Privacy policy according to Art. 13 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – Online meetings

We would like to inform you about the processing of personal data in connection with the use of the web meeting software “Microsoft Teams”.

The data processing is the responsibility of:

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH

Reichpietschufer 50

10785 Berlin

wzb [at] wzb.eu

Note: When you visit the website of the web meeting provider, the provider is responsible for data processing. Visiting the website is, however, only necessary to download any software that may be required to use the web meeting service.

Purposes and legal basis of data processing

We use the web meeting software “Microsoft Teams” to run conference calls, online meetings, video conferences, and webinars (hereinafter referred to as “online meetings”). Microsoft Teams is a service provided by Microsoft Corporation, which is based in the US.

When participating in an online meeting, these categories of personal data may be subject to processing:

• Personal information: first name, last name, phone number, email address, password, profile picture, unit

• Meeting metadata: subject, description, participant IP addresses, device/hardware information

• For recordings: MP4 file of all video, audio, and presentation recordings, M4A file of all audio recordings, text file of all online meeting chats

• For dial-in via phone: information about the incoming and outgoing phone number, country name, start and end time; additionally, other connection data such as the IP address of the device may be stored

• Text, audio, and video data: You may have the option to use the chat, question, or survey function in an online meeting. In this case, the text entries you make will be processed in order to display them in the online meeting and record them if necessary. To enable the display of video and the playback of audio, the data from the microphone and/or video camera of your device will be processed for the duration of the online meeting. You can deactivate or mute the camera and/or microphone at any time using the provider's web meeting software.

We use the above-mentioned data to conduct online meetings. If we intend to record online meetings, we will inform you in advance and obtain your consent. The fact that the meeting is being recorded will be displayed in the web meeting software.

If it is necessary to document the results of an online meeting, we will record the text entries. In the case of webinars, we may process the questions asked by participants for the purpose of recording and following up on webinars.

The provision of your data is not required by law. However, some of the data mentioned is necessary for conducting an online meeting. Without providing the data required to hold an online meeting, you will not be able to participate in the online meeting. The provision of other data is voluntary, but may be necessary for the use of certain services. When you enter data, we will inform you if it is required for the respective service or function. This data will be marked as mandatory. If the required data is not provided, the respective service or function cannot be provided. If you do not provide optional data, we may not be able to provide the online meeting in the same form and to the same extent as usual.

The legal basis for the data processing described above is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR in conjunction with Section 26(1) BDSG (implementation of the employment relationship) as well as Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (pursuit of legitimate interests based on our interest in organizing and conducting online meetings efficiently).

Data transmission to third parties
Content from online meetings is available to all participants. In addition, the provider of the web meeting software has access to your data to the extent that this is necessary for order processing. We will, of course, treat your data confidentially and will not pass it on to third parties.

Data processing outside the European Union
Microsoft Teams is a service provided by a US-based provider. The US is a third country outside the European Union.

With service providers in third countries, we conclude the data protection agreement (standard data protection clauses) provided by the European Commission for the processing of personal data in third countries. It provides appropriate safeguards for the protection of your data with service providers in third countries. You can request a copy of this data protection agreement using the contact details provided above. Furthermore, there is an adequacy decision (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework) for the transmission of data to the US. Microsoft is on this list.

Deletion of data
Where there are no statutory retention periods, your data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for the purpose for which we collected it. In the case of statutory retention periods, deletion will take place after the retention obligations have expired.

Your rights
You have the right to obtain information about your personal data, to have inaccurate data rectified or to have data deleted if one of the reasons specified in Art. 17 GDPR applies, e.g. if the data is no longer required for the purposes pursued. You also have the right to restrict processing, the right to object and the right to data portability, subject to the legal requirements. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority. If we process your data on the basis of consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

Our Data Protection Commissioner
In fulfilling our data protection obligations, we are supported by our external Data Protection Commissioner. The contact details of our Data Protection Commissioner are: