a consortium of the international oil and gas industry. The main goal of this consortium is the development and evaluation of interactive hardware and software technologies for visualization systems in the oil and gas industry.

As the party responsible for the data processing (controller), we process the personal data collected via our website and store them for the period, which is required to achieve the specified purpose and to comply with the statutory requirements. The following text informs you of the data we collect and the way we process the collected data. We also inform you on your data privacy rights as they pertain to the use of our website.

Pursuant to Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, personal data are all data referring to a specific or identifiable natural person.

1. Scope of this Agreement

This data protection information shall apply to the project website located at www.vrgeo.com and www.vrgeo.org providing we refer to this data protection information.

2. Name and contact information of the person who signs responsible for processing and the appointed data security officer 

Controller as defined in Article 4 No. 7 GDPR:

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. [Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research]

Hansastraße 27 c, 
80686 München [Munich, Bavaria, Germany]

for its Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS, Schloss Birlinghoven, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany

(in the following referred to as ‘Fraunhofer IAIS’)

Email: info@iais.fraunhofer.de
Telephone: +49 2241 14-3000
Fax: +49 2241 14-4-3000

You can reach the data protection representative of the Fraunhofer Institute at the above address, c/o Data Protection Officer or at datenschutz@zv.fraunhofer.de.

Please feel free to contact the data protection officer directly at any time with your questions concerning your data protection rights and/or your rights as affected person.

Alternatively, you may want to send an email to the VRGeo project team at info@vrgeo.org.

3. Processing of Personal Data and Purposes of the Data Processing

a) During Your Website Visit

You have the choice to access our website without revealing your identity. In this case, the active browser on your computing device sends nothing but the automatic information about itself to the server of our website to enable the connection. This includes the browser type and version and the date and time of access.  Included in the transmitted data is also the IP address of your device. Our server stores this IP address in a log file and deletes it automatically after four (4) weeks.

We process the IP address for technical and administrative purposes when we establish a stable connection between your device and our server. This ensures the security and functional reliability of our website. In the event an attacker tries to harm our system, the stored data allow us to trace the illegitimate activity.

The legal foundation for processing the IP address is Article 6 para. 1. lit. f GDPR. We have legitimate interests in maintaining the security of our website and in providing trouble-free website services as outlined above. 

Processing the IP address of the requesting device in our log file does not allow us to draw direct conclusions on the identity of the website visitor. 

Furthermore, we use cookies and analytical services when visitors access our website. We explain the use of cookies and analytical services in Sections 5 and 6 of this data protection statement.

b) Registration to the in-house Newsletter

Only if you have explicitly agreed to it pursuant to 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. a GDPR, we will use your email address to send our regular newsletters to you. The newsletters contain information on our institute and other facilities and events of the Fraunhofer Society (Fraunhofer e.V.). 

After you have subscribed to our newsletter, we will email a subscription confirmation to you. You must confirm the receipt of this email to receive our newsletter. This procedure is known as double opt-in procedure. For us, your email response serves as confirmation that you are in fact the person who subscribed to our newsletter.

You may opt out of receiving our newsletter at any time. At the end of each newsletter, you will find an unsubscribe link, which makes opting out easy. Alternatively, feel free to send your unsubscribe request by email: info@vrgeo.org.

Once we have received your cancellation of the newsletter subscription, we will immediately delete your email address from our newsletter distribution list.

4. Transfer of Personal Data to Third Persons

We transfer your personal data to third parties only under the following circumstances:

  • You have consented to the transfer explicitly as prescribed in Article 6 para. 1, page 1, lit. a GDPR
  • We entered into a contract with you, and the transfer is necessary to execute the contractas prescribed in Article 6 para. 1, page 1, lit b GDPR 
  • According to Article 6 para. 1, page 1, lit. c GDPR and according to applicable law, we are obligated to transfer the data to a specific third party.

The third party/third parties shall use the transferred data for the specified purpose exclusively.

The transmission/transfer of personal data to a country outside the EU or to an international organisation is prohibited.

5. Cookies

We use server-side cookies. Cookies are small files, which are automatically created by the browser of the user device and stored in your device (PC, laptop, tablet, smart phone or similar device) when you visit our website.  Cookies do not harm your computer, and they do not contain viruses, Trojans or other malware.

Cookies contain information pertaining to the specific device, which accessed our website. However, this does not give us direct knowledge of your identity.

One reason for us to use cookies is making the use of our website more convenient for you. We use session cookies to recognise that you have already visited certain pages of our website.

We also use temporary cookies to optimise the user-friendliness of our website. Your device stores these cookies temporarily for a specific time. The next time you visit our website, our server recognises your device as prior visitor and remembers your settings and preferences. You will not have to enter these parameters again.

We also use cookies to gather data for our website statistics. This helps us to evaluate and optimise our web offerings (see Section 6). These cookies allow us to recognise repeat visits from your device. These cookies will be deleted automatically after a specific time.

The data obtained with the help of cookies serve our legitimate interests and the legitimate interests of third parties according to Article 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. f GDPR.

Most browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you are able to configure your browser in such a way that the application does not store cookies on your computer or always shows an alert before storing new cookies. However, the complete exclusion of cookies may prevent you from using all functions on our website.

