Privacy Policy (PP)

This website is owned and operated by the EU-funded project FRANCIS (“we” or “us”). The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101006220. It is hosted by Agorize SAS, a simplified joint-stock company organised under the laws of France, with its registered office at 15 rue Béranger 75003 Paris (“Agorize”).

Reference in this notice to “personal data” means any information that identifies or could reasonably be used to identify a living individual, either on its own or together with other information. In addition to this Privacy Notice, please also refer to our Terms and Conditions, as well as our Cookie Policy (further down in this document) which explains the use of cookies and other web tracking devices used on our Challenge website. Together these documents set out the basis on which any personal data will be processed by us.

Please read this notice carefully to understand our practices with respect to personal data.

 

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA

As a website-based open innovation platform, we regularly receive personal data as part of our Services. The personal data that we collect, and process may include:

Personal data that you give us, including:

• Registration. We collect the mandatory information required to create your user account and to register for the services we provide on our Challenge website, meaning your name, email address, and password. We will also ask you how you found out about the competition and why you are taking part. However, this information is voluntary.

• Profile. You have the option to include your date of birth and upload your photo in your profile. You do not have to provide any additional information in your profile, but the profile information will help you to benefit more from our services. For example, it helps our industry mentors and moderators to better tailor their support to you and to keep a better eye on you. Your profile will also show which team you are in.

• Messages, postings and uploads. We collect personal data from you (see chapter “How we use your personal data”) when you provide, post or upload it to our Challenge website, such as when you register for a Challenge, when you upload Proposals (e.g., documents, presentations, audio/video files) submitted as part of your participation in a Challenge, when you chat or message with other members of the community, post announcements, or use public message boards.

• Technical information. We keep a record of any correspondence between you and us, such as information that you send when you report a problem with our Challenge website or service, as long as you have an account with us.

• Any other information relating to you which you may provide to us.

HOW LONG WE RETAIN YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We retain your personal data so long as you have an account with us. If you close your account, your personal data will be immediately deleted.

Information you have shared with others (e.g., through messages, chats or on message boards/walls) will remain visible on the Challenge website after you close your account but will be anonymised. Your profile may continue to be displayed in the services of others (e.g., search engine results) until the user refreshes their cache.

If your account is suspended or blocked, we will keep your data for a period of between 2 and 5 years to prevent you from circumventing the terms and conditions of our Challenge website.

We may also retain your personal data for an additional period to the extent necessary to assert or defend against legal claims.

 

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We use your personal data to provide, support and develop our innovation platform service. We use your personal data to:

• allow you to take part in the Challenges on our Challenge website;

• enable you to personalize your user profile/account;

• send you service-related information (e.g. confirmation of your registration in a Challenge) by email and/or any other communication means;

• enable you to communicate and interact with other community members, such as team members, mentors, Jury members and/or the Organiser of a Challenge (e.g. team member messages or invitations to join a team);

• publish an announcement that you are a finalist of a Challenge;

• give you access to our support services to enable you to communicate with us;

• inform you about Challenge-related events and support such as creativity sessions;

• to assess the effectiveness of the support provided by FRANCIS, the impact of the results and the lessons learned by Participants;

• keep our Challenge website secure and safe;

• measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising and to deliver relevant advertising to you;

• target you for ads on social media platforms (like Facebook);

• send you, in accordance with applicable laws and where required, with your consent, marketing materials and suggestions of our services (e.g., up-coming Challenges) that may interest you;

• notify you about changes to our services;

• administer our Challenge website, including for troubleshooting, access, data analysis, testing, research, analytic and survey purposes;

• improve our Challenge website to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner; and

• comply with our legal obligations, including court orders and other legal or regulatory requirements.
  
  

HOW WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We may share your personal data with FRANCIS affiliates, for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Notice.

• Profile. When you use our services, your profile is fully visible to all members of our community, such as Challenge Participants, mentors, and the Organiser. Certain profile information (e.g., name, photo, team, etc.) can also be visible to others on or off our Challenge website (e.g. visitors to our Challenge website or users of third-party search engines).

• Wall posts, messages and Proposals. When you post on a message board/wall, it can be viewed by all members of the community. You can send messages to team members, individual Participants, Challenge administrators or mentors. Proposals pertaining to the Challenge, can be viewed by other members of your team (if applicable), Challenge administrators, Jury members and team mentors.

• Wall posts, messages and Proposals. When you post on a message board/wall, it can be viewed by all members of the community. You can send messages to team members, individual Participants, Challenge administrators or mentors. Proposals pertaining to the Challenge, can be viewed by other members of your team (if applicable), Challenge administrators, Jury members and team mentors.

• Public Challenges. Certain of our Challenges are public, which allows the public to vote on the winning Proposals. In these cases, the public can view wall posts related to the Challenge, individual and team profiles and Proposals pertaining to the Challenge (presentations, audio/video files, etc.). Before participating in a public Challenge, you will be asked to consent to this information being made public. Please do not participate in a public Challenge, if you do not want to make this information public.

We also work with third parties who are recipients of your personal data, such as:

• the organisations that are part of the FRANCIS consortium, mentors and Jury members (including the External Advisory Board of FRANCIS), or other persons to whom FRANCIS has granted access to your personal data for the sole purpose of administering the Challenge. We have entered data sharing arrangements with the companies and people with whom we co-organise a Challenge to ensure compliance with data protection laws;

• social media platforms that may provide you with connecting services to use our Challenge website;

• Agorize’s sub-contractors, who are technical (e.g., cloud computing platforms, data and content management and transmission systems, search engine providers, etc.) or analytics providers; and

• social media platforms who may advertise our services on their websites.

