Data protection statement - Messages and requests submitted in the online chats with EURES

This privacy statement provides information about the processing and the protection of your personal data.

Processing operation: EURES

Data Controller: European Labour Authority - Information and EURES Unit

Record link: https://www.ela.europa.eu/en/eures-data-protection-register

This operation processes personal information. The European Labour Authority (hereafter 'the Authority') is committed to protect your personal data and to respect your privacy. The Authority collects and further processes personal data pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725¹, which is applicable to processing of personal data by European Union institutions and bodies. The information in this Data protection statement is given pursuant to Articles 15-16 of that Regulation. Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation is applicable for any processing of data by organisations external to the EU institutions and bodies.

This privacy statement explains the reason for the processing of your personal data, the way we collect, handle and ensure protection of all personal data provided, how that information is used and what rights you have in relation to your personal data. It also specifies the contact details of the responsible Data Controller with whom you may exercise your rights, the Data Protection Officer and the European Data Protection Supervisor.

The online chat is a service to put users of the EURES portal in direct contact with counsellors working in the EURES network in order to provide help and guidance on job search and related matters.

Your personal data will not be used for automated decision-making, including profiling.

We process your personal data because:

• processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Union institution or body, and
• you as the data subject have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes.

This is in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of 23 October 2018, in particular Article 5(1).

In order to reply to your question, the provision of certain personal data is mandatory. You need to provide the following personal data:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Country of residence
• E-mail address (for contacting offline)

Any personal data submitted through the chat is collected and further processed only to the extent strictly necessary to give you an answer or in any other way handle your request. Unless otherwise agreed during the chat or stated elsewhere, the chat conversations may be stored for quality assurance purposes for a period not exceeding twelve months.

In line with the provisions of Article 6, 44(1) and recital 45 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1149², stipulating that ‘the Authority shall manage the European Coordination Office of EURES’, the EURES European Coordination Office (ECO) of the European network of employment services (EURES) has been transferred to the European Labour Authority.

However, according to the Article 6 of Regulation 2019/1149, the Commission will continue to ensure the operation and development of IT infrastructure of the EURES portal and related IT services.

All personal data in electronic format (e-mails, documents, databases, uploaded batches of data, etc.) are stored either on the servers of the European Commission or of its contractor who helps operate this online chat service. All processing operations are carried out pursuant to the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46 of 10 January 2017 on the security of communication and information systems in the European Commission.

The Commission's contractors are bound by a specific contractual clause for any processing operations of your data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations deriving from the transposition of the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU Member States ('GDPR' Regulation (EU) 2016/679).

In order to protect your personal data, the Commission has put in place a number of technical and organisational measures in place. Technical measures include appropriate actions to address online security, risk of data loss, alteration of data or unauthorised access, taking into consideration the risk presented by the processing and the nature of the personal data being processed. Organisational measures include restricting access to the personal data solely to authorised persons with a legitimate need to know for the purposes of this processing operation.

If not otherwise stated on the chat page of an individual country or organisation, the service is operated by a contractor acting on behalf of the "data controller", which is the European Coordination Office for EURES, established within the European Labour Authority - Information and EURES Unit. The data processed directly on the chat platform is protected and handled in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. You do not have direct access to the data stored on the chat platform. If you want to know what personal data is stored on your behalf or if you want to modify or delete it, please contact the controller at the following e-mail address: data-protection@ela.europa.eu

By agreeing to this data protection statement, the data subject also provides his/her consent to transmit, if necessary for handling his/her request, the data to EEA Member States and Switzerland who are associated to the EURES network in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/589 and the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States and the Swiss Confederation³.

You have specific rights as a 'data subject' under Chapter III (Articles 14-25) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, in particular the right to access, rectify or erase your personal data and the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Where applicable, you also have the right to object to the processing or the right to data portability.

You can exercise your rights by contacting the Data Controller, or in case of conflict the Data Protection Officer. If necessary, you can also address the European Data Protection Supervisor. Their contact information is given under Heading 9. Contact information.

Where you wish to exercise your rights in the context of one or several specific processing operations, please provide their description (i.e. their Record reference(s) as specified under Heading 10. Where to find more detailed information?) in your request.

The Data Controller

The EURES portal is managed by the European Coordination Office for EURES, established within the European Labour Authority - Information and EURES Unit who is the "controller" under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725

If you would like to exercise your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725; or for any questions, complaints or other requests regarding the data transmitted to and processed on the EURES portal, please contact the controller at the following e-mail address: data-protection@ela.europa.eu

The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Authority

You may contact the Data Protection Officer (data-protection-officer@ela.europa.eu) with regard to issues related to the processing of your personal data under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)

You have the right to have recourse (i.e. you can lodge a complaint) to the European Data Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu) if you consider that your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data by the Data Controller.

The Authority Data Protection Officer (DPO) publishes the register of all processing operations on personal data by the Authority, which have been documented and notified to him. You may access the register via the following link: https://www.ela.europa.eu/en/eures-data-protection-register

¹ Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001)

² Regulation (EU) 2019/1149 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 establishing a European Labour Authority, amending Regulations (EC) No 883/2004, (EU) No 492/2011, and (EU) 2016/589 and repealing Decision (EU) 2016/344 (Text with relevance for the EEA and for Switzerland)OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, p. 21–56 

³ Agreement on the free movement of persons, air and land transport, public procurement, scientific and technological cooperation, mutual recognition in relation to conformity assessment, and trade in agricultural products, Official Journal L 114, 30/04/2002.