6.     Web Analysis

We use the open source service Matomo from InnoCraft Ltd in New Zealand to analyze user behavior when visiting our site and to optimize our site and its content accordingly. We do not receive any information that identifies you directly.

In connection with the use of Matomo, cookies are used which enable a statistical analysis of the use of this website by your visits. Information – including personal information – about your behavior as a visitor is stored in the cookie and processed using a pseudonym in a user profile for the purpose of analysis. Because Matomo is hosted on our own server, third party processing is not required for analysis.

The data obtained in this way will not be used to identify you personally without your explicit consent and the data will not be combined with personal data about you as the bearer of the pseudonym.

If IP addresses are collected, they will be made anonymous immediately after collection by deleting the last number block.

Data processing is carried out on the basis of our legitimate interest in optimizing our online offer and our website in accordance with Article 6 para.1, lit. f GDPR.

7. YouTube

Based on the agreement according to Article 6 Para. 1, page 1 lit. f GDPR, we use components (videos) of YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Avenue, 94066 San Bruno, CA (USA) (in the following referred to as ‘YouTube’), a company of Google Inc., Amphitheatre Parkway, 94043 Mountain View (USA),  (in the following referred to as ‘Google’).

In the process, we use the ‘extended data protection mode’ option provided by YouTube.

Upon requesting an Internet page with embedded video, our website connects to the YouTube servers and renders the content on the Internet page using your browser.

According to the information provided by YouTube, in the ‘extended data protection mode’, your data will be transmitted to the US YouTube servers only while you watch the video. The transmitted data include the Internet page you just viewed and device-specific data including your IP address.  By clicking ‘run’ on the video, you agree to this mode of transmission.

Should you be logged into your YouTube account at the same time, YouTube will associate these collected data with your member account. You are able to prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

Google complies with the Data Protection Regulations of ‘US Privacy Shield’ and is registered with the US Privacy Shield Program of the US Department of Trade.

For further information on the data protection provided by Google in connection with the use of YouTube, please read the Google Data Protection Statement.

8. Your Rights as Affected Person

You have the right 

  • According to Article 7 para. 3 GDPR, you have the right to revoke any consent declaration at any time, which you have given to us before. This has the consequence that we are no longer privileged to continue the respective activity.
  • According to Article 15 GDPR, you have the right to demand information on your personal data, which we have processed. In particular, you have the right to information on the following: Purposes of the data processing – The categories of personal data – the categories of recipients to which we transmitted/disclosed or will transmit your data – the planned storage periods of data – the existence of the right to correction, deletion, restriction of processing and objection – the right to appeal – the right to know the origin of data in the event that we did not collect these data – the right to meaningful and detailed information on the existence of automated decision-making including profiling
  • According to Article 16 GDPR, you have the right to the correction of incorrect and/or the completion of incomplete personal data in storage at the Fraunhofer Society
  • According to  Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to the deletion of your personal data providing the deletion does not interfere with the execution of the right to the free expression of opinions and with the compliance with legal obligations, providing the deletion is not against public interest and providing the deletion does not hamper the enforcement, execution or defence of legal claims
  • According to Article 18 GDPR, you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data if you contest or challenge the accuracy of these data, the processing of the data is illegal but you reject the deletion of these data and we no longer need the data while you still need the data to enforce, execute or defend legal claims or you have raised an objection against the data processing according to Article 21 GDPR
  • According to Article 20 GDPR, you have the right to receive the personal data you provided to us in a structured, well-established and machine-readable format or to demand the transmission to another authority and 
  • According to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to complain to a superior authority. As a rule, you may find such authority at your place of residence, your workplace or our company domicile.

Information on your Right of Objections according to Article 21 GDPR

You have the right to object at any time against the processing of your personal data, based on Article 6 para. 1, lit. f GDPR (data processing in the public interest) and Article 6, para. 1, lit. e GDPR (data processing based on fair balancing) for reasons, which arise from your specific situation. This shall also apply to the profiling as prescribed by Article 4 No. 4 GDPR, which is supported by this provision.

Once you file an objection, we will no longer process your personal data, unless we can establish compelling evidence, which is worthy of protection and outweighs your interests, rights and privileges, or unless the processing serves the enforcement, exercise or defence of legal claims.

To the extent that your objection addresses the processing of data for direct advertising, we will stop the processing immediately. In this case, citing a special situation is not required. This shall also apply to profiling in as far as it relates to such direct advertising.

If you like to claim your right to object, an email to datenschutz@zv.fraunhofer.de will suffice.


9. Data Security

We transmit all your personal data using the generally used and secure encryption standard TLS (Transport Layer Security). The TLS protocol is a proven and secure standard. Bankers use the standard for online banking transactions. You recognise a secure TLS connection by the s following the http (https://…) in your browser URL or by the lock symbol in the lower section of your browser.

By the way, we use suitable technical and organisational safety procedures to protect your data against inadvertent or wilful manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction or against the unauthorised access by third parties. We constantly improve these security measures as the technology advances.

10. Amendments to the Data Security Information and its Timeliness

This data protection information as amended on June 2019 is currently applicable.

Due to improvements of our website and website offers or based on statutory or government standard, it may become necessary to amend this data protection information. You find the latest applicable data protection information by clicking the link on the following website

https://www.vrgeo.org/gdpr

You may read or print this updated and amended version at any time.