What does this policy cover?
BioeconomyVentures ((“our”, “us” and “we”) project has received funding from the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101023260. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Bio-based Industries Consortium.
We will refer to you as “you” and “your”.
We value your privacy and the security of your data and we want to be transparent about the collection, use and sharing of information about you. This Privacy Policy is for your use of the services we make available (“Services”) and our website (platform.bioeconomyventures.eu). It also applies to your interaction with us through other means such as customer service, discussing or contracting one of our professional services, direct conversations and events.
This Privacy Policy is part of our group of Policies as set out in our Terms of Service which provides information that is likely to be useful to complement this Privacy Policy. Please do not access or use the Services or website if you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy or any of the other Policies.
We have produced this Privacy Policy to communicate and explain how we process personally identifiable information that we collect about you when you use the Services and interact with us such as:
- how we collect information about you;
- how we use information we collect;
- how we control your information;
- how we store and secure your information;
- how your information is shared;
- how we transfer your information to other countries; and
- additional information we think might be useful to you.
You have choices about the use of personally identifiable information which we hold about you. You can access, update and request the removal of the information we hold about you. If you don’t agree with the Policies, please do not access or use the Services, or interact with us.
What information do we collect about you?
We collect information to provide the Services. In order for us to provide the Services to you, we need to collect and use personally identifiable information as described in this Privacy Policy and the other Policies. The collection and processing of personal data by us is necessary to enable the relationship we have with you, and when that isn’t the case we have a legitimate interest in collecting the information. We collect information about you when you provide it to us through use of the Services as well when it is provided by another source – we talk more about this below. For the purposes of the applicable data legislation, we are the ‘data controller’ in respect of your personal data. In general, we are responsible for the Policies and the handling of your personal data.
Information you give us. This includes personally identifiable information that you provide to us when you use the Service by directly inputting it.
Here are some examples where you may give us personally identifiable information:
Account and Profile Information – This includes the name, email address and password you provided at the time of registering for the Service. It also includes information you input into your profile, any messages you send or receive, any information you provide to us by other means such as e-mail or forms, as well as any data you provide while using the Service;
Information you give us when you receive professional services from us – We collect not confidential information from you regarding you and your business.
Information you give us through the Service – You can post, send, access and share information through our Services. For example, you can make a post to a discussion board, send a message asking us to provide a professional service, send a message to other user(s), reply to a message you receive in your e-mail, write to our connect with an opportunity, provide us with feedback or upload a file;
Information you give when you are asking for support or we are providing it – You may choose to give us information about a problem you are having, or ask us how to use the Service and in doing so you may provide us with information by e-mail.
Information we get automatically when you use the Services. This is personally identifiable information we receive and that is collected by automated systems involved in delivering the Services or when you take specific actions while using the Services.
Cookies – We and third parties use cookies and other tracking methods to deliver you the Service. Please see our Cookie Policy and for more information, and for links that can show you how to control the use of cookies and tracking methods;
Logs and Analysis – We log data about your use of the Service and your response to any communications from us by email or by means of the Platform in order to provide you with the Services, identify issues and understand usage. We do this by means of technology solutions that we have built ourselves and through technologies provided by third parties;
Additionally, some services offer you the choice of what personal data is provided to us and we encourage you to carefully select the information you want to share if that option is available. We also use third party services that help us to provide services like identifying and alerting you if you have duplicate accounts;
Scouting – We may collect information directly from you, use public record sources or create editorial content about you or your start-up in order to identify opportunities for you or your start-up. For example, we may engage with you verbally, by e-mail or use other sources to get this information. As further examples, we may provide this information to third-parties to help them scout appropriate start-ups to accept into a start-up program, identify potential partners or other engage with you;
Information submitted by other users of the Service – Other users of the Service may provide information about you when they add information during their use of the Service. As examples, an evaluator for a start-up program you’ve connected with on BIOECONOMYVENTURES may give you a numeric score and write notes about you, another user may provide your e-mail address to invite you to appear on their start-up profile or another user may connect their e-mail account to the Service and give us information related to your correspondence with them. Some other users may add your startup, information they have about you and other related information to their deal flow tools on the Service – such as Pipeline – and also add their information (such as notes, markets or location) to appear along with the information they or you have given us. The information provided by the other user may result in a communication with you;
Information we get from other partners – We get information about you from third-party partners including those carrying out market research, advertising and lead generation services and who provide us with information about your potential to use our Service and your engagement with us. For example, a third-party may provide us with information because they think you may be interested in one of our professional services that we may use to contact you.
