Data protection information

This information applies to the dúchas.ie public website.

What usage data we collect

We collect certain usage data with the aid of services such as Plausible while users browse the website. We use Plausible to record information about where our users come from and what they do while on this site. Plausible collects and stores technical details about the browser and the computer used to visit the site. We use a cookie to store the user’s preferred user language. The cookie is not linked to any personal data.

How we use this usage data

We use the data collected by Plausible to construct aggregate reports on user numbers, location and behaviour. These reports inform our future development plans. This data is not personal data, as defined by EU GDPR, and it does not allow us identify individual users.

We reserve the right to report and/or publish aggregated usage metrics.

How long we store this usage data for

As this data is anonymised, we store it indefinitely. This allows us to chart the development of our user base over the lifetime of the project.

What user data we collect

When you sign up for an account on Meitheal Dúchas.ie, you supply us with a name, an email address and a password. When you log in, you can optionally supply us with a short descriptive paragraph about yourself. Your name and descriptive paragraph are displayed publicly on your profile page and linked to any contributions you make to the collection.

You can edit your name and descriptive paragraph at any time by logging into the system.

How we use this user data

We use your email address to technically (not personally) identify you within our system and to contact you occasionally with information relevant to the service. We will not contact you for any other purpose and we will not share your email address with any 3rd party.

We use your name and descriptive paragraph to credit you for your work.

How long we store this user data for

With your permission, we store this user data indefinitely. If you wish to delete your account, please contact us at eolas@duchas.ie with your request and we will delete your user account within 30 calendar days of receiving your request. This will involve deleting your personal data (i.e. name, email address, password and descriptive paragraph) from our systems permanently. All backup copies of this user data will be deleted within 3 years.

Please note that we will not delete your contributions (i.e. your transcriptions), as once submitted these contributions are released under CC BY-NC 4.0. Instead, we will unassociate your contributions from your user account before deleting your account. Your contributions will subsequently be displayed as the work of an anonymous user.

As registration is not mandatory to participate in Meitheal Dúchas.ie, we store an IP address with each contribution made through the website. We do this to deter abuse of the service. We do not display this data publicly and we delete all IP addresses associated with contributions more than 1 year old on the 1st day of every calendar month. We do not use this data to identify individuals.

User account passwords

When you set a password for a user account with us, we use technology that masks the password so no one can see it, not even our database administrators. We mask passwords through a process called 'hashing', which replaces the actual password with a random set of numbers and letters that are stored in our systems. This allows our systems to validate your account credentials without revealing your password. This is an industry standard.

If you wish to change your password, or if you forget your password and need to reset it, you can do this yourself with the tools we provide.

User satisfaction

From time to time, we may ask a randomised selection of our users to complete a brief survey indicating their general satisfaction with the service provided on this website. As part of these user satisfaction surveys we store the following data:

1. The answers you provided to the survey questions;
2. When you completed the survey or when you declined to complete the survey;
3. The address (URL) of the page on which you completed the survey or on which you declined to complete the survey;
4. Your device IP address.

We use 1-3 to understand users' general satisfaction and to identify strengths and weaknesses in the services we provide. We use 4 (i.e. ‘Your device IP address’) to verify that the search is being carried out by a person and not a computer program such as a web scraper. We neither ask for nor store your name or any other personal data as part of these satisfaction surveys.

We reserve the right to report and/or publish the aggregated results of user satisfaction surveys.

Consent

By accessing our website you agree to abide by all policies and practices outlined on this page.

Contact

If you have any queries in relation to this policy you can contact us at eolas@duchas.ie.