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Privacy Policy

Introduction

Thank you for visiting the OptiPEx website. This website is dedicated to the dissemination of the OptiPEx project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101146513.

This privacy policy is part of the OptiPEx website and solely concerns the processing of personal data that occurs in connection with the operation of this website. This privacy policy explains how Carr Communications (“We”, “Us”), the administrator of the OptiPEx website, uses personal data collected from when you use the website and when you provide your details to us via the contact form available on the website.

In particular, this privacy policy will help you to find information on:

  • who is legally responsible for the data processing (data controller)
  • the data collection and logging that we carry out automatically when you visit our website
  • the data that we collect and process when you contact us via the contact form or when you sign up for our newsletter
  • Your rights as a data subject
  • Your right to lodge a complaint

Who We Are

OptiPEx is a research and innovation project, which embraces a co-creation approach that will optimize the passenger experience on public transport. The aim to create ethical, passenger-aware, interactive and adaptive public transport services. These services will be built on advanced vehicle technologies that assess the real-time passenger experience and adjusts the conditions to improve the sense of comfort, safety, and ease of travelling of the passengers. An increase in the service quality and the improved passenger satisfaction will lead to an acceleration of the adoption of automated public transportation technologies and improve the sustainability of the mobility services.

The project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No. 101146513. It is coordinated by VTT, Finland. Carr Communications (CARR) is the OptiPEx partner responsible for leading the dissemination and communication efforts of the project.

Carr Communications is committed to processing personal data responsibly, securely, and proportionally throughout our activities in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.

For the purposes of this website, the responsible data controller is Carr Communications, registered in Dublin, Ireland, under registered number 42175, with a registered office at 24 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, D02 T296, Ireland.

You can contact us:

  • by e-mail at info@carrcommunications.ie
  • by telephone: (+353.1) 772 8900

Please explicitly mention “OptiPEx” in the subject line of your communication.

 

What Data We Collect

Automatically collected usage data

When you access the OptiPEx website on your device, we may automatically collect certain usage data, which may include:

  • Date and time of access
  • Duration of visit
  • Your operating system
  • The device you have used for access
  • Browser type (including version)
  • Referrer (name of the website that you accessed immediately before)
  • Volume of data sent
  • IP address
  • Unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

Data provided by you

By contacting us through the website contact form, you will provide us with (and we will collect) your contact details, such as:

  • your name
  • your email address, and
  • the message you submitted.

We do not collect any metadata that you did not expressly provide us with.

 

Purpose of Data Collection

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

  • to provide this page to you (usage data)
  • to use your personal data for ensuring the security of the page
  • to respond to your messages/queries –
  • to provide you with our newsletter when you subscribe to it.

 

Legal Bases of Processing

Legitimate Interest

For the data that we collect automatically, we rely on Article 6 (1) point f of the GDPR (i.e. legitimate interest), as they are required for us to provide the service, to ensure technical operation and to investigate and remove any malfunctions of the website and to ensure the page’s security. It is in our interest to ensure the use and technical operability of our website. This data is automatically processed when our website is accessed. Unless they are provided, you cannot use our service.

Consent

For the personal data that you provide us with through the contact form, we rely on your consent (Article 6(1)a of the GDPR), which you express by completing and submitting the contact form, or by actively signing up to our newsletter.

 

How We Protect Your Data

We have put technical and organisational security measures and procedures in place to protect your personal data from loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction. We have made efforts to collect the minimum information needed to respond to your messages/requests.

We install and regularly update all security and anti-virus software in use on all our systems.

Although we have rigorous technical and organisational security procedures in place to keep your personal data secure, including the use of an SSL certificate, you are advised to remember that the Internet is not always a secure medium and that transmissions over the Internet are never completely private or secure.

If you are unsure about submitting any personal data to us, please contact us instead via telephone or post.

 

How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain personal data only as long as it is necessary for the purposes described above i.e. to respond to your request or message. We erase this data after 6 months of the last communication unless there is a legal duty to keep the data for longer periods, such as due to accounting regulations or keeping evidence of legal requests. If the data is no longer required for the relevant purpose, we erase the data within 24 hours.

Do We Share Personal Data with Third Parties?

We may occasionally share personal data with trusted third parties, such as those listed below, to help us deliver efficient and quality services. When we do so, we will ensure that recipients are contractually bound to safeguard the data we entrust to them before sharing the data with them.

We may engage with several or all of the following categories of recipients:

  • Parties that support us as we provide our services (e.g., the host of this website)
  • Our professional advisers, including lawyers and auditors
  • Law enforcement or other government and regulatory agencies (e.g., tax authorities) or other third parties as required by, and in accordance with, applicable law or regulation

Do We Transfer Your Personal Data Outside of the EU?

By default, we store personal data on servers located in the EU. This data will not be transferred outside of the EU.

What Are Your Data Protection Rights?

