Privacy Policy

Required disclosures under Articles 13 and 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

1. Data Controller

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Klaus Quibeldey-Cirkel
Juri-Gagarin-Ring 152
99084 Erfurt
Germany

Email: klaus.quibeldey-cirkel@iu.org

2. Scope of This Policy

This privacy policy applies to https://arsnova.eu (our informational and marketing website) and—where indicated—your use of the arsnova.eu app for live quizzes and voting. If the application is self-hosted by your organization or institution, they act as the data controller, and their own privacy policy applies.

3. Data We Collect When You Visit

When you visit arsnova.eu, the server and hosting provider automatically process standard access logs (e.g., your IP address, date and time of the request, pages visited, amount of data transferred, and your browser type). The legal basis for this is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest in operating a secure and stable platform). The retention period is determined by our hosting provider; typically, logs are deleted or anonymized shortly after your visit.

We do not use cookies (including third-party cookies) or analytics tools like Google Analytics. We rely on your device's system fonts for text rendering, and Material Icons are hosted directly on our servers (no connections are made to Google servers). Unless explicitly labeled otherwise, we do not embed third-party content (such as maps or videos). Links to third-party services are outlined in Section 4.

Progressive Web App (PWA): If you install arsnova.eu on your device or use its offline features, your browser may cache specific content locally. This improves loading times and enables offline access. No cookies are set for advertising or tracking purposes.

4. Links to External Services

You will find links to external services on arsnova.eu (e.g., GitHub). Clicking these links takes you to the respective provider's website, where their own privacy policies and terms of service apply. We have no control over their data processing activities.

5. Hosting and Infrastructure

arsnova.eu is hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH in Germany. Hetzner undergoes annual audits by TÜV Rheinland to ensure compliance with strict security standards under Art. 32 GDPR.

The website and app at https://arsnova.eu run on Hetzner servers. If the software is hosted by you or a third party (e.g., your institution), access logs (like IP addresses) may be processed on their respective servers. If the application is hosted outside the EU (e.g., in the US), data transfers may occur, subject to appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses under Art. 46 GDPR). A separate project landing page (for demos and marketing) may occasionally be hosted via GitHub Pages under a different domain—not the main arsnova.eu site; for details, please see the GitHub Privacy Statement. The specific provider and storage location depend on the respective setup.

6. Your Privacy Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right to access (Art. 15 GDPR) your processed personal data.
  • Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR) of inaccurate data.
  • Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR) or restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR).
  • Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR) to processing based on our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
  • Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR), where applicable.
  • Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7(3) GDPR) with future effect.
  • Right to file a complaint with a supervisory data protection authority (Art. 77 GDPR).

For inquiries or to exercise your rights, please contact: klaus.quibeldey-cirkel@iu.org.

7. Are You Required to Provide Data?

If you are just browsing the site without creating an account, you aren't legally or contractually required to provide any personal information. You can freely use arsnova.eu without submitting personal data, and we will still be able to deliver the content technically. Naturally, if you reach out to us via email, we need your email address to respond.

8. Using the arsnova.eu App

When you use arsnova.eu for live quizzes, Q&As, or Pulse Checks, the platform is designed to be highly privacy-friendly:

  • Local-First Architecture: As a host, your quiz content (questions and answers) is stored locally in your browser (via IndexedDB and Yjs). We do not permanently store quiz content on our servers. When you start a live session, the data is only temporarily transmitted to the server for the duration of the session.
  • Browser Storage: Local Storage and IndexedDB are used to hold your quiz data, settings, recently used session codes, and—in the case of feedback polls—a local identifier to prevent duplicate voting. No cookies are used for tracking or analytics.
  • Live Sessions Hosted by Us: During a session hosted via the controller listed in Section 1, we process the session code, pseudonymous nicknames (or auto-generated participant IDs in anonymous mode), votes, and scores. The legal basis for this is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in operating a real-time application). No personal data is stored beyond its strict operational purpose.
  • Data Cleanup: Session data (such as votes and participant lists) is automatically purged after the session ends or within 24 hours at the latest, except where statutory retention periods apply or an administrative Legal Hold has been initiated. Aggregated statistics (e.g., total participant counts) contain no personally identifiable information.
  • Anonymous Mode: You have the option to enable a mode where no nicknames are collected at all (only automated participant IDs), keeping your data footprint strictly minimized.

If the app is self-hosted, the data controller may be different (e.g., your institution). In that case, their respective privacy policy applies.

9. Changes to This Policy

We will update this privacy policy whenever the legal framework or our data processing practices change. You can always find the most current version right here on arsnova.eu.