Protection of your personal data
This privacy statement provides information about the processing and protection of your personal data.
Processing operation: European Week of Regions and Cities
Data Controllers:
- The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy
- The European Committee of the Regions
Record reference (Commission): DPR-EC-01266
Record reference (Committee of the Regions): RD2-3
Introduction
The European Week of Regions and Cities) is an annual event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement the European Union’s cohesion policy, and highlight the importance of good governance at the local and regional level.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (hereafter DG REGIO) and the European Committee of the Regions (hereafter ‘Committee of the Regions’) are committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. DG REGIO and the CoR collect and further process 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:
- why your personal data is processed
- how it is collected and handled
- how it is protected
- how it is used
- what rights you have
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.
Data Controllers
DG REGIO and the Committee of the Regions (hereafter collectively referred to as ‘The Organisers’) are the Data Controllers for the European Week of Regions and Cities official programme. On behalf of the Organisers, contractors and regional partnerships act as processors on certain personal data on a need-to-know basis.
The Organisers are not the data controllers for the EURegionsWeek close to you programme. These sessions are organised and managed by external parties who are the sole controllers of participants’ data.
Information relating to the processing of data for the European Week of Regions and Cities by the Organisers is presented below.
Why and how do we process your personal data?
Online event platform
Data is collected via the event platform, a web application managed by DG REGIO and its contractor to facilitate:
- the registration of participants and organisations
- the application process for those wishing to host a session at the event
- the dissemination of information regarding the hosting of the event, including web streaming and email communication
Participants and organisations have access to the platform with a login and a password via EU login. The account details remain in the system until it is deleted manually or has been inactive for a period of two years, at which point it will be automatically deleted.
Applying to coordinate a session
The Organisers collect and evaluate the contents of applications received via the event platform. After evaluation, details provided in the application process such as session descriptions, names of speakers, names of partners, organisations of the selected partners, and social media accounts/website URLs are published on the Event Website.
Participating in the event
The Organisers collect and use your personal information to allow your participation in the sessions taking place as part of the Event. These details are used to communicate with participants before, during and after the event, as well as to control access to the event venue.
Live web streaming, video recordings and images of the speakers, moderators and the participants, as well as photographs of groups of participants and organisers are published in the context of the meeting, including after the event, on communication platforms of the organisers.
Participation in online meetings
The Organisers may collect and use your personal information to manage online sessions or meetings. Some session coordinators (after agreeing to only use the data received for the purposes of the session) may organise some online sessions. The data the user provides to any service used to connect to an online session is not managed by the Organisers.
In the framework of the EURegionsWeek Close-to-you programme, some partners might organise online sessoins. In this case, the management of the personal data will fall entirely under the responsability of the partner.
Live web streaming, video and audio recordings, and images of the speakers, moderators and participants, as well as photographs of groups may be published in the context of the event, including after the event, on the communication platforms of the organisers.
The video and audio recordings may be collected and processed for the purpose of the use of Panoramic platform services during and after the EURegionsWeek. Panoramic platform (created by MAKE.ORG), also called "PanoramicAI", is a cutting-edge AI-driven platform that uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) processes with generative large language models (LLMs)) designed to simplify complex topics into clear, easy-to-understand content.
The platform offers concise summaries of public discussions, answers open questions, and provides direct access to video or document excerpts for a more comprehensive understanding. By relying solely on verified public documents, Panoramic ensures that individuals, regardless of their expertise or background, can easily access the information they need.
Legal basis for processing your data
We process your personal data, because:
(a) 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
(b) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject
Article 58 of Regulation 1303/2013 laying common provisions for the European Structural and Investment Funds, regarding technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission. Article 58(1) (f) CPR – technical assistance – networks: "actions to disseminate information, support networking, carry out communication activities with particular attention to the results and added value of support from the ESI Funds, raise awareness and promote cooperation and exchange of experience, including with third countries".
Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy.
Which personal data do we collect and process?
In order to carry out this processing operation, the Organisers collect the following categories of personal data.
The online registration platform collects:
When you create an account in the platform, the following details are taken automatically from your EU login account:
- First name
- Last name
The following details are required to complete your account:
• Gender (or prefer not to reply)
• Country
• Special accessibility needs
as optional data:
• Alias
• User short description
• Telephone number
• Personal profile picture
• Personal website
• Personal social media
Specifically for on-site participation:
In order to attend the event, the provision of ID details is mandatory for security reasons. If you do not provide the following personal data, we cannot grant you access to the premises:
• Date of birth
• Document type: ID or passport
• ID card number/ passport
• ID expiration date
• Date of issue
How long do we keep your personal data?
The Organisers keep participants’ data for as long as follow-up actions to the event are necessary, considering the purpose(s) of the EURegionsWeek.
A user can delete their account from the platform manually by going to My Account>Profile and clicking on the red button ‘Delete my account’. Accounts will be automatically deleted after two years of inactivity.
ID card details collected for security purposes to allow access to onsite events are deleted at the end of the calendar year.
Reports containing personal data will be archived according to the Commission's legal framework.
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 either on the servers of the European Commission, the CoR or of its contractors (including on the contractors’ Cloud). 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 Organiser’s contractors are bound by a specific contractual clause for any processing operations of personal data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations deriving from the transposition of the 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).
In order to protect your personal data, the Organisers have put a number of technical and organisational measures in place. These 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 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 staff of the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions according to the “need to know” principle. Such staff abide by statutory, and when required, additional confidentiality agreements.
The following people also have access to the data:
- Session coordinators (representatives of organisations that are successful in their application to hold an event as part of the week) have access to the list of participants registered to their session. This access is given only for the purpose of organising the session.
- Where needed, the list of participants (including ID details) will be introduced in the V-PASS information system or sent by secure e-mail to the Security Office of the Commission. This is to facilitate security checks that will allow access to the European Commission's premises and other on-site locations (under the responsibility of DG HR/DS -see record DPR-EC-00655).
- Under certain conditions defined in law, we may disclose your information to third parties (such as the European Anti-Fraud Office, the Court of Auditors or law enforcement authorities) if it is necessary and proportionate for lawful, specific purposes.
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) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on grounds relating to your particular situation.
If 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 [REGIO-A2-COMMUNICATION@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 Controllers, or in case of conflict, the Data Protection Officers. If necessary, you can also address the European Data Protection Supervisor. Their contact information is given below.
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 the heading ‘Where to find more detailed information?’ below) in your request.
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:
DG REGIO – Communication Unit
Unit Phone : +32 2 297 16 03
REGIO-A2-COMMUNICATION@ec.europa.eu
Committee of the Regions – Communication directorate
EURegionsweek@cor.europa.eu
The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the European Commission
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 Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Committee of the Regions
You may contact the Data Protection Officer (data.protection@cor.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) 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.
Where to find more detailed information?
The European Commission’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) publishes a register of all processing operations of personal data by the Commission. 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-01266
The Committee of the Regions Data Protection Officer (DPO) publishes all processing activities of personal data by the Committee of the Regions in the Internal Central register. The record reference is RD2-3.
