Privacy Statement
Protection of your personal data is very important to us. We process your data exclusively in accordance with the statutory regulations (GDPR, Data Protection Act, Telecommunications Act 2003). The information below details how we process your personal data in connection with our whistleblowing system (BKMS® System) as well as your rights under data protection regulations.
Please read this data protection information carefully before submitting a report.
Purpose and legal foundation of the whistleblowing system
The whistleblowing system (BKMS® System) is provided for the purpose of securely and confidentially receiving, processing and managing reports concerning professional malpractice, violations of internal policies or breaches of applicable law at the Vienna Business Agency. The processing of personal data within the framework of BKMS® System is based on the legitimate interest of our company in discovering and preventing abuses and thereby averting damage to the Vienna Business Agency and its employees. The legal basis for this processing of personal data is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
Controller
The following party is responsible for the processing of your personal data (controller):
Vienna Business Agency. A funding agency of the city of Vienna.
Mariahilfer Strasse 20, 1070 Vienna
Email: info@wirtschaftsagentur.at
Tel.: +43 1 25200
The whistleblowing system is operated by a specialised company, EQS Group AG, Bayreuther Str. 35, 10789 Berlin in Germany, on behalf of the Vienna Business Agency.
Personal data and information entered into the whistleblowing system are stored in a database operated by the aforementioned technical service provider in a high-security data centre. Only the authorised employees of the Vienna Business Agency are able to view the data. Neither the technical service provider nor other third parties have access to the data. This is ensured in the certified procedure through extensive technical and organisational measures.
All data are stored encrypted with multiple levels of password protection according to a system of permissions so that access is restricted to a very small selection of expressly authorised persons at the Vienna Business Agency.
We are always happy to receive any complaints, questions or suggestions on the topic of data protection.
Contact details of our Data Protection Officer:
Harald Kudlich
Mariahilfer Strasse 20, 1070 Vienna
Email: kudlich@wirtschaftsagentur.at
Tel.: +43 1 25200 853
Type of personal data collected
Use of the whistleblowing system is voluntary. If you submit a report via the whistleblowing system, we collect the following personal data and information:
- Your name, if you choose to reveal your identity
- Whether you are employed at the Vienna Business Agency, if you choose to share this
- The names and other personal data of persons whom you list in your report, if applicable.
Confidential handling of reports
Incoming reports are received by a small selection of expressly authorised and specially trained employees of the Vienna Business Agency and are always handled confidentially. These employees evaluate the matter and carry out any further investigation that may be required by the specific case.
During the processing of a report or the conducting of a special investigation, it may become necessary to share reports with additional employees of the Vienna Business Agency. We always ensure that the applicable data protection regulations are complied with when sharing reports.
All persons who receive access to the data are obligated to maintain confidentiality.
Rights of the data subjects
Pursuant to European data protection legislation, you and the persons named in the report have a right of access, rectification, erasure and restriction of processing and a right to object to the processing of your personal data if you have shared such data with us in connection with your report. If the right to object to the processing of the personal data is exercised, we will immediately evaluate the extent to which stored personal data are still required for the examination of a specific report. Data that are no longer needed will be deleted at once. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority.
Retention period of personal data
Personal data are retained for as long as necessary to clarify the situation and perform a final assessment or for as long as a legitimate interest exists on the part of the company or retention is required by law. After the report processing is concluded, the data will be deleted in accordance with statutory requirements.
Use of the whistleblowing system
Communication between your computer and the whistleblowing system takes place over an encrypted connection (SSL). Your IP address will not be stored during your use of the whistleblowing system. In order to maintain the connection between your computer and BKMS® System, a cookie is stored on your computer that merely contains the session ID (a so-called session cookie). This cookie is only valid until the end of your session and expires when you close your browser.
It is possible to set up a secured postbox within the whistleblowing system with an individually chosen pseudonym/user name and password. This allows you to securely send reports to the responsible employee (Compliance Officer) of the Vienna Business Agency either anonymously or using your name.
This system only stores data inside the whistleblowing system, which makes it particularly secure. It is not a form of regular email communication.
Note on sending attachments
When submitting a report or an addition, you can also send attachments to the responsible employee (Compliance Officer) of the Vienna Business Agency. If you wish to submit an anonymous report, please note the following security advice:
Files may contain hidden personal data that could jeopardise your anonymity. Please remove all such information before sending a file. If you are unable to remove this data or are uncertain about how to do so, copy the text of your attachment into your report text or send the printed document anonymously to the address listed in the footer, citing the reference number received at the end of the reporting process.
Version: November 2021