As a data subject, you can exercise the rights outlined in this section of the privacy policy. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information or to exercise any of your other rights. This helps us ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. No fee is required to make an initial request unless your request is clearly unfounded or excessive. Depending on the circumstances, we may be unable to comply with your request based on other lawful grounds.

Right to access (GDPR Art. 15)

You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether processing of your personal data takes place in connection with the operation of the OptiPEx website. If this is the case, you can request access to the data that we store about you. Granting the right to access will only occurs where your identification is possible.

Right to rectification (Art. 16)

You have the right to obtain the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. The exercise of this right is only possible where you can be identified, and the inaccuracy of data is verified.

Restriction of processing (Art. 18)

You have the right to obtain the restriction of processing, where:

  • the accuracy of your personal data is contested;
  • the processing is lawful, but you oppose the erasure of personal data and request the restriction of processing instead;
  • we as the controller no longer need your personal data, but you require the data to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
  • you have objected to processing pursuant to GDPR Article 21.1 pending the verification of whether the legitimate grounds of ours (as the controller) override those of yours.

The exercise of this right may require provision of further information to allow your identification as described in the right to access.

Right to object (Art. 21)

A legal basis for the processing of your personal data in connection with the operation of the OptiPEx website is Art. 6.1(f) of the GDPR (our legitimate interest) or 6.1(a) (your consent). At any time, you shall have the right to object to the processing of your data, on grounds relating to your particular situation, unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

The exercise of this right may require provision of further information to allow your identification.

Right to erasure (‘Right to be forgotten’) (Art. 17)

You have the right to obtain erasure of your personal data, if:

  • you object to the processing pursuant to Art. 21.1 and there are no overriding legitimate grounds;
  • your personal data has been unlawfully processed;
  • your personal data must be erased for compliance with a legal obligation in Union or Member State law to which we as the controller are subject.

Right to data portability (Art. 20)

If you have provided us with data based on your consent, and as long as there are legal grounds, you can request that we send you the data you gave us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, or you can request for us to send your data to a different controller.

To exercise any of the aforementioned rights, please contact us at info@carrcommunications.ie. When you do so, please make sure that we can clearly identify you.

Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Art. 77)

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement if you believe that the processing of your personal data infringes the GDPR.

A list of national supervisory authorities can be found here (this links to a third-party website – official website of the European Commission).

 

Disclaimer and Limitations of Liability

We aim to keep the information that appears on the OptiPEx website as accurate, complete, and up to date as possible. If errors are brought to our attention, we will take all reasonable steps to make any necessary corrections within a reasonable timeframe.

Please be aware that the information published on our website is for informational purposes only. None of the information contained on the website constitutes legal or professional advice, nor can we accept responsibility for how it might be used, and we are not responsible or liable for any errors or omissions in any of the information provided on the website. We cannot be held liable for any direct or indirect damage that may result from use of this site. Links to other websites are provided in good faith and for informational purposes only. A link to another website does not mean that we endorse or accept any responsibility for the content or use of such website.

While we take all possible steps to minimise disruption caused by technical errors, we cannot guarantee that our website will not be interrupted or otherwise affected by such problems. Please note that access may be suspended temporarily and without notice in the case of system failure, website maintenance, or repair for reasons beyond our control.

The use of our website is governed by the law of the Republic of Ireland. Any dispute arising from or related to the use of this website shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish courts.

Do We Link to Other Websites?

Our websites may contain links to other sites, including the sites of the consortium partners, which are not governed by this privacy policy. Please review the destination websites’ privacy policies before submitting personal data on those sites.

Whilst we try to link only to sites that share our standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content, security, or privacy practices employed by other sites.

 

How We Use Social Media

We use social media to communicate information about the project through widely used channels, such as X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube. You can access OptiPEx’s accounts on social media platforms directly from our website. In order to protect your privacy, our social media buttons or components to connect to those services do not set cookies when our web pages are loaded on your device.

Each social media channel has their own policy on the way they process your personal data when you access their sites. If you would like to watch one of the OptiPEx videos on our YouTube channel, you will be asked to accept YouTube cookies; if you look at our activity on X, you will be asked to accept X’s cookies; the same applies for LinkedIn.

If you have any concerns or questions about their use of your personal data, please carefully read their respective privacy policies before using them. The use of social media by OptiPEx, including X and LinkedIn, does not in any way imply an endorsement of X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and their privacy policies.

The ideas and views expressed by OptiPEx on social media are for informational purposes only. Views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA or any other affiliated body. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Do We Review the Privacy Policy?

We regularly review our website’s privacy policy and will post any updates to it on this webpage. This privacy policy was last updated on 11th of June 2024.

 

Contact Us

Should you have any further questions or concerns as to how your data is processed, you can contact us by e-mail at info@carrcommunications.ie or by post: 24 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, D02 T296, Ireland.

We will respond to your queries within 30 days from when we receive them.