Privacy Policy

This policy applies to personal data processed through the public Blue Biobanks website, including its pages, forms and related operational services.

The platform is part of the Blue Biobanks initiative and involves the participation of University of Aveiro, CIIMAR, IPMA, Fórum Oceano and Yacooba Labs.

This policy complements, but does not replace, any privacy information that may be provided separately by a specific institution when it processes data within its own tools, collections or follow-up communications.

Depending on how you use the platform, we may collect the following categories of data:

• identification and contact details that you submit directly, such as name, email address, optional phone number, selected service and message content;
• request data related to catalogue exports, including the filters or search criteria associated with the export you ask us to send by email;
• technical and usage information generated while you access the website, such as IP address, browser type, device information, approximate diagnostics, timestamps, visited pages and referrer data;
• consent, language and preference information connected to your use of the site and form submissions.

We use personal data to operate the website, answer contact requests, provide requested catalogue exports, keep the platform secure, troubleshoot incidents and improve the service.

More specifically, data may be used to:

• respond to messages sent through the platform and route them to the relevant biobank or project partner;
• deliver requested outputs, such as catalogue export files sent by email;
• measure website usage, performance and reliability;
• detect misuse, protect the platform and maintain operational records.

Personal data may be shared within the Blue Biobanks consortium when this is necessary to answer your request, provide a service, send requested materials or manage the platform.

This may include sharing with the following entities: University of Aveiro, CIIMAR, IPMA, Fórum Oceano and Yacooba Labs.

Shared data is limited to what is relevant for the purpose at hand, such as contact details, message contents, service-related context or export-request information.

The platform also relies on specialised service providers to host, operate and analyse the website.

• Google Analytics may process analytics identifiers and usage information to help us understand traffic and improve the website.
• Vercel may process technical request and hosting data to deliver the frontend application.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services) may process infrastructure-related data used to host or support backend and operational services.
• Datadog may process technical logs and diagnostics needed to monitor reliability, investigate incidents and support platform security.

These providers process data under their own service terms and privacy commitments, and only to the extent needed for the services they provide to the platform.

The platform uses cookies and comparable technologies that are necessary for core site functionality, language preferences, aggregated analytics and service reliability.

Google Analytics may place cookies or process identifiers to help us understand how visitors use the website, which pages are viewed most often and how the platform can be improved.

You can control or restrict cookies through your browser settings. Disabling some cookies may affect how parts of the website behave.

Personal data is kept only for as long as necessary to fulfil the relevant request, maintain appropriate operational records, comply with applicable obligations and protect the platform.

Retention periods may differ depending on the type of interaction, the partner institution involved and the technical records needed for security, diagnostics or audit purposes.

We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to reduce the risk of loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure. No internet-based service can guarantee absolute security.

Depending on the applicable law and the context of the processing, you may have rights related to access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection or portability of your personal data.

If your request concerns a specific biobank, collection or institutional follow-up, the relevant partner institution may need to handle part of that request under its own responsibilities.

In the absence of a dedicated privacy inbox on this website, requests should be initiated through the contact channels made available on the platform or through the relevant institution where appropriate.

We may update this Privacy Policy whenever the platform, its partners, its data flows or legal obligations change.

When updates are made, the “last updated” date on this page will be revised. Material changes should be assessed against the version that is in force at the time of your interaction with the platform.