How we use the personally identifiable information we collect.
Our use of the personally identifiable information we collect depends on how you use the Services, as well as the settings and preferences you’ve provided to us.
To provide and personalise the Services – We use information about you to provide you with the Services. This includes logging you in, authenticating you when you login, operating the Services, responding to your use of the Services, maintaining the Services in line with your requests and providing support to you. As examples:
your name and profile picture is used to identify you when you connect with or contact other users of the Service;
we use your personally identifiable information to personalise the Services, such as identifying jobs that match with your skills, location, availability and interests;
we provide your name, affiliation, e-mail address and other information to other users when you get a benefit from them such as hosting, e-mail infrastructure or travel;
If you decide to upload the team member of your stat up, we also collect your information from your personal LinkedIn profile.
we notify you or another Service user that you are using the Services based on information you have provided through a third-party or based on your affiliations such as schools or companies;
when you connect with other users of the Service, such as a start-up program, and in order for them to evaluate delivering the opportunity you are interested in receiving from them, we provide them with your start-up public information profile, your start-up private information profile, your contact information including e-mail and the profile information for those associated with start-up.
In order to provide an integrated experience, your information is available across the various aspects of the Service. For example, the skills you enter on your personal profile may be used to help a start-up program you connect with understand what you know how to do as well as identify job opportunities that match you. We believe that this allows us to provide you with an enhanced user experience in respect of the Service;
To maintain your profiles – We are a community which is based on real identities and so we use your information so that you and the organisations you are associated with can create and maintain profiles in relation to the Service. A profile will be created for you when you first use the Service and many aspects of the Service require a “Innovator” or other entity profile. Each profile has options and tools that allow you to customise it with your personal data such as descriptions, educational history, associations and more. We associate you to organisations with which your profile has links and provide you with an option in each profile interface to immediately hide your profile(s) as well as an option to remove your profile from search indexing;
Providing other users of the Service with information about you – We might also use your personally identifiable information to suggest that others connect or interact with you where we think this might be in your best interests. For example, by connecting you with a user of the Service that is conducting an event in your area, or identifying you as a potential candidate to another user of the Service that is operating a Start-up program or fund;
To improve safety and security of the Services – We use information about you to identify suspicious activity, to investigate potential violations of the Policies and to verify user accounts;
To market, promote and drive engagement with the Services – We use information about your use of the Services, your contact information and other personally identifiable information about you to send you communications that may be of specific interest to you. This type of use has the goal of alerting you when there are events in respect of the Services which we think you’d like to know about, or to provide information, products and services we think you may be interested in. You can control what communications we provide to you in the settings section of the Services, which includes the option to unsubscribe from all communications from us other than core service messages and system functions, such as password reset;
To provide you with support – We use your personally identifiable information to resolve issues you have using the Services and to reply to your requests;
In relation to our legal rights and legitimate business interests – We will use personally identifiable information about you as required by law and when we believe it is necessary to protect our legal rights/interests, the rights/interests of others and in relation to any legal claim, regulatory requirements, audits, disclosures in the event of an acquisition, merger or sale and compliance activities;
When you give us your consent – You can give us your consent to use your personally identifiable information in a way that is or is not covered by this Privacy Policy or any of the other Policies;
To generate research and reports – We write and publish information, articles and content in relation to start-ups, industries, markets and other areas related to our community. This might include information we hold about you that you have provided that is generally visible in the Services (such as name, tag-line and location), information we generate on our own or aggregated anonymised data derived in part from your own personally identifiable information;
For marketing purposes – This means advertising, commercial affiliation, interacting with social media, remarketing and behavioural targeting, interacting with online survey platforms and public relations;
To improve the Services – We use feedback, aggregated data and may use your information as well to make the Services work better, faster, more securely and more in line with user needs. As an example, we use the search terms that users look for on the Services to identify new features that are in demand and which we believe we should develop further;
To communicate with you about the Services – We use information about your use of the Services, your contact information and other personally identifiable information to send you transactional communication that relate to your use of the Services. As examples, we may send you communication by e-mail or other means when you receive a message from another user of the Services or to confirm the details about claiming a benefit you’ve taken. You can control what communications we send to you in the settings section of the Services, which includes the option to unsubscribe from all communications other than core service messages and system functions like password reset.
