Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 11/03/2025

1. Introduction

We take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how www.robots4inclusion.com (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and protects your personal data in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, EU 2016/679).

Responsible Entity

Robots4Inclusion (EU project coordinated through the University of Duisburg-Essen)
Universitätsstrasse 15, 45141 Essen, Germany
mustafa.bilgin@uni-due.de

2. Data Collection and Legal Basis

We collect and process personal data based on the following legal grounds under Article 6 GDPR:

• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) – when you voluntarily provide data, e.g., through comments or cookies.
• Contractual necessity (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) – when processing is necessary to provide our services.
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) – when required by law (e.g., data retention regulations).
• Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) – for website security, analytics, and fraud prevention.

3. Comments

When visitors leave comments, we collect the data shown in the comments form, the IP address, and the browser user agent to help detect spam.

When visitors leave comments, we collect the data shown in the comments form. We do not collect IP addresses or browser user agents for comment moderation. If you use Gravatar, an anonymized hash of your email may be sent to the Gravatar service. The Gravatar privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval, your profile picture is visible in the context of your comment.

4. Media

If you upload images, avoid embedding location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors can download and extract this data.

User Responsibility for Uploaded Content: By uploading images or other content to our website, you confirm that you own the necessary rights or have obtained permission from the copyright holder. You are solely responsible for ensuring that uploaded content does not violate copyright, trademark, or any other intellectual property laws. We are not liable for any copyright infringements caused by user-uploaded content.

We reserve the right to remove any content that violates intellectual property rights or legal regulations without prior notice.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies to enhance the user experience and analyse site traffic. Before cookies are stored, we will request your consent and provide clear information about their purpose and duration. You can manage cookie preferences through our Cookie Consent Management Tool.

Cookie Name	Domain	Type	Expiration	Purpose
_pk_id.1.cbca	robots4inclusion.com	First-party	1 year	Piwik analytics cookie for tracking visitor behavior.
_pk_ses.1.cbca	robots4inclusion.com	First-party	30 minutes	Piwik session tracking cookie.
sbjs_migrations	.robots4inclusion.com	First-party	Session	Tracks user interactions across website pages.
sbjs_current_add	.robots4inclusion.com	First-party	Session	Stores current visit information (e.g., source, campaign data).
sbjs_first	.robots4inclusion.com	First-party	Session	Stores first visit details (e.g., source, search engine, location).
sbjs_udata	.robots4inclusion.com	First-party	Session	Stores user data for analytics and advertising effectiveness.
sbjs_first_add	.robots4inclusion.com	First-party	Session	Tracks first visit details (timestamp, referring site, etc.).
sbjs_current	.robots4inclusion.com	First-party	Session	Tracks user activity for traffic analysis.
sbjs_session	.robots4inclusion.com	First-party	30 minutes	Tracks user sessions to improve usability and website performance.

You can withdraw consent at any time by adjusting your cookie preferences.

6. Embedded Content e.g. from Other Websites

Articles on our website may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, etc.) from third-party services. These services may collect data, set cookies, and track interactions, especially if you have an account with these services and are logged in.

Consent and Tracking Options: By viewing embedded content, you consent to the data processing by these third-party services. We recommend reading the privacy policies of these third parties to learn more about the data they collect and how you can manage or block tracking. Additionally, we offer the option to block tracking by third-party services. You can find the relevant options in your cookie consent settings or use browser tools to prevent tracking.

Opt-out complete; your visits to this website will not be recorded by the Web Analytics tool. Note that if you clear your cookies, delete the opt-out cookie, or if you change computers or Web browsers, you will need to perform the opt-out procedure again.

You may choose to prevent this website from aggregating and analyzing the actions you take here. Doing so will protect your privacy, but will also prevent the owner from learning from your actions and creating a better experience for you and other users.

You are not opted out. Uncheck this box to opt-out. You are currently opted out. Check this box to opt-in.

The tracking opt-out feature requires cookies to be enabled.

7. Data Sharing and Third-Party Services

We do not sell personal data. However, we may share data in the following cases:

• Legal Compliance: If required by law, e.g., responding to legal requests.
• Service Providers: Analytics tools (Piwik) process anonymized traffic data.
• Website Security: Data may be shared with spam detection services.

8. Data Retention

• Comments: Comments are retained for up to 1 year to facilitate automatic approval of follow-up comments. After this period, comments will be permanently deleted or anonymized. We will anonymize the data (such as IP addresses) associated with comments after 1 year to ensure that no personally identifiable information is retained.
• Registered Users: User profiles are stored until account deletion. Users can request the deletion of their profiles at any time, and we will remove all personal data associated with the account.
• Analytics Data: Analytics data is retained for up to 14 months. After this period, the data is anonymized to prevent identification of any individuals.
• In accordance with the GDPR, we retain personal data only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. We ensure that data is either permanently deleted or anonymized once it is no longer needed for its intended purpose.

We do not retain personal data indefinitely. Data is stored only as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a user, you have the following rights:

• As a user, you have the following rights:
• Access (Art. 15 GDPR) – Request a copy of your data.
• Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR) – Correct inaccurate data.
• Erasure (Art. 17 GDPR) – Request deletion of your data.
• Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR) – Limit how your data is processed.
• Objection (Art. 21 GDPR) – Object to data processing.
• Data Portability (Art. 20 GDPR) – Receive your data in a structured format.
• Withdraw consent (Art. 7(3) GDPR) – Withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise your rights, contact us at mustafa.bilgin@uni-due.de.

10. Data Transfers Outside the EU

If we transfer data outside the EU, we ensure compliance with GDPR Chapter V through:

• Adequacy decisions by the EU Commission
• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
• Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs)

11. Complaints

If you believe we are processing your data unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority:
Dr. Kai-Uwe Loser (Data Protection Officer of the University of Duisburg-Essen)

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date.