What information do we collect?

We collect information from you when you register on our site and gather data when you participate in the forum by reading, writing, and evaluating the content shared here.

When registering on our site, you may be asked to enter your name and e-mail address. You may, however, visit our site without registering. Your e-mail address will be verified by an email containing a unique link. If that link is visited, we know that you control the e-mail address.

When registered and posting, we record the IP address that the post originated from. We also may retain server logs which include the IP address of every request to our server.

What do we use your information for?

Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:

  • To personalize your experience — your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs.
  • To improve our site — we continually strive to improve our site offerings based on the information and

AskBioExcel is operated by Barcelona Supercomputing Centre-Centro Nacional de Supercomputacion (BSC-CNS) on behalf of the BioExcel consortium (BIOEXCEL) [1].

Data control and sharing

Your personal data will be shared with and processed by the partners of BIOEXCEL only in connection with the BioExcel Centre of Excellence, and will not be shared with third parties without your further consent. Your email address will only be used to send messages relating to the operation of the AskBioExcel forum. You will not receive other communications from BIOEXCEL unless you have also signed up for other services.

Information that We Collect

We collect information from you when you register on our site and gather data when you participate in the forum by reading, writing, and evaluating the content shared here. When registering on our site, you may be asked to enter your name and e-mail address. You may, however, visit our site without registering. Your e-mail address will be verified by an email containing a unique link. If that link is visited, we know that you control the e-mail address.

When registered and posting, we record the IP address that the post originated from. We also may retain server logs which include the IP address of every request to our server. AskBioExcel is a public forum and the posts made on the forum and the time at which the posts were made will be visible by all visitors to the site.

What do we use your information for?

As well as the content of the posts, additional data, such as the posts that you have viewed, is collected by the Discourse software which underlies AskBioExcel. This information is not public. It is stored by BSC-CNS and will be processed by BIOEXCEL partners. This information will be used, in aggregated form, to:

  • Understand the subjects that are of interest to the users of AskBioExcel to inform the activities of the BioExcel CoE
  • Understand how AskBioExcel is being used, so that we can improve the service
  • Report to the Centre’s funders the extent to which the forum is being used (e.g. number of posts, number of reads, number of users)

In future, we may make a request to use your data in conjunction with other BioExel services (for example, to determine what proportion of attendees on our training courses have previously used the forum) but we will not undertake this without further consent. We may use the email address that you have registered with AskBioExcel to make this request.

Data Retention

  • Public posts are retained indefinitely
  • Data pertaining to your use of the site will be retained for the lifetime of the BioExcel CoE
  • Server logs containing the IP address of all requests to this server will be kept for no more than 90 days
  • IP addresses associated with registered users and their posts no more than 5 years

You Control Your Data

You are in control of your data at all times. You can close your account on AskBioExcel from within the site. Once you close your account, BIOEXCEL will no longer contact you in connection with AskBioExcel. When your account is closed, all posts will be disociated from your name and email address. They will remain visible on the forum and will be associated with an anonymous user account that will be used for all closed accounts.

You can manage the messages that AskBioExcel sends you from within AskBioExcel.

Do we use cookies?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow). These cookies enable the site to recognize your browser and, if you have a registered account, associate it with your registered account.

We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business.

Access and Portability

You can request a copy of all your data held by BSC-CNS in relation to AskBioExcel by sending an email to info@bioexcel.eu.

Erasure

You can request that your AskBioExcel data is deleted by sending an email to info@bioexcel.eu.

Changes to this Policy

Any changes to this policy, including the make-up of the consortium will be advised no less than 14 days before any data is shared with new partners.


This document is CC-BY-SA. It was last updated May 25, 2018.

[1] The BioExcel consortium comprises: https://bioexcel.eu/about/partners/