Legal basis of our processing of your personal data
We will only collect and process your personally identifiable information where we have a valid legal basis for doing so. The legal basis for processing your personally identifiable information depends on the Services you use and how you use them.
In general, we collect and use your personally identifiable information where:
we have a legitimate interest. This is applicable when the interest is not overridden by your data protection interests;
we need to do so in order to deliver you the Services;
you give us your consent to collect and use your personally identifiable information; or
we need to process your personally identifiable information to be in compliance with our legal obligations.
As set out above, in some cases, the legal basis for the processing of your personal data is your consent. This is the case, for example, if you agree to us emailing you with relevant information. In other cases, the processing will be necessary for the purposes of our providing you with the Services as referred to in this Privacy Policy and the other Policies. An example of processing personal data in accordance with our legitimate interest is protecting our legal rights, engaging in research and development or offering products and services of value to you, other users of the Services and our business partners. As mentioned above, processing of personal data by us based on our legitimate interests will only take place provided that those interests do not outweigh your rights and interests.
You have the right to withdraw your consent to use your personally identifiable information for a specific purpose at any time. Removing your consent will not change any processing that has already occurred. If you do withdraw your consent, and if we do not have another legal basis for processing your personally identifiable information, then we will stop processing your personal data. If we do have another legal basis for processing your personally identifiable information, then we may continue to do so subject to your legal rights. If we are processing your personally identifiable information because we or a third-party have a legitimate interest you have the right to remove consent, but this may mean that it is no longer possible for you to use the Services.
How we share information we collect
We provide a Service that is a community where users share and collaborate together. This means that information is shared throughout the Services and with third-parties. Our business is not to sell personally identifiable information, rather our goal is to offer you the best collaborative community possible. We will share your personally identifiable information with our third-party service providers as required to deliver the Services.
Sharing and Collaborating with other users in the Services’ community
When you connect with other users of the Platform – You connect with other users of the Services by a variety of means. When you connect with another Service user, you give them permission to see, share, edit, copy and download information you add to the Services. Examples of connections include applying to a start-up program, expressing interest in an employment position, asking for a benefit, following another Service user, applying for office hours, getting a ticket to an event, completing a survey, adding information to our deal flow tools such as Pipeline, requesting professional services and more. Some community and collaboration features of the Services show all or some of your profile information when you share or interact with content or other users through the Services. You can provide information that is freely visible to other users, such as the information on your personal profile. You can also provide information that is not freely visible to other users, such as the information designated as such in the basic information section of our website (“Basic Information”). For example, you may share both your personally identifiable information that is freely visible on your personal profile and Basic Information that is not visible on your personal (or start-up) profile when connecting to another Service user that has an application profile or office hours profile.
As another example, you share personally identifiable information such as your skills, languages spoken, location and other information when applying for a job offered by another user of the Services. You can control the visibility of your freely visible profile information, including hiding your profile from other users and telling search engines not to index your profile, using tools we provide you in the “Edit” section of your personal profile. Please note that hiding your profile will mean that your profile will no longer be visible, but your personally identifiable information will still be visible to other Service users you have given the ability to see your personally identifiable information.
