Privacy Policy

For what purposes is personal data processed?

The aim of the research project is to investigate the distribution, sharing and microbial diversity of water kefir cultures as part of a citizen science project. To this end, information on water kefir cultures, their origin and how they are passed on between participants, as well as details on the preparation and care of the cultures, is collected and analysed.

The collected data serves to:

trace the networking of water kefir cultures and how they are passed on between households,
gain insights into the distribution and diversity of water kefir cultures,
enable citizens to participate in scientific research,
provide a digital platform for documenting and visualising the emerging network of water kefir cultures.

Personal data is processed exclusively to the extent necessary for carrying out the project, communicating with participants and conducting the scientific analysis.

Who is responsible for the data processing and whom can data subjects contact?

Technische Universität Dresden
Contact: Pia Bethge
Center Synergy of Systems (SynoSys)
Prof. Dirk Brockmann
Email: kefir-connect@tu-dresden.de
Phone: +49 (0) 351 463-33199

Technische Universität Dresden
The Data Protection Officer
Jens Syckor
01062 Dresden
Phone: +49 (0) 351 463-32839
Email: informationssicherheit@tu-dresden.de

On what legal basis is personal data processed?

The legal basis for the data processing for the purposes mentioned above is Art. 6(1) subpara. 1 lit. a and, where applicable, Art. 9(2) lit. a GDPR (consent). The requirements of Section 12 SächsDSDG (Saxon Data Protection Implementation Act) for the processing of personal data for research purposes are observed.

What personal data is processed?

The following personal data is processed:

Mandatory personal details:

Username
Email address
Password (stored exclusively in encrypted form)
Willingness to send in kefir samples (yes/no checkbox)
Any existing connections to other participants through the sharing of water kefir cultures

Optional/voluntary personal details:

First and last name (if you wish to be sent sampling material)
Address (if you wish to be sent sampling material)
Short profile text (free text)
Profile picture
Gender
Age group

Details about the kefir culture:

These details relate to the registered water kefir culture and may be linked to the user account as part of the project.

(Nick)name of the culture
Since when the culture has been owned (month and year)
Connections to cultures of other participants
Postal code area
Location of the water kefir culture (stored and displayed at a spatial resolution of approximately 500 m)
Description of the water kefir culture (free text, optional)
Photo of the water kefir culture (optional)
Is the culture still active? (yes/no checkbox)

How is personal data processed and how long is it stored?

Data is collected on a personal basis. The collected data may in principle allow conclusions to be drawn about individuals. The protection of personal data is ensured through technical and organisational measures in accordance with Art. 5(1) lit. e and f GDPR.

The personal data collected during registration and use of the platform is processed to provide the platform, manage user accounts, carry out the citizen science project and scientifically analyse the collected data.

Personal contact data (e.g. email address, name or postal address) is stored separately from the project-related data on water kefir cultures. The link is established via technical identifiers. Access to personal data is restricted to authorised project staff.

Passwords are not stored in plain text but exclusively in hashed form. Data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted.

As part of the project, details about water kefir cultures, their origin, how they are passed on and location information may be processed. Location data is stored and displayed exclusively in a coarsened form in order to protect the privacy of participants.

You can have your user account deleted at any time. In this case, your personal contact data and the link between your user account and the associated research data will be permanently removed.

Data already collected on water kefir cultures and their sharing relationships may continue to be stored and analysed for scientific documentation and research purposes. After your user account has been deleted, this data can no longer be attributed to you.

Personal data is only stored for as long as is necessary to provide the platform and carry out the project. Characteristics that can be used to establish a personal reference are deleted as soon as the research purpose permits, and at the latest upon completion of the study. In accordance with the principles of good scientific practice, research data may be retained for at least 10 years after the project has been completed, but only for this purpose and no longer for research.

The research results will be published in the customary scientific form. We assure you that no conclusions whatsoever about your person will be possible from the publications.

What rights do data subjects generally have?

Voluntary nature and withdrawal (Art. 7(3) GDPR)

Providing personal data is voluntary. Consent may be refused or withdrawn from the controller at any time, informally and without giving reasons. Your personal data will then no longer be processed and will be deleted without undue delay, unless doing so would likely render the achievement of the research objectives impossible or seriously impair it and there is a legal basis for the processing other than consent (in particular Section 12(1) SächsDSDG).

Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR)

You have the right to request information about the data processed about you and the possible recipients of this data at any time. You are entitled to a response within one month of receipt of the request for information.

Right to rectification, erasure and restriction (Art. 16-18 GDPR)

You can request the rectification or erasure of your personal data or the restriction of processing from TU Dresden at any time.

Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)

You can request that the controller transmit your personal data to you in a machine-readable format. Alternatively, you can request that the personal data you have provided be transmitted directly to another controller, where this is possible.

Right to lodge a complaint (Art. 77 GDPR)

You can contact the Data Protection Officer of TU Dresden (see above) at any time and, for a complaint pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR, a supervisory authority for data protection.

Supervisory authority responsible for Technische Universität Dresden:

Saxon Commissioner for Data Protection and Transparency
Dr. Juliane Hundert
Maternistraße 17
01067 Dresden
Phone: +49 (0) 351 85471 101
Email: post@sdtb.sachsen.de
www.datenschutz.sachsen.de

Note: To exercise these rights, a notification in text form (letter, email) to the above is sufficient. However, exercising these rights only takes effect if the processed data allows you to be identified.

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