The steps for ensuring digital safety of exchange participants
Now when we have introduced ourselves to the basic terminology begind the data protection we will go through the steps which will help you improve your data protection practices when organizing youth exchanges.
- Develop a detailed Privacy policy which will contain provisions regarding the collection, processing and storate of data of potential and approved participants of your exchange and other activities. This privacy policy should be published on your website and easily accessible to all visitors of it. You can find decent examples on how GDPR compliant privacy policy document should look like online. You should develop privacy policy for each of your exchange projects which will be adjusted to your data processing needs within it.
- If you are organizing an event for which participants should fill in and submit application form, you should provide information about your practices within it and ask applicants to consent to data protection policy. Tell applicants what data you are collecting (e.g: name, surname, phone number, email address, etc.); why are you collecting them (e.g: To timely inform applicants whether they have been selected for participation) and for how long will you keep the data (e.g: 6 months).
- Once you collect the data necessary for the selection of participants be sure to keep the data safely stored whether online or on your personal computers. Don’t share the data or give access to them to any person outside your organization.
- Almost all donors which support youth exchange projects demand that the participants of the event sign the attendence list as a proof that they have actually participated. That is why you should verbaly inform participants why they have to sign the list. You should also include a written disclaimer on the list explaining why and for whom are you collecting participant’s personal data.
- When promoting the event be extra careful if your participants are members of social groups that are particularly exposed to discrimination, violence or hate speech. Avoid posting photos or videos which may lead to the identification of the participants.
- Do not assume that all participants at your exchange activity want their photos to be published online! At the very start of the event inform present people that you want to make photos and then only publish photos of persons that have explicitly consented to be photographed.
- When publishing statements, testimonials or case studies of participants make sure that the person is fully aware that you plan to share its story to the wide public and acquire explicit consent for that. If you believe that person may be threatened if their identity is revealed in this way, use pseudonims or remove any identifiable data from the published
- Make sure that applicant’s the and participant’s personal data have been permanently deleted after the deadline for storing the data set by you in the privacy policy of the exchange project has expired.
- Share the list of participants only with the donors.
- Only share photos, videos, testimonials, statements and other identifiable data for which you have an explicit consent.