Privacy Statement Websites & IT tools | EUDIS Matchmaking Services

Privacy Statement Websites & IT tools

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PROTECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA

This privacy statement provides information about the processing and the protection of your personal data

Processing operation: Privacy statement on the protection of personal data in relation to the “EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) Matchmaking website and IT Tools”.

Data Controller: European Commission, Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space – Unit A.1 for Defence Industrial Policy [“DG DEFIS Unit A.1” or the “Data Controller”], DEFIS-

A1@ec.europa.eu

Record reference: DPR-EC-32650.1

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Why and how do we process your personal data?
  3. On what legal ground(s) do we process your personal data?
  4. Which personal data do we collect and further process?
  5. How long do we keep your personal data?
  6. How do we protect and safeguard your personal data?
  7. Who has access to your personal data and to whom is it disclosed?
  8. What are your rights and how can you exercise them?
  9. Contact information
  10. Where to find more detailed information?

Introduction

The European Commission (hereafter ‘the Commission’) is committed to protect your personal data and to respect your privacy. The Commission collects and further processes personal data pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001).

This privacy statement explains the reason for the processing of your personal data, the way we collect, handle and ensure protection of all personal data provided, how that information is used and what rights you have in relation to your personal data. It also specifies the contact details of the responsible Data Controller with whom you may exercise your rights, the Data Protection Officer and the European Data Protection Supervisor.

The information in relation to processing operation “EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) Matchmaking “EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) Matchmaking Programme 2025 website and used IT tools” undertaken by DG DEFIS Unit A.1 is presented below. 

Why and how do we process your personal data?

The Data Controller processes your personal data to establish and manage an online community of registered data subjects within the framework of EUDIS Matchmaking, facilitating networking and collaboration among members:

  1. To provide data subjects access to and use of the EUDIS Matchmaking website: https://eudis-matchmaking.eu/ and to improve their experience on the website;
  2. To establish and manage an online community of registered data subjects within the framework of EUDIS Matchmaking, facilitating networking and collaboration among members;
  3. To register data subjects on the EUDIS Matchmaking platform, hosted in Swapcard, and assess their eligibility for accessing the platform and participating in related activities;
  4. To enable data subjects to create and maintain personal and/or professional profiles to be hosted in the EUDIS Matchmaking platform.
  5. To enable data subjects to participate as speakers, experts, mentors, moderators,stakeholders, etc. as part of EUDIS Matchmaking activities.
  6. To establish and manage a database of participants to the virtual and/or physical events and check the participants’ eligibility to attend those events which are a part of the EUDIS Matchmaking programme.

The public IT website [https://eudis-matchmaking.eu/] and the related IT Tools may contain personal data in the form of contact details and photos of events. This website does not collect personal data via cookies.

The restricted Swapcard IT Collaborative Platform allows registration to the Matchmaking events and contains invitations to meetings, related minutes and follow-ups, common actions and useful information. Users access to the restricted collaborative platform is provided via login identification, subject to the approval by administrators. 

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

On what legal ground(s) do we process your personal data?

We process your personal data, because the processing operations on personal data, linked the  management of the IT tool are necessary for the management and functioning of the  Commission, as mandated by the Treaties. Those provisions are in particular, Article 11 of the  Treaty on European Union and Article 15 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European  Union. Consequently, those processing operations are lawful under Article 5(1)(a) of Regulation  (EU) 2018/1725 (processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public  interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Union institution or body). 

In addition, we process your personal data based on your consent, which you have provided  through a clear affirmative act by ticking the consent box on the online registration form in the  restricted IT Collaborative Platform (Swapcard), or by acknowledging the consent while filling  the application form to take part in the EUDIS Matchmaking programme: 

  • For the public IT website (https://eudis-matchmaking.eu/), you have consented to the  processing of your personal data by agreeing to participate in the EUDIS Matchmaking  Programme. 

  • For the restricted IT Collaborative Platform (Swapcard), you have given consent by  registering for EUDIS Matchmaking and using the platform to access meeting 

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invitations, minutes, follow-up actions, shared documents, industry news, insights, and  contact details of EU Member States. 

Your consent can be withdrawn at any time by cancelling your registration in the IT Tool or by  contacting the Data Controller: European Commission, Directorate-General for Defence Industry  3 and Space, Unit A.1 for Defence Industrial Policy at DEFISA1@ec.europa.eu .

Which personal data do we collect and further process? 

In order to carry out this processing operation, the Data Controller processes the following  categories of personal data: 

Personal data obtained from the data subject through the use of the EUDIS Matchmaking  website: 

  • IP address and/or Device ID of the device used to access the website. 

Personal data obtained from the data subject through the use of the application form to  apply as a Matchmaking programme participant (as an Innovator, Investor, Corporate or  End-user): 

  • First name 

  • Last name 

  • Email Address 

  • Nationality 

  • Current affiliation (organisation, role/title) 

  • Links to social media (LinkedIn profile) (optional) 

  • Any other personal data provided voluntarily and included in the application  documents submitted by the data subject, such as CV. 

Personal data obtained from the data subject through the use of the embedded website form  for you to contact us: 

• First name 

• Last name 

• Email address 

• Phone number (optional) 

We have obtained your personal data from you. 

How long do we keep your personal data? 

The Data Controller only keeps your personal data for the time necessary to fulfil the  abovementioned purposes. For each of the categories of personal data that is processed, please  find below the retention details: 

  • Authentication data will be kept in the IT system for the duration of your participation  in the group.  

  • Audio-visual recordings obtained from the data subject during recorded online events  will be kept for 3 months after the event before being deleted. More information is  available in the Record of Processing DPR-EC-01937 (Audiovisual recording of meetings); 

  • The optional data mentioned above can be deleted at any moment upon your request,  as it is not necessary for getting access to the platform itself. 

  • In case the group or the IT tool are permanently discontinued, all data will be  pseudonymised and kept for a maximum of 5 years; and

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  • Selected service providers for organisational purposes (such as caterers, travel agents,  or event management organisations) are contractually bound to process personal data  on behalf of and in line with the instructions of the data controller, keep confidential  any data they process, and protect it from unauthorised access, use, and retention. 

How do we protect and safeguard your personal data? 

All personal data in electronic format (e-mails, documents, databases, uploaded batches of  data, etc.) are stored on the servers of the European Commission or of its contractors. All  processing operations are carried out pursuant to the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom)  2017/46 of 10 January 2017 on the security of communication and information systems in the  European Commission. 

The Commission’s contractors are bound by a specific contractual clause for any processing  operations of your data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations  deriving from the transposition of the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU Member  States (‘GDPR’ Regulation (EU) 2016/679). 

In order to protect your personal data, the Commission has put in place a number of technical  and organisational measures. Technical measures include appropriate actions to address online  security, risk of data loss, alteration of data or unauthorised access, taking into consideration  the risk presented by the processing and the nature of the personal data being processed.  Organisational measures include restricting access to the personal data solely to authorised  persons with a legitimate need to know for the purposes of this processing operation. 

Who has access to your personal data and to whom is it disclosed? 

Access to your personal data is provided to the Commission staff responsible for carrying out  this processing operation and to authorised staff according to the “need to know” principle.  Such staff abide by statutory, and when required, additional confidentiality agreements. 

Where necessary, we may also share your information with the following contractors part of the  consortium or Programme you have applied to for the purposes of evaluation and processing of  your application, sending you deadline reminders and other important information, inviting you  to the programme or rejecting your application, if invited sending you onboarding information,  information during the programme and information; 

Data processor: 

  • Starburst Accelerator SAS (France) as the prime contractor of the consortium for EUDIS  Business Accelerator and Matchmaking and collector of the personal data; 

Sub-processors: 

  • Civitta Eesti AS (Estonia) as the consortium member; 

  • WSL (Belgium) as a consortium member; 

  • Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT OY (Finland) as a consortium member; • Swapcard Corporation SAS (France) which provides the Matchmaking platform used as a  central hub for news, insights, online matchmaking activities; 

  • LOBAbx (Portugal) who is a contracted communications partner of the consortium • Microsoft Teams.

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The photos, videos, and other audio-visual recordings of the events during the EUDIS  Matchmaking will be used for the promotion of the EUDIS Matchmaking on the EUDIS  Matchmaking website (https://eudis-matchmaking.eu), DG DEFIS's and contractors’ social  media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube) and other websites of DG  DEFIS, subject to the explicit consent of every participant (see Privacy statement for events). 

The mandatory contact details and photos of events are published on the website. In addition,  your other personal data will be published on the restricted Matchamking platform hosted by  Swapcard to enable other members of the platform to contact you. Access to this site is limited  to members of groups and observers primarily in EU Member States, Norway and Ukraine.  Access is subject to approval of European Commission Services and is meant to cover EU  defence stakeholders (star-tups and SMEs, investors, corporates and defence end-users). 

Cookies

Cookies are short text files stored on a user’s device (such as a computer, tablet or phone) by a  website. Cookies are used for the technical functioning of a website (functional cookies) or for  gathering statistics (analytical cookies). 

The cookies employed by the EUDIS Matchmaking website (https://eudis-matchmaking.eu) on  your device will be covered by the relevant cookie policy. We will keep your browser history of  your visit for a maximum of 30 days. This information will then be deleted. The collection,  aggregation and anonymising operations are performed under adequate security measures. 

Applying for the Matchmaking platform takes place via Tally www.tally.so, which employs  cookies as described here: tally.so/help/cookie-policy. 

Registration for the Matchmaking platform takes place via Swapcard www.swapcard.com which  employs cookies as described here: www.swapcard.com/legal/privacy-policy.  

