Privacy Policy

1. Data Controller

Erasmus Search Platform operates the finderasmus.eu service. For privacy-related inquiries, contact us at privacy@finderasmus.eu.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of information:

• Account information: name, email address, password (stored in hashed form), user role (participant or organizer), and profile details you choose to provide.
• Profile and application data: bio, languages, interests, uploaded profile photos, Youthpass documents, portfolio content, and project application responses.
• Location data: country or region you enter in your profile or project preferences (not precise GPS unless you explicitly provide it).
• Visit statistics: which pages of the site are opened, on which day, and the visitor’s country. We do not store IP addresses for this. See Section 7.
• Communications: messages you send through contact forms or support channels.
• Cookies and similar technologies: session identifiers and preference data stored in cookies or local storage. See Section 7.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use collected data to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the platform;
• Create and manage user accounts;
• Match participants with Erasmus+ projects and enable organizer workflows;
• Send service-related notifications and respond to inquiries;
• Analyze usage trends and improve user experience;
• Detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, or security issues;
• Comply with legal obligations.

4. How We Store Your Data

Account and profile data are stored locally in your browser (localStorage) for this demo/static deployment, and/or on secure servers when connected to a production backend. We apply appropriate technical and organizational measures including access controls, encryption in transit (HTTPS), and regular security reviews.

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

5. How We Share Your Data

We do not sell your personal information. We may share data only in the following circumstances:

• With your consent: e.g., when you apply to a project or publish a public portfolio.
• With service providers: hosting, analytics, or email delivery partners bound by data processing agreements.
• With project organizers: application data you submit for specific Erasmus+ opportunities.
• Legal requirements: when required by law, court order, or to protect our rights and users’ safety.

6. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK, or Switzerland, we process personal data based on:

• Performance of a contract (providing the service you requested);
• Legitimate interests (security, analytics, service improvement);
• Consent (cookies, marketing where applicable);
• Legal obligations.

7. Cookies and Analytics

We use cookies and local storage only to remember your login session, preferences, and cookie consent choice. You can change your choice at any time via Cookie Settings in the site footer.

Project alerts. If you set up an alert on the projects page, we store your chosen countries, project type and how often you want to hear from us, and email you new matching projects from info@finderasmus.eu. You can pause, change or remove an alert at any time on the projects page, and every alert email contains a one-click unsubscribe link that works without logging in.

Visit counter. To understand how many people use the site and from which countries, we run our own privacy-friendly visit counter. It works without cookies and without storing anything on your device. When you open a page, our server records:

• the page address (for example, the project catalog) and the date;
• your country, as determined from your connection by our hosting provider;
• the name of the website you came from, if any (for example “google.com”), without the full address; and
• an anonymous code made from your IP address and browser type combined with a random value that changes every day and is then deleted. Because that value is deleted, the code cannot be turned back into your IP address or linked to your visits on other days.

Your IP address itself is never saved. Page statistics are only shown in aggregated form (for example, “12 visitors from Spain today”) to the site administrators, are not shared with anyone and are not used for advertising or profiling. After the day ends, the stored records no longer allow anyone to be identified. We rely on our legitimate interest in understanding and improving the service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal, you are not counted at all.

Anonymous action counts. We also count how often certain buttons are used, for example “Apply” or “Open infopack” on a project, catalog filters (such as the selected country or project type), saving a project, setting up an alert, opening the sign-up form, creating an account or logging in. Without your consent each of these is stored only as an anonymous number for the day (“+1”), together with the project or filter concerned and, for clicks on projects and filters, your country. No visitor code is stored with it, so it cannot be connected to you or to the pages you visited.

Detailed analytics (only with your consent). If you choose “Accept All” in the cookie banner, we additionally measure how long you look at each page and connect your clicks on “Apply”, “Open infopack”, catalog filters and the sign-up form to the anonymous daily code described above. This shows us, without knowing who you are, how a visit went (for example: came from a search engine, opened a project, clicked Apply). This is never linked to your account or name: sign-ups, logins, alerts, saved projects, Youthpass uploads and portfolio downloads are always counted anonymously, without the daily code. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 165(3) of the Austrian Telecommunications Act 2021). You can withdraw it at any time via Cookie Settings in the site footer; from then on only the anonymous counts above are recorded. Nothing is stored on your device for this purpose.

Retention. Visit and action statistics are kept for at most 13 months and then deleted.

8. Your Rights (GDPR & Similar Laws)

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you;
• Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data;
• Request erasure (“right to be forgotten”);
• Restrict or object to certain processing;
• Data portability;
• Withdraw consent at any time;
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

To exercise these rights, email privacy@finderasmus.eu.

9. California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion, and opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell personal information. To submit a request, contact privacy@finderasmus.eu. We will verify and respond within the timeframes required by law.

10. International Data Transfers

If data is transferred outside your country, we ensure appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms approved under applicable law.

11. Children’s Privacy

Our service is intended for users aged 13 and older in connection with Erasmus+ youth programmes. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13 without parental consent. Contact us if you believe we have collected such data.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance.

13. Contact Us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices:

Email: privacy@finderasmus.eu
IP / infringement reports: legal@finderasmus.eu