Privacy Policy

When you use the Fraunhofer Learning Platform Ilias (hereinafter referred to as the "learning platform"), personal data relating to you will be processed by us as the data controller and stored for as long as is necessary to fulfil the specified purposes and legal obligations. The purpose of this document is to provide you with information about the nature of data involved, how it is processed and what rights you have in this respect.
In accordance with Article 4 (1) GDPR, personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.

1. Purpose: What is the Fraunhofer learning platform Ilias and what can it be used for?

Ilias is an open-source learning management system used by large and small companies, universities, schools and public authorities to implement individual learning scenarios. This includes i.a. the distribution and training/teaching of educational content, communication between teachers and students, and the collaborative development of knowledge.
The learning platform is used at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for the implementation of scientific education/training, e.g. for seminars or certificate programs, and for the exchange of knowledge and information within thematic communities. Furthermore, some of the information is open to the public and can be used by people interested in further education.

2. Name and contact details of the controller and the internal data protection officer

This privacy policy applies to the data processing on the website www.ilias.fraunhofer.de by the controller:
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Hansastraße 27 c,
80686 Munich
(hereinafter referred to as "Fraunhofer")
 
Email: support.ilias@fraunhofer.de
The Fraunhofer data protection officer can be contacted at the above address, for the attention of the Data protection officer or by email at datenschutz@zv.fraunhofer.de.
You can contact our data protection officer directly at any time if you have any questions about data protection laws or your rights as a data subject.
Alternatively, you can also contact the data controller responsible for the learning platform at support.ilias@fraunhofer.de.

3. Processing of personal data and purposes of processing

In the following, we describe what types of personal data we process, for what purpose, and for how long we store the data.
To provide the learning platform, we work together with the service provider Kröpelin Projekt GmbH, Jahnstraße 37-39, 12347 Berlin, which uses the sub-contractor Databay AG, Jens-Otto-Krag-Str. 11, 52146 Würselen, Germany to provide hosting services. The purpose of the collaboration is to adapt, host and provide technical support for the learning platform. To do this, all data is stored on the servers of Databay AG in Germany. We have concluded a data processing agreement with Kröpelin Projekt GmbH. Under the terms of this agreement, Kröpelin Projekt GmbH is obliged to process the data on our behalf in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and protect the rights of the data subjects.

a) Visiting the learning platform without registration: Use of publicly available information

You can visit the learning platform at www.ilias.fraunhofer.de without registration. Without registration, you have access to selected courses with limited functionality to allow you to find out more about the available courses. You can access this area of the learning platform without having to reveal your identity.
The browser used on your device will send information to the server of our website (e.g. browser type and version, date and time of access) automatically to enable the website to establish a connection. This also includes the IP address of your requesting device. This is temporarily stored in a so-called log file and is automatically eased after one year.
The IP address is processed for technical and administrative purposes of establishing and maintaining a stable connection to ensure the security and functionality of our website and to be able to track any illegal attacks on it if necessary.
The legal basis for the processing of the IP address is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is based on the aforementioned security interest and the need to ensure the uninterrupted operation of our website.
We cannot draw any direct conclusions about your identity from the processing of the IP address and other information in the log file.
We also use cookies when you visit our website. For more information, please refer to Section 6 of this privacy policy.

b) Use of the learning platform after registration

A user account and registration is required to take full part in courses for scientific education/training, and to exchange knowledge and information within thematic communities. You will receive the access data from the relevant Fraunhofer Institute or Fraunhofer Academy after you have registered for your course. The data used for this purpose are your login name, first name, last name, email address and information about the courses you take part in (so-called "master data").
In most cases, you actively enter the so-called "user data" yourself, e.g. in forums, or in connection with tasks and wikis. Therefore, you already know this data. The purpose of this data is the active participation in scientific education/training or communities on the learning platform. The user data also includes data that you can add to your personal profile yourself. This will help you network with other users of the learning platform. Other user data are generated automatically through test evaluations or are actively entered by your course supervisor.
The third category of data we store, are so-called "transaction data". These cover the courses you use and what you did in these courses and when (e.g. which pages you accessed). This data will be used by your course supervisor to offer targeted support.

4. Who has access to which data?

The learning platform offers scientific education/training courses, as well as for the exchange of knowledge and information within thematic communities. The courses are arranged in so-called course areas (e.g. Fraunhofer Institute or higher-level programme). By assigning course and course area-specific roles and rights, users of the learning platform have the option of managing courses and course areas, designing their content or giving other people the relevant access rights. The courses offered are closed courses except for courses open to the public. This means that these courses are only accessible to a group of people defined by the course area admin, course admin or course tutor.

