Research group for Media, Innovation and Contemporary Technologies

MobileDNA Privacy Statement

Privacy

Imec VZW, with registered offices at Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven, and UGent with registered offices at St. Pietersnieuwstraat 33, 9000 Ghent, are the Controllers of your data.

Imec and UGent process your data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Belgian Act of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data.

We guarantee that your privacy will be respected. The data will always be at least pseudonymised and processed at a high level of aggregation, making it reasonably impossible to identify individual persons in the study results and its publications.

The data from this study will only be stored for the purpose of (1) understanding your usage and (2) technical support of the app.

If, under exceptional circumstances, there are any unexpected findings, these will be communicated to the user confidentially.

 

What data do we collect?

The mobileDNA research app was developed by the research group for Media, Innovation and Communication Technologies (imec-mict-UGent) to give an insight into your smartphone use. mobileDNA uses figures and diagrams to give an insight into your usage, including the number of notifications you receive and a list of your five most frequently used apps. mobileDNA also gives a ‘mobile diagnosis’, for example by checking whether you are a conditioned user (~ Do you respond immediately to a notification?) and whether you exhibit a mobile biorhythm (~ Do you use your smartphone daily with the same pattern?).

We collect and process various data from you as a mobileDNA user about your smartphone usage (usage data), including:

  • The names of the apps you open on your smartphone
  • When and for how long you use the apps
  • Where you use an app (if location is activated on the smartphone)
  • Receipt of messages (or notifications). The contents of these messages will not be recorded, but rather the name of the app that sends the notification
  • Your type of smartphone
  • Your battery charge level

If you wish to use the online dashboard, we will also ask for your e-mail address.

The mobileDNA app may process special categories of personal data (“sensitive data”) if your usage data might reveal racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health data, data relating to a person's sexual behavior or sexual orientation, or trade union membership.

mobileDNA does not collect any other personal data from you, such as your name, date of birth, address, or age.

mobileDNA does NOT keep track of the CONTENT of your usage and, therefore, does not know:

  • The internet addresses, browser activity, or URLs you visit
  • What you do within an app
  • The contents of messages, e-mails, diary, notifications, or other content
  • Images, photographs, videos, sound recordings, or any other content
  1. Who will have access to your personal data?

To avoid any misunderstandings, we would like to explain which persons, companies, or organizations will have access to your data. All persons listed below will only have access on a strict need-to-know basis. This means their access will only apply for the purposes mentioned in this privacy statement.

  • The researchers at imec-mict-UGent who are involved in the mobileDNA scientific research project. They will gain an insight into the data at a group level (such as average usage across all users) and will have access to the usage data of all mobileDNA users to the extent that this is required to ensure the technical support of the app.
  • The researchers at Ghent University, who use the mobileDNA app in their research. They will gain an insight into the pseudonymised data at a group level (such as average usage across all users) and will have access to the usage data of mobileDNA users who they contact or recruit themselves. If researchers at Ghent University use mobileDNA for their own research, users will be asked a separate consent for the specific purpose(s) of said research.
  • The students at Ghent University who use the mobileDNA app in their research. They will gain an insight into the pseudonymised data at a group level (such as average usage across all users) and will have access to the usage data of mobileDNA users who they contact or recruit themselves. If students at Ghent University use mobileDNA for their own research, users will be asked a separate consent for the specific purpose(s) of said research.
  • Organizations and companies with which we collaborate in research projects using the mobileDNA app. They will gain an insight into the pseudonymised data at a group level (such as average usage across all users) and will have access to the usage data of mobileDNA users who they contact or recruit themselves. The companies will not have access to the usage data of mobileDNA users who are not participating outside of this project.
  • The service providers such as the developers of the online dashboard.

The data will not be shared with third parties.

 

Technical and organizational measures and retention period

Imec and UGent have taken appropriate technical and organizational measures, which are incorporated in internal information security documents, to protect your personal data.

Your personal data will be stored in our database for the duration of the project. The data will be stored for five years. The data will always be at least pseudonymised and processed at a high level of aggregation, making it reasonably impossible to identify individual persons in the publications. Your data will be anonymized after five years.

 

Your rights

 

Of course, your use of mobileDNA will be voluntary. You are entitled to terminate your cooperation at any time, without having to give a reason for this. You can do this easily by (1) switching off the app by tapping on the slider next to ‘Keep track of Smartphone use’ or (2) deleting the app. Deleting the app will also remove your unique user-ID, which is linked to your device. Deleting the app does not mean that the user data already collected is automatically removed.

Moreover, you may expressly ask us to be able to view the personal data we have collected from you or to have them corrected or erased. This can be done through a simple written request (mobileDNA@ugent.be), after which we will process your request without unreasonable delay.

You are always entitled to access your personal data at any time. You can easily do this sending a request by e-mail to mobileDNA@ugent.be or by post to imec-mict-UGent, for the attention of mobileDNA, Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Ghent. You can also ask for your personal data to be erased from the files. When your personal data are erased, they will be destroyed, which means that they will no longer be used as pseudonymized data at a group level.

We will ask you to attach a copy of your identity card to ensure that we do not erase and/or modify any data without your consent. You can hide the information that you do not wish to disclose, but your name must remain visible. If you cannot or do not want to attach a copy of your identity card, you can make a personal appointment at mobileDNA, Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Ghent to exercise your rights.

Contact

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us by e-mail at mobileDNA@ugent.be or mail to imec-mict-UGent, for the attention of mobileDNA, Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Ghent.

If you have a complaint about the processing of your personal data by mobileDNA, you can contact the Data Protection Officer of imec-mict at privacy@imec.be). If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can file a complaint with the competent data protection authority, namely the Belgian Data Protection Authority and / or the Flemish Supervisory Committee.

This privacy statement may be revised to comply with applicable legislation. We will announce any revisions to this statement via the app and make the amended statement available.

For more information about how Imec VZW deals with personal data, please click here. For more information about how Ghent University deals with personal data, please visit the website.