Privacy statement for the website

The ECB is committed to user privacy. It only processes your personal data for the purposes described below; it does not divulge them for marketing purposes.

All personal information is processed in line with EU data protection law and the ECB's information technology (IT) security and confidentiality rules.

You can change your cookies preference at any time by using the button below:

What is our legal framework?

All personal data are processed in accordance with European Union data protection law, that is to say in line with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 (‘EUDPR’).

Why do we process personal data?

Personal data are processed in order to keep track of the number of visits and visitors to the various parts of the website, manage visitor traffic and improve functionality and usability. We do not identify individual visitors and we receive anonymised aggregate data.

Personal data are also processed for maintenance, performance and security purposes.

What is the legal basis for processing your personal data?

Your personal data are processed by the ECB because you consented to this processing by accepting the cookies of this website, in accordance with Article 5(1)(d) EUDPR, for the purposes described above. You may withdraw your consent at any time by changing the cookies preferences by using the button above. All processing of your personal information will stop once you withdraw your consent; however, any processing that has already taken place remains lawful. Moreover, data processing would start again if you should consent to it once again in the future.

Who is responsible for processing your personal data?

The ECB is the controller for the processing of your personal data. The Design and Digital Division and the Strategic Communication Section, both in the Directorate General Communications, and the ECB MYRA support team in the Directorate General Information Systems are responsible for this processing.

Who will be the recipients of your personal data?

The recipients of your personal data (including entities who have access to that personal data) are:

• ECB staff members in the Directorate General Communications and the Directorate General Information Systems;
• Piano;
• Myra Security GmbH.

What categories of personal data are collected?

Cookies

Cookies are small bits of data sent by a website server to the browser on your computer. The browser informs the server when you next visit that particular website. Cookies help us to store user preferences, track usage trends on an aggregate basis and improve the user experience.

When you first visit this website, you are asked whether you accept the use of cookies. Your choice applies to all cookies on the website. Every 6 months we remove all first-party cookies and ask you to make your selection again. We do this to ensure that your preferences are still valid and up to date.

Functional cookies

Functional cookies enable us to improve the usability and performance of this website by allowing it to remember choices and customisations you make during your visit, such as your preferred language. Your choices and customisations will not be saved if you do not accept the use of cookies.

Performance cookies

Performance cookies collect information about how you use our website and help us, for example, to understand the interests of our users and measure the effectiveness of our communications. In this way, we can adapt the content of our website more specifically to our users’ needs and thereby improve what we offer you, for example, by ensuring that you can more easily find what you are looking for. Performance cookies include those used by Piano to obtain statistics about the usage of the website. Data are sent to servers operated by Piano (which are located in the EU) and are used to provide the ECB with aggregate statistics about the number and duration of visits, usage patterns, traffic sources, user demographics and searches performed on this website.

Piano has its own privacy policies:

Piano only stores the following personal data, subject to your consent: online identifiers, including cookie identifiers; internet protocol (IP) addresses and device identifiers; client identifiers. The ECB has opted for a 14-month retention period at Piano. The ECB has also by default enabled IP anonymisation and disabled the User-ID. Your visit(s) to the website will not be tracked if you do not accept the use of cookies.

Myra Security GmbH, which is a Germany-based IT security provider, is responsible for the processing of limited categories of personal data (e.g. IP addresses). This is necessary for the technical security of our website.

More detailed information on Myra Security GmbH’s privacy policy can be found on Myra Security GmbH’s website.

Other third-party cookies

Certain third-party features on our website require cookies. For example, a video player, a map or social media content embedded in a page may set cookies. These features will be disabled if you do not accept the use of cookies.

Log information

Servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website. These server logs may include information such as the date and time of your visit, your IP address, browser type, browser language, browser screen size, and one or more cookies that identify your browser. Such logs are stored for a maximum of ten months and then deleted.

Personal information communicated via the website or by email

We collect further personal data only with your consent, such as an email address if you wish to sign up to a mailing list. Information on personal data that we collect through subscription forms and dedicated privacy statements is available on the website's relevant pages.

Will your personal data (in a clear or encrypted form) be processed (e.g. transferred, accessed or stored) in third countries or by international organisations?

Your personal data might exceptionally be processed in third countries or by international organisations based on the derogations for specific situations set out in Article 50(1) EUDPR.

How long will the ECB keep personal data?

Your personal data will be stored for a maximum of 14 months before being deleted.

What are your rights?

You have the right to access your personal data and correct any data that is inaccurate or incomplete. You also have (with some limitations) the right to delete your personal data and to object to or to restrict the processing of your personal data in line with the EUDPR. The ECB may restrict your rights to safeguard the interests and objectives referred to in Article 25(1) EUDPR.

Who can you contact for queries or requests?

You can exercise your rights by contacting the Strategic Communication Analytics and Research team at [email protected].

You can also directly contact the ECB’s Data Protection Officer at [email protected] for all queries relating to your personal data.

Addressing the European Data Protection Supervisor

If you consider that your rights under the EUDPR have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the European Data Protection Supervisor at any time.