PRIVACY POLICY TERMS

On pages below, you can find our general terms and conditions. In order to ensure that both we and OBP’s users are properly equipped to meet the demands of the latest EU personal data regulation (GDPR), we have integrated these demands into our general terms and conditions. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions related to our terms and conditions or the GDPR ( [email protected] ).

1. The Online Brine Platform (OBP) is an active web service which aims to promote the flow of secondary raw materials, by linking the Brine Owners with the Mineral/Water Users and the Technology and Waste Heat providers. In the OBP, the brine streams generated from process industries as well as the raw materials and the water streams used by these industries can be mapped and possible interactions between the industries across the value chain can be identified. 

2. The OBP is applied in Netherlands. The platform receives and handles new entries letting users to:

a. Register, by providing their username, password and email. Industry information such as name, NIC number, address in the registration step is optional. If the information is filled in by the User, will remain hidden for all OBP users. A User could at any time edit the industry information.

b. Search information and

c. Establish links with relevant stakeholders.

It is noticed that as Personal/ industrial data means any information relating to you which allows us to identify you, such as your industry name, address, and information about your access and use of our website. Τhe administrator of OBP is not responsible for the validity of the personal data.

3. Users registered to the platform will be able to access information with respect to the available quantities and qualities of saline wastewater, recovered materials and resources needed by the end users, provided technologies and waste heat streams, as well as, to the location and proximity of the industrial sites. Thus, industries will be able to make informed decisions regarding the management of their own resources. Possible matches will be proposed to the registered users. The matching will be based on the required and available materials as well as on the available quantities, on the proximity and the on needed qualities. 

When a User that has filled in the industry information in the registration step (User A) is matched with another User (User B) he/she could give consent for the disclosure of industry information. Only when matched users have both given consent they will both have private access to each other industry information (Name, NIC and Address). A user can withdraw the consent until the time that both matched users give consent. At the time that both users have given consent, the withdrawal of consent is not possible. Once a user consents, the matched user receives a notification message.

When a User that hasn’t filled in the industry information in the registration step (User A) is matched with another User (User B) in order to give consent for the disclosure of industry information, he/she will be asked to fill in the industry information and then he/she could continue by giving the consent. Only when matched users have both given consent they will both have private access to each other industry information (Name, NIC and Address). A User can withdraw the consent until the time that both matched users give consent. At the time that both users have given consent, the withdrawal of consent is not possible. Once a user consents, the matched user receives a notification message.

4. A registered User has the possibility to decide among one or more of the following roles:

- Brine Owner (Brine Producers and/or Brine Aggregators)

- Technology Provider

- Mineral/Water User

- Waste Heat Provider

Moreover, within the portal (linked with the OBP), users have the possibility to communicate in a forum. Browsing to the portal will be free but full access (to the platform and the portal) will remain limited unless for the registered users.

5. The OBP takes users’ privacy seriously and will only use their information to administer their account and to provide the services they have requested from the OBP.

A new User in order to be registered has to complete the obligatory fields of the registration form (username, password and email). In the registration form there are also optional fields such as industry name, NIC, website, address and NACE Code. These fields can be filled in by the user during the registration step or at any time wanted in the “my profile” menu. After the user’s registration, the user receives an email with the registration link, in order to confirm the registration process and the credentials in the OBP. The user can select one or more of the roles as referred above according to his role in the supply chain of saline wastewater and mineral/water use and recovery. Furthermore, there are some functionalities of the OBP that are visible to all users, and some features that are related to the use of the OBP by each and every user in accordance with the consent that every user has given.

Specifically, we may collect the following categories of information:

a. Industry Information (Name,  NIC, address, contact details),

b. Technical characteristics such as:  Characteristics of Saline Effluent, of Recovered Material , of Required Material and of Technologies and Waste Heat Provided

.c. Inputs on feedback pages.

In the context of protecting the confidentiality and security of industry data, the Users will be able to register to the platform by providing a “username” instead of industry name. This way it is assured that there will be no straight connection between the data registered by an industry and the industry name. The data registered by the users will be open to the other users registered to the platform but with no reference to the industry name, address and NIC number. In this way, it is facilitated the matching process.

Once a user is matched with another user or desires to communicate with him/her (by using the search engine), both could be able to send a private message to each other. If they are both willing, they will provide their industry data to each other only, by clicking that they both give their consent. When a user has provided his/her consent to the transfer of the industry information, he/she has the right to withdraw the consent until the other user gives his / her consent and discloses the industry information. In any other case the user has the right to withdraw his consent at any time.

Regarding the provision of geographical data, the user will have the possibility to register his address but this address will remain hidden to other users in order to prevent the identification of the industry name with the address unless the user gives consent. However, the driving distance between registered users will be calculated and taken into account in the matching process by sorting the matched users in order of distance. In the case that a user is not willing to provide the address to the OBP, he/she could continue the data registration but when matched with other users, the geographical distance will not be taken into account.

Once we have received notification that you have given your consent, we will process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to. Every user is obligated to keep user logins and passwords to the OBP secret from any unauthorized users or third parties.

6. User’s data may be used for the following purposes:

a. OBP’s administrator will work out the registered information to administer your account and to provide the services you have requested from the platform.

b. A registered user to the OBP can view metrics obtained from the information that all the registered users have filled in. The statistics could be in relation with the geographic location (users per cluster), the created matches (matching rate), the registered effluents by the brine owners (per EWC code), the registered users (per NACE code)

c. The statistics will be presented in graphs (pies and bars) and will always be up to date as they will get calculated on the fly.

d. The matching facility component includes the matching parameters, the rules upon the matching that takes place and the matching service that performs the actual matching. It is based on PHP and it runs each time an effluent, a recovered material or a required material is added to the system or is edited. The matching parameters are dynamic and they are stored in the relational storage.  The criteria of matching are scientific and acceptable by the users.

e. The administrator may view all possible matches and be notified of any new matches via a system message.

The administrator may also view the number of users whose effluents, and required materials are matched in the Level 1 matching.

Level 2 matching takes into consideration quality parameters such as the purity, moisture, TOC and heavy metals concentration in case of minerals and in case of water a list of properties is taken into consideration. This can be quantified and represented with a matching rate valued from 0% to 100%. The administrator may monitor all possible matches and get a graphical presentation of the number of cases and the matching rate between the Recovered and Required materials. The number of users whose Recovered and Required Materials are matched is also shown in this level.

f. Two industries may be identified through the OBP and selected to participate in the project replication activities by testing technologies at pilot scale.

7.All confidential information received by either party from the other party must be held in complete confidence by the receiving party and its directors, employees, advisers or representatives, and must not without the prior written consent of the USER be used for any purpose other than in connection with the purposes of OBP.

7. We follow strict security procedures in the storage and disclosure of your personal data, and to protect it against accidental loss, destruction or damage. The data you provide to us is protected.

When we no longer need your personal data, we will securely delete or destroy it. The privacy of users is guaranteed and safeguarded at all time during and after the project.

By consenting to this privacy notice you are giving us permission to process your personal data specifically for the purposes identified.