Duty to Inform (Art. 13, GDPR): Processing Data from a Data Subject for the Purposes of the Application Process and the Assigning of Study Places

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union entered into force on May 25, 2018. In compliance with its provisions, this information is intended to help you understand how we process your personal data and your rights as a data subject (the person whose data are being processed). The information is reviewed, updated, and published on a regular basis as required.

 

I. Data Controller

The data controller with overall responsibility for data processing is

Freie Universität Berlin

Kaiserswerther Straße 16-18

14195 Berlin

Tel.: +49 30 8381

Website: www.fu-berlin.de

 

II. Types of Personal Data; Purposes and Volume of the Data Processing

We process your personal data for the purposes of implementing the application process and to assign study places.

The creation of a user account has the special purpose of restricting access to parts of Freie Universität Berlin’s website that are protected and not in the public domain. These may only be accessed by registered users.

Depending on what degree program you have applied for, different application portals are available:

 1. Uni-assist application portal

Please see the uni-assist data protection policy at https://www.uni-assist.de/datenschutz/ for details on how uni-assist processes your data during the registration process.

Uni-assist transfers the following personal data to us:

Applicant data and application documents

(Name, title, date and place of birth, nationality, correspondence address, email address, any other contact details, qualification data, degree program(s) applied for)

2. Hochschulstart application portal

Please see the Hochschulstart data protection policy at https://hochschulstart.de/startseite/datenschutz for details on how Hochschulstart processes your data during the registration process.

Hochschulstart transfers the following personal data to us:

Applicant data and application documents

(Name, title, date and place of birth, nationality, correspondence address, email address, any other contact details, qualification data [e.g., higher education entrance qualification, training courses, result of assessments for students of medicine, etc.], and the degree program applied for)

 

3. Freie Universität Berlin application portal

a. During the registration process

The following personal data are collected:

Title, last name, first name, email address, sex/gender (as it appears on your identification document), place of birth, country of birth, nationality, security question, a self-selected password, log data (access data, i.e., whether access was successful, time and date, data volume transferred during registration, IP address of computer used to access the site), telephone number (optional)

b. During the application and/or study place assignment process

The following personal data are collected:

Applicant data and application documents, names, title, date and place of birth, nationality, physical address, email address, any other contact details, qualification data, degree programs applied for

Depending on your choice of degree program, different types of personal data may be asked for. You can find an overview of the different requirements at https://www.fu-berlin.de/studium/bewerbung/index.html.

c. When we receive application data from Hochschulstart

Besides the data listed under no. 2 above, we also collect the following personal data:

Applicant ID (BID), applicant authentication number (BAN)

e. Cookies

We use cookies on our portal. Cookies are small files that are sent to the browser of your end device and stored there during your visit to the portal. We are unable to offer some functions of the portal without the use of technically necessary cookies. Other cookies allow us to carry out different analyses. For example, cookies are able to recognize the browser you used when revisiting our website and transmit different information to us. Using cookies allows us to make our portal more user-friendly and effective for you by tracing your use of our portal and determining your preferred settings. If third parties process information via cookies, they collect this information directly via your browser. Cookies do not inflict any damage on your end device. They cannot run programs on your end device and do not contain viruses.

Article 6.1.1.e of the GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 of the Berlin Data Protection Act, and Section 4 of the Berlin Higher Education Act (BerlHG), and Article 6.1.1c of the GDPR in conjunction with Section 13.7 of the German Telemedia Act serve as the legal basis for data processing of technically necessary cookies. We require your consent for cookies that are not technically necessary. If you have given your consent to the use of cookies on the basis of one of the notifications on our website (“cookie banner”), the lawfulness of said use also complies with Article 6.1.1.a GDPR. You can revoke your consent at any time with future effect by deactivating cookies in your browser settings.

 

III. Legal Basis

The legal basis for the data processing is as follows:

a. The legal basis for creating a user account for applicants is Art. 6.1e GDPR in conjunction with Section 1 Student Data Ordinance (StuDatVo).

b. The legal basis for processing data for the purposes of applications and assigning study places is Article 6.1c and 6.1e GDPR in conjunction with Section 6 BerlHG and Section 1 and the following relevant sections of StuDatVo.

c. The legal basis for the voluntary submission of data (e.g., phone number) during the application process and for the purpose of assigning study places is Articles 6.1a and 7 GDPR.

e. The processing of log data in the application and admissions portal takes place internally and on the basis of Article 6.1c GDPR in conjunction with Sections 3, 21, and 62 BerlHG. Error recognition is used to ensure the lawfulness of the processing.

f. The legal basis for the processing of personal data in the form of technically necessary cookies in the application and admissions portal is Article 6.1c GDPR in conjunction with Sections 3, 21, 26, and 62 BerlHG to ensure the lawfulness of the processing.

 

IV. Data Recipients

We will not disclose your personal data to third parties and/or further legally entitled recipients unless this is permitted by law or you have given your consent.

No data are disclosed to third parties during the application process or the assigning of study places.

 

V. Storage Period

Your personal data will be erased as soon as the purposes for which they were collected have been fulfilled, provided that there is no statutory requirement to store the data for longer.

Where the applicant ID is not used for an application, or where the application is unsuccessful, or for whatever reason no enrollment takes place, the data will be erased following the end of the application and enrollment campaign as part of the regular “data purge” that takes place at the end of each semester.

Where an application is successful and enrollment takes place, the data will be subject to ongoing processing during the enrollment process and for the purposes of student administration. Personal data will be erased after a period of at least four years following withdrawal from the university, insofar as no further legal basis for processing or storing the data exists.

Stored log data will be automatically erased after 7 calendar days.

Cookies will be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed for the purposes described above.

 

VI. Rights of the Data Subject

You have the right to obtain from the controller confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you are being processed, and the right to request the rectification of any inaccurate data held about you.

Subject to certain conditions, you have the right to obtain the erasure of personal data, to restrict the processing of your personal data, and the right to data portability (right to receive the data and to transfer it to another data controller).

Where data processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal data at any time without disadvantage to yourself. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority for data protection if you believe that the processing of your data is unlawful.

The Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information can be contacted at:

Friedrichstr. 219

10969 Berlin

Tel.: +49 30 138890

Fax: +49 (30) 2155050

Email: mailbox@datenschutz-berlin.de

Website: www.datenschuz-berlin.de

 

VII. Data Protection Officer (contact information)

Data Protection Officer (contact information):

Dr. Karsten Kinast, LL.M., Attorney at Law

KINAST Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH

Hohenzollernring 54

D-50672 Cologne

Email: datenschutz@fu-berlin.de

VIII. Duty to Provide Data

A user account cannot be assigned, and therefore an application cannot take place, unless all data are provided in full. This does not apply to applications that involve the submission of a “Sonderantrag” (a supplementary application form for students with special requirements).

If you do not submit all the information required for your enrollment at Freie Universität Berlin by the relevant deadlines (including any extension of the deadline that may have been granted), you will generally be unable to enroll.