Discussion Boards and Groups – You can post information on Investror room, private groups, private groups and similar features in the Services that are available to some or all other users of the Services and can be indexed and visible in search engines. You should be aware that the personally identifiable information you post is available to access, copy and be used by anyone that can access it. As an example, when you post to our public groups or Discussion Board, which are organised around a profile, a specific technology or a specific interest, any other user of the Service can view, comment on, upvote and copy what you have posted or written. If you post or provide information on one of our Private Groups, all other users that are in such Private Group will have similar access to the information which you have posted. As set out elsewhere in the Policies, your personally identifiable information in these areas may be retained by us even if you terminate your account with us.
Survey Registration Pages – You may be asked to complete a registration or survey. For example, if you choose to complete the registration for an event that you are attending you can provide information and technology products you use which will result in your information being shared with the Service user that corresponds to the registration.
Sharing with third-parties
When we need to comply with applicable laws and requests – When we believe that sharing your personally identifiable information with third-party is required to comply with an applicable law, regulation or request by a government entity, to protect ourselves, our users or others from harm or illegal actions, to respond to an emergency that threatens a person, to fulfil your support requirements and/or to generally protect the security and integrity of the Service.
Our Partners – Third-parties help us deliver some parts of the Services. For example, we employ partners to collect funds owed to us in some regions, to localise the Services regionally and into new languages, and to support us in delivering the Services.
Affiliates – We may share your information with our affiliates, parents or subsidiaries. For example, we may share your personal data with our affiliate that provides professional services in order to deliver a financial service to you if required.
Service Providers – We share information with third-parties in order to provide, market, improve and support the Services, and these third-party service providers are essential to us in providing you with the Services. This includes service providers that perform services for us such as data hosting, e-mail delivery, testing, e-document signing, analytics ( Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited) Google Analytics is a web analysis service provided by Google Ireland Limited (“Google”). Google utilises the Data collected to track and examine the use of this Website, to prepare reports on its activities and share them with other Google services. Google may use the Data collected to contextualise and personalise the ads of its own advertising network.
Personal Data processed: Tracker; Usage Data.
Place of processing: Ireland – Privacy Policy – Opt Out.
Support infrastructure and many other areas. The use of these services requires the relevant third-party to access or use personally identifiable information about you. We monitor these third-party service providers carefully and have policies and procedures in place to maintain the security of your information.
During a change in our business – We will notify you if we engage in a merger, bankruptcy, financing, acquisition of all or part of our business by another entity, winding up, sale of our assets or similar event to inform you of your choices you may have with reference to your information.
With your consent – We share your information with third-parties when you give us your explicit consent to share it.
With regard to sharing your data with other Service users and third-parties, please note that we will comply with your requests with regard to all future access to your information but your requests will not apply to any existing off-line information held by another Service user. As an example, when you connect to a start-up program through an application profile or populate your personal profile some other Service users have the ability to access your information through functionality such as a file data download, printing as a paper version, accessing it by API and other means.
How we store your information
We collect information globally and primarily store that information in the United States on our own servers and that of our service providers as part of providing the Services. These service providers are based outside the European Economic Area, in countries which may have different data privacy standards and protections than those which apply to us in the United Kingdom. We take steps to ensure that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Privacy Policy when we transfer or store your personally identifiable information outside the EEA.
International transfer of information we collect
We operate globally and in doing so we transfer personally identifiable information using service platforms and service providers so that we can deliver you the Service as described in the Policies. Some of the countries where these service providers are located and where our team members work may not have privacy and data protection laws which are similar to or as protective as the laws of EU (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016) or the UK. In the event of the cross-border transfer by us of personally identifiable information which we collect from the EEA, the UK or, we ensure that appropriate safeguards for the protection of such information are in place. These may include signing the EU approved Standard Contractual Clauses, binding corporate rules or any other appropriate safeguard available from time to time to ensure adequate security for transfers of your personally identifiable information.
Data Retention – We apply data retention policies in line with the type of personally identifiable information retained. We retain personally identifiable information for no longer than is required for our legitimate processing purposes. After a data retention period has expired, we either delete or anonymise your personally identifiable information. The retention policies we apply to different types of personally identifiable information are:
Your Account Information – This personally identifiable information is retained as long as your account is active and you have not requested its deletion, and nor has it been deleted under the Policies. We may keep some of your personally identifiable information to the extent needed to be in compliance with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes and enforce any agreements we have with you;
Information you have shared on the Services – We retain personally identifiable information from deleted and deactivated accounts as required to allow other users of the Services to continue to make use of the Services. For example, (i) your name will continue to appear on any messages you have sent to other users of the Services after account deletion and any posts you have made will continue to appear, or (ii) where your name or other personally identifiable information has been added to the Service by you or another user other than in association with your account (such as where your name has been added, with authority, as the founder of a startup and such record is not specifically linked to your account). You acknowledge and confirm that this may result in certain personally identifiable information remaining on the Service in these circumstances.
Apart from what we’ve described above, we’ll archive and stop processing any personally identifiable information about you in accordance with our data retention policy when you delete your account (and we’ll continue to act in line with the other parts of the Policies) or when it’s no longer necessary or required for us to process your personal information to provide our Services, whichever comes first. The decision about what’s necessary or required to provide our Services depends upon factors such as actions you take, the type of data held by us, archive provisions, legal and regulatory requirements for data retention and the data required for our operations. By way of examples, we will delete back-ups containing your personal identifiable information within one year of first storage and web logs are deleted within six months. As another example, if we are providing you with professional services the period of data retention can be up to ten years from your last use of the Services due to legal and other regulatory requirements.
Security of your information
We take security of your data seriously and work hard to avoid loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure. No security system is perfect and despite our efforts and the distributed nature of the Internet, we can’t guarantee that your personal data will be absolutely secure, either while it is being transmitted or while stored on our systems.
Access and Control of your Information
You have rights with respect to your personally identifiable information. We have compiled a list of choices below that you may make with additional information on how to make them happen.
You have the right to:
request access to personally identifiable information we hold about you;
deactivate your account;
update your personally identifiable information;
delete your personally identifiable information;
ask us to stop using your personally identifiable information;
ask us not to use your personally identifiable information to profile you or make automated decisions about you;
stop receiving communications from us; and ask us to port your data to another service provider if technically feasible, or to provide you with a copy of personally identifiable information we hold about you in a structured, electronic format.
You can accomplish most of these directly using the tools we provide to you as part of the Service. If you are unable to do so using the tools we provide, please contact our support through the help section of our website, or e-mail us at platform@bioeconomyventures.eu . Depending on the choices you make, it may not be possible for us to continue to provide you with the Services after we implement your choices. This may result in us closing your account or your use of the Services being limited or not possible.
Your rights are subject to any exemptions provided by law and we rely on our legitimate interests to process your information. Our response to your requests may be limited in some cases, such as when providing your requested information would reveal another person’s personal information or if you ask us to delete information we are permitted to retain by law or have a compelling legitimate interest to retain. You may also need to contact third-parties directly that you have asked us to share information with to have your information deleted. One example is when we are providing you with a professional service that uses third-party financial software.
We may also process information that contains your personally identifiable information for marketing purposes and you also have a right to object to our use of this information for that purpose.
If you e-mail us directly instead of using the tools provided in the Service, we will provide you with the information within 40 days of your request, unless doing so would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others. That would include, for example, another person’s confidentiality or intellectual property rights. We’ll tell you if we can’t meet your request for that reason.
Subject to applicable law, you have the rights above as well as the right to take any unresolved concerns to a data protection authority.
More about using our Service
Giving us information about other people – You confirm that you have the right to authorise us to process information you give us about other people on your behalf in accordance with this Privacy Policy. As an example, you can give us information about employees of your start-up, business or other entity.
Sensitive Data – We will not collect any “Special Category Data” about you except where you provide it to us, or where it is necessary to do so to comply with the law. For these purposes that means data regarding your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning health or data concerning your sex life or sexual orientation and offences or alleged offences committed by you.