This Privacy Notice is an integral part of the AVALANCHE website and its content, as made available by AVALANCHE, an Innovation Action funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101168393. The project, titled “Countering Crime and Terrorism and their Links to Transnational Illegal Activities by Fostering International Cooperation”, is coordinated by UBITECH LIMITED and involves 7 organisations across 6 countries. It runs from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2026 under the call HORIZON-CL3-2023-SSRI-01-02.
This Statement governs privacy-related matters and explains how Users of the AVALANCHE website may exercise their rights regarding their personal data, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws.
By engaging with AVALANCHE, you acknowledge and accept this Privacy Policy.
This privacy notice tells you what we expect to do with your personal information. It is structured in the following sections:
- Contact details
- What information we collect, use, and why
- Lawful bases and data protection rights
- Where do we get personal information from
- How long do we keep information
- How to complain
Contact details
Email: [email protected]
What information do we collect, use, and why
Personal information you disclose to us
When you sign up for our newsletter or contact us, we collect the personal data you submit, namely your email address and, optionally, your full name and organisation. In the case of a sign-up for an event we might collect additional information. We use this information only to send you the requested updates or information, or to register you for an event.
Information automatically collected
We use Plausible Analytics to collect anonymous usage data about the website. This includes general metrics such as page views, visitor counts, referring sites, browser types, device types, and the country of access (at a general level). Plausible Analytics is designed to uphold privacy: it does not use cookies or persistent identifiers, does not collect or store any personal data, and specifically does not store IP addresses. All analytics data are fully aggregated and anonymous. We use these statistics solely to understand and improve overall website performance and not to track individual users.
Cookies in AVALANCHE
Our site uses only essential (strictly necessary) cookies for basic functionality (for example, to maintain session state). These cookies do not collect personal information or track your browsing habits. No analytics, marketing or third-party cookies are used.
Where do we get personal information from:
You provide AVALANCHE with the personal data we collect. This typically occurs when you contact us directly, i.e., via email, request to be included in our newsletter or request to sign-up for one of our events (e.g. hackathons) through a sign-up form in our website.
Our lawful bases for the collection and use of your data
We process your personal data only when we have a valid legal basis under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For the purposes of research and communication within the AVALANCHE project, the lawful basis we rely on is consent. This means we process your data only when you have freely given your explicit and informed consent, such as when you subscribe to our newsletter or contact us directly.
You may withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before its withdrawal.
How will we use your data?
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we will use your name and email to send you news and updates about AVALANCHE and related content. You may withdraw your consent at any time by unsubscribing or emailing us without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
International Transfers and Safeguards
All personal data collected here are processed and stored within the European Union. No personal data are transferred to countries outside the EU/EEA. In particular, the analytics data are processed on EU servers and never leave the EU.
How long do we keep your data?
Under the Horizon Europe model grant that funds the AVALANCHE project, every beneficiary must keep “records and other supporting documents” for five (5) years after the granting authority makes the final payment for the project. Article 20.1 of the Grant Agreement adds that, if an audit, investigation or other legal action is still running when that five-year clock expires, the documentation (and therefore the underlying personal data) must be stored until those procedures end.
Because the project ends on 30 September 2026 and the final payment is normally made approximately three months later (60 days for the final report plus 90 days for payment), the currently expected retention window extends to roughly 31 March 2032.
Legal basis
The processing is necessary for the purposes of the consortium’s legitimate interests in conducting security research tasks funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement No. 101168393, “AVALANCHE”) and in disseminating the results.
A balancing test confirms that your fundamental rights and freedoms do not override these interests; additional safeguards (pseudonymization, encryption, strict access control, DPIA) further reduce any residual risk.
For purely voluntary activities, such as subscribing to our newsletter, we rely on your explicit consent (Article 6(1)(a)).
Your data protection rights
AVALANCHE would like to ensure you are fully aware of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:
The right to access—You have the right to request copies of your personal data from our company. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
The right to rectification – You have the right to request that AVALANCHE correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request Our Company to complete information you believe is incomplete.
The right to erasure – You have the right to request that AVALANCHE erase your personal data under certain conditions.
The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that AVALANCHE restrict the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to AVALANCHE processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
The right to data portability – You have the right to request that AVALANCHE transfer the data that we have collected to another organisation or directly to you under certain conditions.
If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the email address mentioned above.
How to complain
If you are not satisfied with our response or believe your data protection rights have been violated, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. For AVALANCHE users in Cyprus, the relevant authority is the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection. Their contact information is:
Postal Address:
Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection
Iasonos 1, 1082 Nicosia, Cyprus
www.dataprotection.gov.cy
Telephone: +357 22 818 456
Email: [email protected]
Online: You can file a complaint via the contact form available on their website.
The Commissioner’s Office provides guidance and can investigate concerns about how organisations handle personal data.