Privacy Statement

Notes on Data Protection and Privacy Policy

The editorial team of Computing in Geometry and Topology (CGT) considers the protection of personal data to be a very serious matter. We are thus committed to protecting your privacy and fully adhere to the data protection provisions. With these notes we also fulfil our information obligations regarding the collection of personal data, which are laid down in Article 13 of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This privacy policy refers to the website www.cgt-journal.org

Personal user data will be stored on a server at Freie Universität Berlin, Kaiserswerther Str. 16-18, 14195 Berlin, Germany. The Freie Universität Berlin is the respective data recipient according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Personal Data

Personal information is information that can be used to identify you. This includes information such as your name, postal or IP address (if not anonymized), telephone number, and e-mail address, but not information that is not associated with your identity (such as anonymous log files in which the used browser types are logged).

We store your data only at your request and to the extent needed (for example, for registration as an author, reader or reviewer) or for data backup. The specific use of such data is indicated in the respective context in this privacy statement.

When we collect and utilize personal data, we confine ourselves strictly to what is technically necessary and permitted by law. We collect and use personal data only with your prior consent or where allowed by law. It is important to us that you understand why we collect data and what we use them for. More information can be found below.

We collect information from you when you access the above-named domain. For purposes of identification and tracking unauthorized access attempts to this domain as well as for purposes of optimization of web-based services in connection with the use of the web pages of the above-named domain, user data are stored and used to create anonymous access statistics. This information is collected automatically when entering our website. It serves the provision of the website in fulfilment of our public duties, Article 6 (1) lit. e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The following data processing may occur when entering this website:

Use of Cookies

Like other organizations, we use so-called cookies. Cookies are small files that are stored in special filed directories on your computer (unless you block them) and collect data. Information about your visit to our website can be stored in cookies. Our cookies do not contain personal data (such as IP addresses or login data), but rather only anonymous session IDs. Some of the cookies we use will remain on your computer so that our web server can recognize your computer the next time you visit. Most browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc.) are set by default to accept cookies. You can set your browser to reject cookies or request a confirmation from you. However, if you disable or reject cookies, it is possible that you will not be able to use certain features of the website. Cookies are required to maintain a login session in PKP applications. The legal basis for the processing of personal data using cookies is Article 6 (1) lit. e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Inquiries (via our contact address)

If you – for example as a librarian – send your inquiry via email or contact us via telephone we will store your data given in our customer management system in order to be able to answer your questions. The legal basis for the processing of personal data using a customer management system is the fulfilment of our public duties, Article 6 (1) lit. e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Registering a User Account (as reader or author)

In addition to purely using our website as research base, we also offer the opportunity to register as reader, reviewer, or author.

The minimal required data for user registration is: first name, last name, affiliation, email address, username, and a password. Data of your user account are stored electronically and will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose.

The basis for processing your data for these purposes is the given consent (Article 6 (1) lit. a) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)). You have the right to revoke your consent in data processing at any time. The revocation of consent does not affect the legality of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent until the revocation.

If you choose not to validate your account, the entered information will not automatically be deleted. In order to delete an account completely, please contact the editorial team at  info@cgt-journal.org. Please note that data backups are stored at Freie Universität Berlin (see https://www.zedat.fu-berlin.de/Backup/Home for details) for 3 months, deleted data might thus be stored for 3 months. It is technically impossible to delete individual user data from backups because of its storage on tapes. Users can access and change their personal data (except the username) in their account.

By asking to be notified of new publications and announcements during the registration process you have given a separate consent (Article 6 (1) lit. a) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)) to the inclusion into mailing lists. You also have the right to revoke this consent at any time. The revocation of consent does not affect the legality of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent until the revocation.

If you want to make a submission, you need to register as author first. Your user data will then allow for editorial communication between authors, editors and reviewers. Please note that during the editorial process workflow data such as submitted documents, events (event log), decisions (such as reviewer recommendations) and emails (email log) are stored and processed.

Submitting authors are also asked to enter full names and email addresses of all of their co-authors. When providing co-authors contact details you declare to have received their consent in data processing.

Co-authors do not have their own account during the editorial process and will only be contacted by the editorial team once their manuscript is submitted, an editorial decision is made, the manuscript is published, or misconduct is suspected. Author and co-author names (and affiliations) are displayed publicly alongside published manuscripts. Email addresses are not published on the website, but author contact data is included in the downloadable manuscript file as provided and approved by the authors. The rights mentioned below also apply to the co-author(s).

Transmission of Personal Data to Third Parties and Erasure of Personal Data

This journal’s editorial team uses the stored data to guide our work in publishing and improving CGT.

Data that will assist in developing our publishing platform (Open Journal Systems) may be shared with its developer, the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), but only in an anonymized and aggregated form, with appropriate exceptions such as article metrics.

Metadata of published manuscripts including author names are shared with third parties for DOI registration and for indexing of published content in scholarly databases. Apart from that, the personal data will not be shared by CGT nor will it be used for purposes other than those stated here.

Data will be stored for the purposes stated in this data protection statement and will be deleted if storage is no longer necessary for the purposes mentioned above, Article 17(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Rights of Individuals

According the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and provided that the conditions mentioned therein are met, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right of access (Article 15 GDPR)
  • Right to rectification (Article 16 GDPR)
  • Right to erasure (Article 17 GDPR)
  • Right to restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR)
  • Right to data portability (Article 20 GDPR).
  • Right to object to processing of personal data (Article 21 GDPR)

If you believe there has been a breach of the data protection provisions, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Friedrichstr. 219, 10969 Berlin, Germany) about processing of your personal data by us (Article 77 GDPR).

Contact details

Wolfgang Mulzer
Institut für Informatik
Freie Universität Berlin
Takustraße 9
141985 Berlin

Phone: +49 838 75165

E-Mail: info@cgt-journal.org