How we treat your data

1. Who we are

This Privacy Policy explains howthe VOPUS project collects, uses, and protects personal data submitted through this website (the "site"). VOPUS (Virtual World Opera for Participation, Unity, and Social Cohesion) is a research project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme (Grant Agreement No.101287909), coordinated by Aalto University, Finland, on behalf of a nine-partner consortium.

For the purposes of this website, the data controller is:

Sunderland Software City, The Software Centre, Sunderland, United Kingdom, SR1 1PB

Contact for data protection questions: contact@vopus.eu.

2. What personal data we collect

We collect personal data from you in two ways: through active user input and automatically via technical infrastructure.

• Contact Form Submissions: When you voluntarily get in touch with us, we collect:
  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Your organization (optional)
  • The content of your message
• Technical Log Data: When you visit our website, our web statistics provider (Plausible) automatically records standard technical connection information in server log files in the European Union. This includes:
  • Your Internet Protocol (IP) address
  • Browser type and version
  • Operating system
  • The referring URL (the page you arrived from)
  • Date and time of your visit

We do not currently use tracking cookies or analytics tools that track visitors for advertising purposes.

3. Why we collect it, and our legal basis

We process your personal data under the following legal frameworks:

• Contact Form Data: We use this information to respond to your inquiry, feedback, or expressions of interest.
  • Legal Basis: Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR), given voluntarily when you submit the form. Where relevant for ongoing communication, we also process this on the basis of our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) to communicate effectively with people interested in our services.
  • Consent Withdrawal: You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
• Technical Log Data (IP Addresses): We use server logs to monitor system stability, optimize website performance, and detect, investigate, or prevent cyberattacks.
  • Legal Basis: Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). Maintaining a secure, operational network infrastructure constitutes a critical and legitimate business operations objective.

4. How we use your data

We use the data you provide only to respond to your message and to keep a reasonable internal record of enquiries about the project. We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling, and we do not sell or use it for marketing by third parties.

5. Who can see your data

Access to enquiries submitted through this website is limited to members of the VOPUS project coordination and communications team who need it to respond to you. If your enquiry relates specifically to one of our partner organisations, we may share it with the relevant contact at that organisation so they can respond. We do not share your data with any other third party, except where required by law.

6. Where your data is stored

Your data is sent by email and stored only for the purposes above, or sent to partners as described in Article 5.

7. How long we keep your data

We keep the personal data you submit through the contact form only for as long as necessary to respond to you and to maintain a reasonable record of project enquiries, in line with the project's Data Management Plan.

8. Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to:

•      Access the personal data we hold about you

•      Ask us to correct inaccurate data

•      Ask us to delete your data

•      Ask us to restrict how we use your data

•      Object to our processing of your data

•      Ask for your data to be provided to you in a portable format

•      Withdraw your consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@vopus.eu. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, such as the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman in Finland, or the data protection authority in your own country of residence.

9. Keeping your data secure

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the personal data we hold from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse.

10. Children's privacy

This website is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children. Where VOPUS pilot activities involve younger participants, those activities use separate, age-appropriate informed consent processes in line with GDPR and the project's research ethics requirements, and are not covered by this website Privacy Policy.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the project and website develop, for example if we introduce new ways of collecting data. We will update the "last updated" date at the top of this page when we do.

12. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact the VOPUS project team at contact@vopus.eu.