DS | DEVELOPMENT Solutions

Disclaimer & Privacy Policy

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

All information contained within this site including the DEVELOPMENT Solutions Logo is copyright of DEVELOPMENT Solutions. DEVELOPMENT Solutions has taken all reasonable care in preparing the information contained on this website. However, the information is by way of general commentary only and the provision and use of this website do not constitute the giving of advice.
You should seek specific professional advice before acting or refraining from acting on the basis of any of the information contained within this website.
The contents of this website are copyright of DEVELOPMENT Solutions. You may access and/or display these pages on a computer or monitor as well as print out and copy for your personal use any whole page or pages in this website/email flyer. All other uses, copying or reproduction in both print and electronic form of any part of this website without the consent of DEVELOPMENT Solutions are prohibited.
DEVELOPMENT Solutions does not warrant that this website is free from computer viruses. The information contained within this website is subject to change without notice and accordingly may not be correct at the time of viewing the website.
DEVELOPMENT Solutions does not warrant that any information you provide via this website will not be accessible to third parties.
DEVELOPMENT Solutions has no control over the contents of sites maintained by third parties which may be accessible through sites maintained by DEVELOPMENT Solutions.
DEVELOPMENT Solutions is not responsible for any loss or damage, however, caused and whether by negligence or otherwise, suffered by any person, directly or indirectly, relying upon the information contained within this website or any other website which may be accessed through this website or any other website maintained by DEVELOPMENT Solutions. ​

Privacy statement

Development Solutions Europe Ltd. (DS) values the confidentiality and protection of your personal data. Therefore, we comply with applicable data privacy legislation with regard to processing personal data. ​
This processing operation is subject 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, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC. ​
This privacy policy serves as our commitment to you to protect the security and privacy of your personal data. This policy is applicable to our business and administration of our projects, our newsletters, events and our website. Our websites include the general DS website, as well as DS project and services’ websites. This policy covers the following areas of privacy concerns: ​
  • What do we collect and how we use it ​
  • From who we collect data ​
  • How we store yourdata ​
  • How long we keep information ​
  • Your privacy rights and contact ​

What we collect and how we use it

Personal data is processed for the purposes of communication/transparency to provide and make available information on the DS projects’ activities/initiatives/events, etc. ​
Based on the above, we might use your data to:
  • Compile project statistics for project reporting purposes; ​
  • If you are using the Helpline services, to ask for more information about your query in the case that clarifications are needed; to send an answer to your questions; ask your feedback about the usefulness of the answers provided; and in limited instances, to follow up on your case; use of pictures and/or audiovisual items on social media and on the project’s website; ​
  • If you chose to subscribe to either of the projects’ newsletters, to send you a Newsletter via e-mail; ​
  • If you attend to a training session or awareness-raising event, to send you information about the services or event as well as a follow-up email with useful materials (when relevant); ​
  • In addition, you may exceptionally be contacted by our services in very limited instances – e.g. information about an update to the privacy policy, offering collaboration opportunities, or for a survey about user needs and service improvements. ​

We collect data from the following parties:

Employees: the personal data collected of our employees is necessary for business management purposes and general business administration. This form of data processing is based on contracts.
Newsletter subscribers: the email addresses and names processed for the people who subscribed to the newsletters of projects executed by Development Solutions are solely used to send the newsletters to and will not be used for any other purposes. You are able to unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. This form of data processing is based on legitimate company interests.
DS project partners: as coordinator of various European funded projects, DS processes data of its partners. Some of this information has to be answered to within the accountability of the European Commission. This form of data processing is based on contracts.
DS stakeholders: DS processes names and email addresses of various stakeholders active in the fields of pertinence to the project DS executes. These data are retrieved via open source or received via the stakeholders
These data will solely be used to inform stakeholders about actions, news, surveys, projects and publications in which we believe the stakeholders will have an interest in. This form of data processing is based on legitimate company interests.
Participants of DS project events: DS organises several events, both on-site and online. The information that DS collect may differ per event. The information collected may differ per event, depending on what is needed for accountability and event organisation. This form of data processing is based on legitimate company interests.
In principle DS will not send processed personal data to other parties, with exception of one of the following cases:
Necessary for the execution of an agreement: It may be necessary to send personal data to other organisations or institutions in the context of the execution of an agreement with the person who has the personal data. This could include sending signature lists of events to the European Commission for reporting purposes.
Based on permission: In some situations we send personal data to third parties on basis of permission from the person concerned. This consent is only valid if the person concerned has given his consent and after having been clearly informed in advance for which permission is granted.

How we store your data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard and protect your personal data from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. All personal data related to the projects’ procedures is stored in secure IT applications according to the Office’s security standards, as well as in specific electronic folders accessible to authorised recipients only. Appropriate levels of access are granted individually only to the abovementioned recipients. The database is password-protected under a single sign-on system and connected automatically to the user’s ID. E-records are held securely to safeguard the confidentiality and privacy of the data therein. All office staff is made aware of the security procedures they must follow when handling personal information. DS ensures appropriate security of the personal data that it holds, in line with the applicable legal requirements and guidelines.

How long we keep information

Personal data will be kept only for the time needed to achieve the purpose for which it is processed.
All data related to DS projects will be stored for the duration of the project. This is normally 2 years. Information will be shared on the project websites and in the media and is stored for as long as the European Commission considers it appropriate.
In the event of a formal appeal, all data held at the time of the appeal will be retained until the completion of the appeal process.

Your privacy right and contact information

Should you have any queries on the processing of your personal data, please address them to:
You shall have right of recourse at any time to the to the European Data Protection Supervisor at https://edps.europa.eu.

Links to other websites

Please note that DS executes various EU funded projects. For specific privacy notices and cookie policies you can refer to project specific websites. On either the DS website or any of its project websites there is the possibility that web pages contain links to other sites whose privacy practices may differ. Neither the Helpdesk nor the European Commission are for the Privacy Policy of these websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on other websites you visit, as we have no control over information that is submitted to, or collected by, these third parties.
This privacy statement has been drawn up in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. DS reserves the right to periodically update this privacy statement. It is therefore recommended that you review this privacy statement regularly so that you are kept informed of these changes.