What Data is Collected, How Your Data is Used, and Your Rights Concerning Data Protection
This privacy policy informs you about the type, scope, and purpose of the processing of personal data on this website.
Personal data includes all data that can be related to you personally, e.g. name, address, e-mail, or user behaviour. Regarding the terms used, we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The responsible Data Controller (according to Art. 4(7) GDPR) is:
Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)
Welfengarten 1 B
30167 Hannover
Germany
Phone: +49 511 762-8989
Email: information@tib.eu
Website: www.tib.eu
You may contact the Data Protection Officer at any time:
Elke Brehm
Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)
Data Protection Officer
Welfengarten 1 B
30167 Hannover
Germany
Visiting Address: TIB Conti-Campus, Königsworther Platz 1 B, 30167 Hannover
Phone: +49 511 762-8138
Email: datenschutz@tib.eu
In accordance with applicable laws, we process personal data to the minimal extent necessary for providing our services, improving functionality, and ensuring compliance with legal obligations.
We process personal data based on the following legal grounds as defined in Art. 6 GDPR:
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was collected or as mandated by legal retention requirements. Once the retention period expires or the data is no longer needed, we take steps to securely delete or anonymise the data to prevent identification.
If you visit our website solely for informational purposes, you may do so without providing any personal data. However, for technical reasons, certain server log data is automatically transmitted by your browser and processed by us. This data may include:
To ensure the website functions properly and maintain the security of our information technology systems, this data is temporarily stored in log files. The legal basis for this temporary storage is Art. 6(1e) of the GDPR.
To ensure the proper functioning of our website, user engagement tracking, and content delivery, we work with external service providers for data processing tasks. These providers may collect and analyse user data, such as IP addresses, browser information, and access logs, in compliance with data protection regulations. For example, this data may be used to host the website, monitor user interactions, and gather statistics on page visits or content engagement. All third-party data processing is done transparently, and we implement contracts to ensure that data processing complies with GDPR requirements. The external data processing services are listed below with explanations/examples.
Each of these tools helps us improve your experience on the website, but you always have control over your data. If you have any questions about these services or your privacy, please reach out to our data protection officer.
Our website provides the option to reach out to our project team or specific team members via email. Depending on the team, you may contact them via their personal email addresses or through a dedicated mailing list. If you choose to contact us through these email addresses or mailing lists, we will collect and process your personal data, such as your name and email address, solely to manage your inquiry or request. This processing is carried out in accordance with Art. 6(1e) of the GDPR, which allows us to process personal data to respond to your communication effectively. Please note that some teams may use multiple mailing list services or email applications to manage communications, and your data will only be used for the inquiry, not shared beyond that.
Our website provides the option to reach out to us via a structured contact form. If you choose to contact us through this contact form, we will collect and process your personal data, such as your name and email address, solely to manage your inquiry or request. This processing is carried out in accordance with Art. 6(1e) of the GDPR, which allows us to process personal data to respond to your communication effectively. A ticket system is used to manage incoming inquiries, very similar to an email which you sent which is then received by the email server and email application of the recipient. Likewise, your data will only be used for the inquiry, not shared beyond that.
We use Matomo, a privacy-focused open-source web analytics software, to analyse the usage of our website and improve its content. This section explains how we collect and process anonymised usage statistics through Matomo, ensuring that your privacy is protected.
Matomo collects the following anonymised data:
To protect your privacy, your IP address is immediately anonymised by Matomo, preventing it from being traced back to you. This is done by shortening the last two bytes of the IP address, ensuring complete anonymity of the collected data. For example, if your IP address is 192.168.100.123, it will be anonymised to 192.168.0.0, ensuring complete anonymity of the collected data.
The data collected through Matomo is used to analyse and measure the use of our website to improve its reach and effectiveness. This helps us optimise the website’s content and report to the German Research Foundation (DFG), which funds our project. The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, as we have a legitimate interest in improving our website and fulfilling reporting requirements.
The anonymised data is stored on the servers of the Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) at Bielefeld University as part of the de.NBI project. The data is not shared with third parties or combined with other datasets. It is retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes outlined above, and it is deleted once no longer required.
These cookies are only used for web analytics on our site and are not shared with other websites. When you return to the website, the validity of these cookies is renewed. Once they expire, they are automatically deleted. For example, after 13 months, the _pk_id cookie will no longer store your user ID and will be removed. Most importantly, we do not track you across other websites or domains; these cookies are used only on this site for the purposes mentioned above.
As we do not collect personal data while using Matomo, you do not need to exercise rights such as access, correction, or deletion of personal data. However, if you prefer to opt out of data collection, you can disable Matomo tracking by enabling the Do Not Track feature in your browser settings, and no data is collected by the tool at all.