• Course admins are generally teachers, who have access rights to a course they create and run. Their main task is to create the course. They have the option to set content and activities as well as manage access to the course and the roles and rights within the course. To manage the course participants, they can access the user name, first name and last name of all course participants. To assist in the learning process, they can also access the transaction data of course members. They can also access all content that users create during the course (e.g. forum entries, submissions).
• Course tutors are generally teachers, who have access rights to a course they create and run. Their main task is the implementation of the course, i.e. to provide tutorial support for the learners. They have the option to set content and activities as well as manage access to the course and the roles and rights within the course. To manage the course participants, they can access the user name, first name and last name of all course participants. To assist in the learning process, they can also access the transaction data of course members. They can also access all content that users create during the course (e.g. forum entries, submissions).
• Course area admins are contact persons for the individual areas (e.g. Fraunhofer Institute or higher-level programme). They have rights to course areas, where they can create sub-course areas and courses, assign rights and support teachers in using and configuring the course area. They have, therefore, the same access rights in their respective areas as the course admins. Only a few employees are granted these rights.
• Course members have access to courses for which they have been activated by course admins or course area admins and can enter content and participate in activities within the parameters set by the course owner. They can see the user name as well as course content, e.g. personal forum entries from the other course participants. A user's personal profile can only be shared by the user themselves with other course members, the course admins and course area admins.
• Global admins are the persons entrusted with the technical and organisational management of the learning platform and have access rights to the entire system. They can access all data of the learning platform, which also includes the right to change and delete users' master data. These rights are only granted to a few employees who are responsible for system maintenance.
• Technical admins have unlimited access to the learning platform (from a technical perspective). However, their service tasks only include access to log data.

5. Disclosure of Data

We only use your personal data for the specified purposes and to the extent necessary to achieve these purposes. Unless stipulated otherwise in this privacy policy, we do not disclose your data to third parties. If we pass data on to processors, we will disclose this in this privacy policy together with the information about the data processing operation and the specific recipient.
Personal data will only be transmitted to state institutions and authorities within the scope of mandatory national legal provisions or if the transmission is necessary for legal or criminal prosecution in the event of attacks on our network infrastructure. We do not disclose data for any other purpose.

a.) Cooperation with other training providers

Certain courses are run in cooperation between Fraunhofer and another training provider, e.g. a university. In this case, you will be informed separately if and which personal data will be passed on to third parties and for what purpose, e.g. to issue a certificate.

b.) Support and inquiries

In many cases, your course tutors or admins are your first point of contact. You can contact them via the learning platform.
If you contact us directly, your email address will only be used to communicate with you. When we receive an email from you, we assume that you also wish to receive a reply by email, unless you tell us that you wish to use another communication method. If necessary, your email will be forwarded to the appropriate department (e.g. course admin, technical support, an external service provider) for further processing.

6. Cookies

The learning management system Ilias used on our learning platform uses cookies. These are small files automatically generated by your browser, which are stored on your device (laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) when you visit our learning platform. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses.
The information stored in the cookie depends on the device used to access the website. However, this does not mean that we can use this information to identify you.
We primarily use cookies to improve your experience when you visit our website. For example, we use so-called session cookies to enable session control, and to store e.g. form entries or shopping baskets during the session. Session cookies are deleted at the latest when you close your browser.
Ilias uses both temporary cookies, which are deleted after the end of the session or after the user closes their browser as well as cookies that are stored for a longer period of time. In the browser settings, you can see which cookies were set by www.ilias.fraunhofer.de and delete them if necessary.
The data processed by cookies is necessary for the aforementioned purposes of pursuing our and third-party legitimate interests in accordance with Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR.
Most browsers accept cookies by default. You can prevent cookies from being stored on your computer by configuring your browser not to accept cookies or to notify you before websites try to set cookies. Please note that if you disable cookies altogether, you may not be able to use all functions and features of our website.

7. Erasure of personal Data

We erase personal data from the system as soon as it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was originally collected.
We store all personal data until the user account is deleted. User accounts are deleted at the latest two years after the last login. You can edit or delete the voluntary information in the user profile at any time. The course participation data and the course-related user and transaction data will be stored until the course is deleted after 2 years at the latest. Results from tests, learning packages and tasks as well as data on the completion of the course and overall assessments are stored until the expiry of statutory retention periods (maximum of 10 years).

8. Rights of data subjects

You have the right:

• to withdraw your consent at any time in accordance with Article 7 (3) GDPR. As a result, we will no longer be allowed to process data based on this consent going forward;
• to obtain information about your personal data we process in accordance with Article 15 GDPR. In particular, you may obtain information about the purposes of processing, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data have been or will be disclosed, the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored, the existence of the right to request rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data or to object to such processing, the right to lodge a complaint, the source of data, where we have not collected the data, and the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling and, where appropriate, meaningful information about the details involved;
• to obtain from us without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data we store on you in accordance with Article 16 GDPR;
• to obtain from us the erasure of personal data we store on you without undue delay in accordance with Article 17 GDPR, unless the processing is necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
• to obtain from us restriction of processing in accordance with Article 18 GDPR if you contest the accuracy of the personal data, the processing is unlawful and you oppose the erasure of the personal data and we no longer need the personal data, but you require the data for establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or if you have objected to processing pursuant to Article 21 GDPR;
• to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller in accordance with Article 20 GDPR, and
• under Art. 77 GDPR, to complain to a supervisory authority. As a general rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your habitual residence or place of work or our association's registered office.

9. Data security

All data that you personally transmit are encrypted using the generally accepted and secure TLS (Transport Layer Security) standard. TLS is a secure and trusted standard that is also used, for example, in online banking. You can recognise a secure TLS connection by the "s" added to http (i.e. https://..) in the address bar of your browser or by the padlock symbol in the lower area of your browser.
We also use technical and organisational measures to protect your data against accidental or intentional manipulation, full or partial loss, destruction or unauthorised third-party access. Our security measures are revised on a continual basis and brought into line with the latest technology standards.

10. Privacy policy changes and updates

This privacy policy was last updated in May 2020.
We reserve the right to update this privacy policy to reflect the continued development of our learning platform or changes in statutory or regulatory requirements. You can view and print out the most recent version of the privacy policy on our learning platform.