Information Sheet

Introduction

You have been invited to be a participant in a research activity carried out in the scope of the EU-funded Horizon Europe project TRIQUETRA. This document provides detailed information about the research so you can make an informed decision about whether to participate.

Before making a decision, it is important that you clearly understand the purpose of the research and what it would imply for you. Please take time to read this document carefully and ask any questions you may have to ensure you understand all aspects of the research, including potential risks and benefits.

If this information document includes terms or concepts you do not fully understand, please ask the contact person or any member of the team coordinating the activity to explain or clarify.

At all times during the foreseen activities and afterwards, the TRIQUETRA consortium will comply with relevant national and European legislation.

Project and research ambitions

TRIQUETRA is a Horizon Europe project that aims to create an evidence-based assessment platform enabling precise risk stratification and a database of mitigation measures and strategies, acting as a Decision Support Tool for efficient risk mitigation and site remediation.

This information sheet informs you about the details and implications of taking part and providing feedback on the subject matter described above.

Your participation

Your participation in the research activity described below would be highly valuable to meeting the project’s research ambitions. Participation is only possible if you freely consent to take part. Consent is the legal basis for participating and for collecting and processing the data you and other participants may provide.

Taking part is voluntary

You are free to withdraw from this activity at any time without providing justification. No consequences will follow your withdrawal. Any personal data of yours that might still be attributable to you will be immediately deleted by removing it from the pool of information to be analysed. Any relevant files and hard copies will be destroyed.

The activity

Participants will be provided with this information sheet and asked to sign a consent form expressing their consent to participate and to share some personal data by taking part in the planned activity.

Data collection and processing

This research is carried out under the TRIQUETRA Project, which processes personal data for the purposes of risk identification, quantification, and mitigation within the scope described above.

We do not plan to collect personal data other than participants’ views on the Project’s planned activities.

Data collected (e.g., through questionnaires or other requests by the Project) will be stored in a highly pseudonymised form.

We will not process any of your information without your consent; if you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent at any time during or after the activity by contacting the responsible research coordinator(s) and/or the Data Protection Officer (contact details at the end of this document).

We will collect and process only the minimum amount of information required to achieve the purpose of this research activity. Appropriate security measures will be applied during all processing and storage of your data. All data collection and processing take place in strict accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679. You will be able to exercise all of your rights as a research participant in accordance with the GDPR, which we fully respect and comply with; these are described below.

No automated decision-making or profiling under Articles 22(1) and 22(4) of the GDPR will take place.

Will personal data be used for future research or shared with others?

We do not plan to share any personal data with anybody other than research partners who have a need to know (for an overview of the consortium, please consult the project website at https://triquetra-project.eu/) or use it for further research. Otherwise, information will not be shared without your consent.

Will personal data be stored?

Access to systems is limited to the research coordinator(s) and their co-workers in accordance with current security standards.

Data may be stored for the purpose of a possible audit for five years after the project’s end date. It will be deleted from all storage media as soon as possible, either immediately after an audit (if no longer needed) or immediately after the end of the five-year period. No further processing will be conducted.

Who may access my information?

We will disclose your information if the European Commission, which funds this research, requests it for auditing purposes or to evaluate our procedures.

Within the consortium partners, your information will be accessible only on a need-to-know basis.

Your key data protection rights

In accordance with research ethics and the EU data protection framework, you have rights regarding how your personal data is processed. You may:

• Access the personal data processed about you, and receive these data in a portable, easily accessible format.
• Rectify personal data held about you if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Request erasure of your personal data from our systems.
• Withdraw from the activity at any time without negative consequences; your personal data will not be processed thereafter.
• Be informed about the purpose of data collection, its use, and storage.
• Request data portability by asking us to transfer your personal data to another organisation.
• Complain to a supervisory authority if you feel we have not adequately dealt with your requests.

This research activity is managed by the Project Coordinator (NTUA). Information on the national data protection authority:

Requests to exercise these rights will be handled without undue delay. If requests are excessive, malicious, impossible to fulfil, or require a disproportionate effort, we may reject some requests in accordance with data protection legislation.

Risks and safeguards

Potential risks may include the breach or loss of confidentiality. Measures to protect against such risks include:

• Voluntary participation
• Acknowledgement of the legal and ethical framework by partners
• Accountability and documentation
• Secure retention (appropriate security measures in storing the data)
• Clear explanations of the policy context
• Availability (online or offline) of technical experts for consultation

Benefits of participation

Participants will not be paid for their participation. However, you may be able to refer to your participation in the Project for your own purposes.

Confidentiality

All data collected and processed will be treated as highly confidential. No sharing will take place other than with consortium members who have a need to know. Data will be stored securely on servers accessible only to employees of the research partners, with appropriate security measures implemented to ensure confidentiality.

Contact details

TRIQUETRA Project Coordinator

National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) — cioannid@survey.ntua.gr

Data Protection Officer for this activity

Evangelos Papakonstantinou

Research coordinator for this activity

Charalabos Ioannidis