Bioinformatics Resource Facility
Centrum für Biotechnologie (CeBiTec)
Universität Bielefeld
Universitätsstraße 25
33615 Bielefeld
Our website is provided through GitHub Pages to ensure the smooth operation of our website. It enables us to host our website directly from our GitHub Repository, which helps us manage and share the code of our website, allowing our development team to collaborate on updates and improvements.
GitHub Pages allows our development team to maintain and deploy website updates quickly. It is based on a GitHub repository, which you can think of as a shared workspace where our team can make changes, suggest improvements, and instantly see the results. For example, when one developer fixes a bug, the entire team can review and verify the change in real time.
When visiting our website hosted with GitHub Pages, some information, such as your IP address, may be collected by GitHub. This is handled in accordance with GitHub’s privacy policy, which you can review here. Please note that GitHub, as a third-party service, may process data according to its privacy practices, which are separate from ours.
jsDelivr is built into our website theme and provides some files for the technical operation in the background of our website. It provides some commonly used code snippets directly to you for a smoothly functioning website. For example, think of jsDelivr as a library that ‘lends’ commonly used JavaScript code to your browser. When you visit a website, it borrows this code from the library and stores it on your computer, so you don’t need to download it again the next time you visit a site that uses the same code, unless a newer version of it is available.
When you visit our website, your browser connects to jsDelivr to retrieve the needed JavaScript code. During this, some data like your IP address and the time of your visit will be processed by jsDelivr. You can find out more about how they handle your data in their privacy policy.
Netlify is built into our website theme and provides some files for the technical operation in the background of our website. It provides some commonly used code snippets directly to you for a smoothly functioning website. For example, think of Netlify as a library that ‘lends’ commonly used CSS code to your browser. When you visit a website, it borrows this code from the library and stores it on your computer, so you don’t need to download it again the next time you visit a site that uses the same code, unless a newer version of it is available.
When you visit our website, your browser connects to Netlify to retrieve the needed CSS code. During this, some data like your IP address and the time of your visit will be processed by Netlify. You can find out more about how they handle your data in their privacy policy.
For organising events like conferences or workshops, we use Indico to handle things like signing up, submitting presentation proposals, and setting up event schedules. Indico collects information to help us keep things organised and ensure everyone gets the right event updates. For example, let’s say you are signing up for a conference through our website. Indico will collect information like your name, email, and institution to help us manage registration. If you submit an abstract, we can also securely share it with reviewers through Indico.
The data collected by Indico is stored securely, and we do not share it with any third parties unless necessary for the event (for example, giving reviewers access to the submitted abstracts so they can evaluate and provide feedback) or required by law. Indico follows strict data protection standards to safeguard your information, and we regularly ensure these standards are met. For any questions about your event data or to request its deletion, contact the responsible event host. Contact details can be found on the respective Indico event page.
As a data subject, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) grants you specific rights regarding the processing of your personal data. These rights (Art. 15-21 GDPR) ensure transparency, control, and fairness. You may exercise them at any time, as outlined below:
You have the right to
Under specific legal conditions, you may request a restriction on processing your personal data. This means your data can only be stored but not actively processed, unless your consent or processing is necessary for legal claims or other specified reasons.
If the processing of your data is based on your consent or a contractual necessity, you are entitled to
If your data is processed under Art. 6(1e) (public interest) or Art. 6(1f) (legitimate interest), you may object to its processing. Your objection must be based on reasons relating to your particular situation. Processing will cease unless compelling legitimate grounds are demonstrated.
You have the right to revoke your consent to data processing at any time. Please note that revocation does not affect the lawfulness of data processing already carried out before your withdrawal.
If a data breach occurs that poses a high risk to your rights and freedoms, you have the right to be informed promptly, as required by GDPR.
For any inquiries regarding the processing of your personal data or to exercise these rights, please feel free to contact our data protection office (see above) at any time.
If you believe your personal data is being processed unlawfully or in violation of GDPR, you can file a complaint with a supervisory authority. The authority responsible for us is:
Der Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz Niedersachsen (Data Protection Office of Lower Saxony)
Prinzenstraße 5
30159 Hannover
Phone: +49 511 1204500
Email: poststelle@lfd.niedersachsen.de
Website: https://www.lfd.niedersachsen.de
In case data is transferred to third countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) that do not provide an adequate level of data protection (as determined by the European Commission), we take additional safeguards, such as:
For U.S.-based service providers, we ensure compliance with GDPR through agreements or limit interactions with companies certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF). If such certification is not present, additional safeguards are applied.
We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the protection of your personal data, including encryption and secure data storage practices. We also regularly review these measures to maintain their effectiveness.
We reserve the right to amend this privacy policy as necessary, in accordance with the GDPR and future changes regarding our collection and processing of personal data. Any changes will be communicated on this page, and the updated date will be reflected at the end of the policy.
The privacy was prepared in March 2025 and last reviewed on March 27, 2025.