Introduction

The Blue Cooling Initiative (BCI) is an independent foundation in the Netherlands that honours privacy and personal data. Our foundation aligns EU (Dutch) AVG/GDPR to our objective to activate stakeholders to support the maturation of innovative nature-based Solar Radiation Management-concepts (SRM), Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) in particular. 

BCI has the ambition to help improve Marine Cloud Brightening research, support networks, inspire investor relations and policymakers and bring new knowledge to the public via news(letters) and educational programs. Our activities improve cooperation and connectivity and inspire the sharing of scientific results and the development of governance protocols. We value open science.

Our website, your privacy

BCI processes personal data and uses cookies for this website. In this Privacy Statement, we inform you about the purposes for which personal data are processed, how you can exercise your privacy-related rights and provide other information that may be of interest to you. Check out the Cookie Statement to find descriptions of the cookies we use.

This Privacy Statement applies to all activities (including the activities via the website) of the Blue Cooling Initiative. The Privacy Statement provides you with the most relevant information.

The Blue Cooling Initiative handles personal data with care and acts within the limits of the law, i.e. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Responsible party and responsibility

The Blue Cooling Initiative is the responsible party within the meaning of the AVG/GDPR. The Blue Cooling Initiative believes it is essential that personal data are handled and protected with the utmost care. It is our priority to comply with the requirements set out in the AVG/GDPR.

Our purposes for processing your personal data?

The Blue Cooling Initiative uses personal data collected from you for operational management and for the proper performance of its legal tasks and duties for communication.

Whose personal data is collected by the Blue Cooling Initiative?

In the above-mentioned processes, the Blue Cooling Initiative collects data from different categories of data subjects. These include:

• Visitors to the website(s)

The Blue Cooling Initiative offers various activities that can only be carried out by using your personal data. Examples of such data include your email address for the purpose of sending a newsletter or promotional emails informing you about news, internal activities (webinars), external activities mentioned in our agenda, and research on SRM/MCB we share. 

Your data will only be used if you give explicit permission for this. You will always be informed of the purposes for which your data will be used, what type of data this concerns and to whom these data will be provided. If you have granted the Blue Cooling Initiative permission for using your personal data, you may always withdraw this permission.

What personal data do we collect?

In each process, different types of personal data are collected. The most common data are:

• Name
• Affiliation
• Email address
• Interaction data (cookies or information received when you contact us)
• Images (photos and videos)
• Research specialism by keywords
• Information like messages to fellow researchers, team members, or partners you find on the website
• Surf and click behaviour

The Blue Cooling Initiative collects (personal) data directly from you, but in some cases the Blue Cooling Initiative also receives personal data via third parties, insofar as this is in accordance with the law.

Granting and withdrawal of permission

How do we ensure confidential data stay confidential?

The Blue Cooling Initiative treats personal data as confidential. We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data. The Blue Cooling Initiative will only share personal data in accordance with this Privacy Statement and only with third parties if this is lawful and done with care.

Data sharing

Under the instructions of the Blue Cooling Initiative, third parties may provide certain parts of the services required for the performance of an agreement. The Blue Cooling Initiative makes agreements with these data processors to ensure the confidential and careful handling of personal data.

Your personal data will not be rented, sold or otherwise shared with or provided to third parties. The Blue Cooling Initiative may share your (personal) data with third parties if you have given permission for this yourself or if this is necessary for the performance of the agreement.

The Blue Cooling Initiative provides personal data to enforcement authorities or anti-fraud organizations when this is necessary for complying with a legal obligation.

Transfer of data

The Blue Cooling Initiative does not share data to countries outside the EU.

How long are the data stored?
The Blue Cooling Initiative stores your personal data in accordance with the AVG/GDPR. Your data will not be stored longer than is strictly necessary to achieve the purposes for which the data have been collected.

Access, rectify or erase your data?
You are entitled to put in an access or rectification request to the Blue Cooling Initiative. When you make this request, please relate your submission to an access or rectification request based on the ACG/GDPR. 

You may also request your data to be erased, insofar as this allows the Blue Cooling Initiative to continue to fulfil its legal obligations, such as the legal retention period. Please note that you may be asked to provide a copy of a valid ID so that your identity can be verified.

You may also submit a complaint to the Dutch Data Protection Authority regarding the use of your data.

Technical security

To optimally protect your personal data against unauthorized access or unauthorized use, the Blue Cooling Initiative applies appropriate security technology on its website. Any apparent or actual misuse of data will be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities. In addition, the Blue Cooling Initiative takes organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access.

Cookies and click behaviour

General visitor data are stored on our website, such as the most requested pages. The purpose of collecting these general visitor data is to optimize the functionality of the website, improve usability and comfort, and actively collect feedback from users.

The Blue Cooling Initiative website uses functional cookies and analytical cookies. Functional cookies help to make a website more usable, by facilitating basic functions like page navigation. The website would not work properly without these cookies. Analytical cookies help website owners understand how visitors use their website, by collecting and reporting on anonymous data. 

Third party privacy policy

The Blue Cooling Initiative website contains links to external websites. We cannot accept responsibility for the way in which these parties deal with personal data. We therefore advise you to always inform yourself of the privacy policy of these parties or to contact them.

Questions?

We gladly answer them. If you like more specific information about our Privacy Statement, please get in touch with us.  

Version

This Privacy Statement has been created on November 30th, 2023. We will adopt this statement to legal updates from the AVG/GDPR if necessary.