Privacy Policy

PIONEER Alliance – pioneer.uniza.sk

Last updated: May 5, 2026

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how the PIONEER Alliance website, operated by the University of Žilina (Žilinská univerzita v Žiline), collects, uses, and protects personal data submitted through the website pioneer.uniza.sk (the “Website”).

We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (General Data Protection Regulation — GDPR).

2. Data Controller

Name: University of Žilina
ID Number: 00397563
Address: Univerzitná 8215/1, 010 26 Žilina, Slovak Republic
E-mail: pioneer@uniza.sk
Phone: +421 41 513 50 16

3. Personal Data We Collect

3.1 Contact Form

When you submit the contact form on our website, we collect the following information:

First name and last name
Email address
Subject of your inquiry
Content of your message (Comments/Questions)

Purpose: To respond to your inquiry or request.

Legal basis: Article 6(1)(f) GDPR — legitimate interest in responding to communications directed to us.

Retention: Messages and associated personal data are retained for as long as necessary to handle your inquiry, and deleted thereafter unless a longer retention period is required by law.

Recipient: Submitted data is sent to pioneer@uniza.sk and processed by the PIONEER project team at the University of Žilina. Form submissions are handled via MetForm (wpmet.com), a WordPress plugin. No data is shared with third parties for marketing purposes.

3.2 Newsletter Subscription

When you subscribe to the PIONEER newsletter, we collect:

First name and last name
Email address

Purpose: To send you project-related news, updates, and announcements.

Legal basis: Article 6(1)(a) GDPR — your explicit consent given at the time of subscription.

Retention: Your data is retained for as long as you remain subscribed. You may unsubscribe at any time using the link provided in every newsletter email, after which your data will be deleted.

Recipient: Newsletter subscriptions are managed through Mailchimp (The Rocket Science Group LLC, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA). Mailchimp processes personal data on our behalf as a data processor. Data may be transferred to the United States under appropriate safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses). For more information, see Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy at mailchimp.com/legal/privacy.

For full details on newsletter data processing, please see our dedicated Privacy Notice for Newsletter Subscription.

3.3 Server Logs and Technical Data

Like most websites, our hosting server automatically records standard technical information when you visit the Website, including:

IP address (anonymized or pseudonymized where possible)
Browser type and version
Date and time of access
Pages visited

Purpose: Security, server maintenance, and troubleshooting.

Legal basis: Article 6(1)(f) GDPR — legitimate interest in maintaining a secure and functional website.

Retention: Server logs are typically retained for up to 30 days.

4. Cookies

This Website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to ensure basic functionality and improve the user experience.

Currently, the Website uses technically necessary and functional cookies. No analytics or advertising cookies are used at this time.

Note: When analytics tools are introduced in the future (e.g., Google Analytics), this Privacy Policy and the accompanying Cookies Policy will be updated accordingly, and appropriate consent mechanisms will be implemented.

For detailed information about all cookies used on this Website, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

5. Third-Party Services and Social Media

Our Website includes links and embedded content from third-party platforms. Please be aware:

Social media links: The Website contains static links to PIONEER Alliance profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. No social media tracking scripts, pixels, or embedded widgets are loaded on this Website. We do not control and are not responsible for how these platforms process your data when you visit them.
Google Fonts: The Website uses Google Fonts loaded from Google’s servers (fonts.googleapis.com). This may result in your IP address being transmitted to Google. For more information, see Google’s Privacy Policy at google.com/privacy.
Google reCAPTCHA: The contact form on this Website uses Google reCAPTCHA (Google LLC, USA) to protect against spam and automated abuse. reCAPTCHA collects hardware and software information (including device and application data) and sends it to Google for analysis. This processing is based on our legitimate interest in protecting the Website from abuse (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). For more information, see Google’s Privacy Policy at google.com/privacy.
Complianz: This Website uses Complianz (Complianz B.V., the Netherlands) to manage cookie consent. Complianz sets functional cookies to store your consent preferences. All consent data is stored locally on our server. For more information, see io/privacy-statement.
Elementor page builder: The Website is built using the Elementor page builder plugin for WordPress. Elementor may set session cookies for correct page rendering. It does not collect personally identifiable information from website visitors.

6. Your Richts Under GDPR

As a data subject, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR): You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR): You may request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR): You may request deletion of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR): You may request that we limit the processing of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR): Where processing is based on consent or contract, you may request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7(3) GDPR): Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR): You may object to processing based on legitimate interests.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at: pioneer@uniza.sk.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority:

Úrad na ochranu osobných údajov Slovenskej republiky (Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic)

Website: dataprotection.gov.sk | Address: Hraničná 12, 820 07 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or disclosure. The Website is served over HTTPS (encrypted connection).

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. International Data Transfers

The following data transfers outside the European Economic Area take place in connection with this Website:

Mailchimp (USA): Newsletter subscriber data is processed by Mailchimp. Transfers are carried out under Standard Contractual Clauses in accordance with Chapter V of the GDPR.
Google reCAPTCHA (USA): Contact form data is processed by Google LLC. Transfers are carried out under Standard Contractual Clauses.
Google Fonts (USA): Your IP address may be transmitted to Google’s servers when loading website fonts. Transfers are carried out under Standard Contractual Clauses.

No other international data transfers take place in connection with this Website at this time.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. The date of the most recent revision is shown at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

In the event of significant changes (e.g., introduction of analytics tools), we will take appropriate steps to inform users.