We only share your personal data with third parties in the following cases:

• where it is necessary to perform our services (e.g., providing your personal data to a partner company with whom we co-organise a Challenge);
• to assist us in the improvement and optimization of our Challenge website by using analytics and search engines (excluding your clear name and contact details);
• it is explicitly requested by you (e.g., when registering through social media authentication);
• it is based on your consent and/or our legitimate interest (i.e. providing you with meaningful advertising);
• if we are required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to respond to claims asserted against us, to comply with legal proceedings, in the framework of an investigation, or protect the rights, property or personal safety of FRANCIS or its members;
• if Agorize sells or buys any business or assets, we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer; and
• if all or part of Agorize’s assets are acquired by a third party, your personal data may be included as transferred assets.
   

 

THE LEGAL BASIS FOR DATA PROCESSING

We collect, use and share the data that we have in the ways described above:

• as necessary to provide the services on our Challenge website and fulfil the Terms and Conditions;

• consistent with your consent, which you may revoke at any time through your profile page;

• as necessary to comply with our legal obligations;

• as necessary for our legitimate interests, including our interests in providing an innovative, personalized, and effective service to our users and partners, unless those interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms that require protection of personal data.
  
  

 

DIRECT MARKETING E-MAILS AND TARGETTED ADS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

In accordance with applicable laws and where required with your consent, we may use the information you give us on our Challenge website for electronic direct marketing (e.g. receiving our newsletters, invitations to upcoming Challenges or events and other communications that we think may interest you). You can withdraw your consent at any time by unticking the relevant box in your member account, clicking on the unsubscribe link in each FRANCIS and Agorize email, or contacting us at the details provided below.

TRANSFERING YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We store your personal data in the European Economic Area. If you use our Challenge website, your personal data may be shared among FRANCIS affiliates (both inside and outside the European Economic Area). Our global policy requires all affiliated entities to ensure a level of data protection at least as protective as those mandated by the European Economic Area.

We may also transfer personal data to third parties, including those based outside the European Economic Area, for example (but not limited to) sub-contractors and third parties involved in providing services. When we transfer your personal data, we will do this in accordance with applicable data protection laws detailed above and will take appropriate safeguards to ensure its integrity and protection.

 

HOW WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL DATA SECURE

We will take appropriate technical and organizational measures against unauthorized or unlawful processing of your personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, your personal data in accordance with our internal security procedures covering its storage, access, and destruction.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING PERSONAL DATA

In addition to your rights under applicable data protection legislation and where we are permitted or required by applicable law and regulation, we will provide you, upon request, with a copy of your personal data and we will correct any errors identified by you. You also have the right to receive and/or have us transfer to another data controller a subset of your personal data. You have the right to object to and restrict our processing of your personal data as well as the right to lodge a complaint with supervisory authorities regarding the processing of your personal data. All such requests, or any questions or comments regarding this policy or our handling of your personal data, should be addressed to privacy@agorize.com.

LINKS

Our Challenge website contains links to other websites, including to partner companies. Those websites have their own privacy practices, for which we do not accept responsibility or liability. Please review those policies before submitting any personal data.

UPDATES

This Privacy Notice was updated in May 2024. We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changing legal requirements or our processing practices. Any such changes will be posted on this Challenge website and will be effective upon posting.

 

COOKIE POLICY

A cookie is a file that records information relating to your navigation on our Challenge website www.agorize.com (date and time the pages were loaded; browser used and language; pages viewed, frequency and duration of visits to the site, number of visits, sources of the visit, location) and can facilitate your visits to the site.

At any time, you can delete cookies, refuse installation of new cookies or be notified before a new cookie is installed by configuring your browser following the instructions below.

By continuing to use our site you accept this cookies policy and agree to the use of cookies on your computer.

Please note that if you uninstall a cookie or refuse the installation of cookies, you may not be able to use some of our services on our Challenge website.

Types of cookies

We use the following types of cookies:

1. Session cookies for site management. When you access the site, a cookie “token” with a unique encrypted session id code is passed to your computer. This token then controls your access to the site for that session, and is deleted once you close your browser or log off from the site. These cookies also allow us to identify your device and preferences when you return to our Challenge website, such as customized features, language and regional preferences. These cookies are an essential part of the site delivery system, and you will not be able to fully use our site without these cookies enabled. [The information gathered by these cookies is anonymous, and is used only to improve your experience on our Challenge website.]

2. Persistent cookies for site management. If you register on the site and select the "Remember me" option, a persistent cookie is passed to your computer. This cookie is not deleted when you leave the site or close your browser, but is saved on your computer. This cookie contains an encrypted user id code that identifies your computer upon future visits and automatically logs you into the site. This cookie is functional, and is designed to remember your preferences, to make your experience on our site better. [It does not contain any personal information that could be used to identify you.
   

3. Analytics cookies. We use Google Analytics and Hotjar to monitor traffic on our site. When you visit our site, these programs set certain cookies that record statistical information about your visits to the site. We measure the number of visits, the number of pages viewed as well as visitors' activity on the site and their frequency of return. This helps us improve our Challenge website and its functionality, for example, by ensuring that users can navigate it intuitively. These cookies do not store any personal information that could be used to identify you.

4. What cookies are installed? See table:

Cookies installed by Agorize on FRANCIS’ platform