Enabling these cookies is not strictly necessary for the website to work but it will provide you with a better browsing experience. You can delete or block these cookies, but if you do that,  some features of the website may not work as intended. 

The cookie-related information is not used to identify data subjects personally and the pattern  data is fully under the Data Controller’s control. These cookies are not used for any purpose  other than those described here. 

Should you wish to opt your personal data out of our anonymised, aggregated statistics,  you can do so by contacting us at EUDISMatchmaking@civitta.com.  

Third party IT tools, including Social Media 

We use third party IT tools to inform about and promote the EUDIS Matchmaking programme through widely used communication channels, including the social media. For detailed  information about the use of social media by the European Commission, see the Record of  Processing DPR-EC-00073 (Social Media Use by the European Commission). 

You can watch our videos, which we also upload to social media pages and follow links from our  website to other relevant social media. 

In order to protect your privacy, our use of third party IT tools to connect to those services does  not set cookies when our website pages are loaded on your computer (or other devices), nor  are you immediately redirected to those social media or other websites. Only in the event that 

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you click on a button or “play” on a video to watch it, a cookie of the social media company  concerned will be installed on your device. If you do not click on any social media buttons or  videos, no cookies will be installed on your device by third parties. 

In order to view such third-party content on our websites, a message will alert you that you  need to accept those third parties’ specific Terms and Conditions, including their cookie policies,  over which the Commission has no control. 

We recommend that users read the relevant privacy policies of Twitter/X  https://x.com/en/privacy, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/our-commitments/protecting-user-data/ carefully before using them. These explain each company’s policy of personal data collection  and further processing, their use of data, users' rights and the ways in which users can protect  their privacy when using those services. 

The use of a third party IT tool does not in any way imply that the European Commission  endorses them or their privacy policies. In the event that one or more third party IT tools are  occasionally unavailable, we accept no responsibility for lack of service due to their downtime. 

International transfers

No transfer of your data outside of EU countries, including Norway or Ukraine, is foreseen for  this activity. Please note that pursuant to Article 3(13) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 public  authorities (e.g. Court of Auditors, EU Court of Justice) which may receive personal data in the  framework of a particular inquiry in accordance with Union or Member State law shall not be  regarded as recipients. The further processing of those data by those public authorities shall be  in compliance with the applicable data protection rules according to the purposes of the  processing. 

The information we collect will not be given to any third party, except to the extent and for the  purpose we may be required to do so by law. 

What are your rights and how can you exercise them? 

You have specific rights as a ‘data subject’ under Chapter III (Articles 14-25) of Regulation (EU)  2018/1725, in particular the right to access, rectify or erase your personal data and the right to  restrict the processing of your personal data. Where applicable, you also have the right to  object to the processing or the right to data portability. 

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, which is lawfully carried  out pursuant to Article 5(1)(a), on grounds relating to your particular situation. 

You have consented to provide your personal data to the data controller for the present  processing operation. You can withdraw your consent at any time by notifying the data  controller European Commission, Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space – Unit A.1 Defence Industrial Policy [“DG DEFIS Unit A.1” or the “Data Controller”], DEFIS 

A1@ec.europa.eu. The withdrawal of your consent will not affect the lawfulness of the  processing carried out before you have withdrawn the consent. 

You can exercise your rights by contacting the Data Controller, or in case of conflict the Data  Protection Officer. If necessary, you can also address the European Data Protection Supervisor. Their contact information is given under Heading 9 below.

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Where you wish to exercise your rights in the context of one or several specific processing  operations, please provide their description (i.e. their Record reference(s) as specified under  Heading 10 below) in your request. 

Any request for access to personal data will be handled within one month. Any other request  mentioned above will be addressed within 15 working days. 

Contact information 

- The Data Controller 

If you would like to exercise your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, or if you have  comments, questions or concerns, or if you would like to submit a complaint regarding the  collection and use of your personal data, please feel free to contact the Data Controller, European Commission, Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space – Unit A.1 Defence  Industrial Policy [“DG DEFIS Unit A.1” or the “Data Controller”], DEFIS-A1@ec.europa.eu 

- The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Commission 

In case of disagreement with the Data Controller, you may contact the Data Protection Officer  (DATA-PROTECTION-OFFICER@ec.europa.eu) with regard to issues related to the processing of  your personal data under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. 

- The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) 

You have the right to have recourse (i.e. you can lodge a complaint) to the European Data  Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu or https://edps.europa.eu/data-protection/our role-supervisor/complaints_en) if you consider that your rights under Regulation (EU)  2018/1725 have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data by the Data  Controller. 

10. Where to find more detailed information? 

The Commission DPO publishes the register of all processing operations on personal data by the  Commission, which have been documented and notified to him. You may access the register via  the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/dpo-register. 

This specific processing operation has been included in the DPO’s public register with the  following record reference: DPR-EC-32650.1 

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Electronically signed on 18/03/2025 14:33 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121