Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

AI Learning & Digital Safety is an independent research and education initiative led by Dr. Eileen Smith Zechmeister, based in Vienna, Austria.

Data controller: Dr. Eileen Smith Zechmeister
Email: info@ailearningsafety.org
Website: ailearningsafety.org
Location: Vienna, Austria

2. What data we collect and why

This website (ailearningsafety.org)

This website does not use tracking cookies, advertising pixels, or third-party analytics. We do not collect visitor data, IP addresses, or browsing behavior. The site is hosted on Netlify, which may process basic server logs for security and performance purposes, please refer to Netlify's privacy policy for details.

Contact form

When you submit the contact form, we collect your name, email address, and message. This information is used solely to respond to your enquiry. We do not add you to any mailing list without your explicit consent. Contact form data is stored securely and not shared with third parties.

Research surveys (Austrian AI Learning Snapshot)

Our surveys are designed to be fully anonymous. We do not collect names, email addresses, or any identifying information as part of the survey responses themselves.

The only exception is if you voluntarily provide your email address at the end of the survey to receive a summary of findings, this is entirely optional, clearly labelled, and used for no other purpose.

Survey responses are collected via Google Forms and stored in Google Sheets. Please refer to Google's privacy policy for information on how Google processes form data.

3. Legal basis for processing

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we process data on the following legal bases:

• Consent, for voluntary email submissions via the contact form and optional survey follow-up
• Legitimate interests, for conducting anonymized research in the public interest of education policy and AI literacy

4. Research data, how it is used

Anonymized survey findings will be:

• Analyzed to identify patterns and insights across participant groups
• Published publicly as aggregate summaries (never individual responses)
• Used to inform workshops, guidance materials, and future research
• Potentially referenced in academic or policy publications

Individual responses cannot be identified or attributed. No response will ever be published in a way that could identify a participant.

5. Minors

Our research surveys targeting students are restricted to participants aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. Our parent and teacher surveys do not collect any data about or from children directly.

6. Data retention

Contact form data is retained for as long as necessary to respond to your enquiry and for a maximum of 2 years thereafter.

Anonymous survey responses are retained for the duration of the research project and may be retained longer for longitudinal research purposes, given that they contain no personal data.

Optional email addresses provided for research updates are retained until you request removal.

7. Data sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share personal data with any third parties for commercial purposes. Data may be shared with:

• Research partners or co-investigators (under appropriate data sharing agreements)
• Service providers necessary to operate this website and surveys (Netlify, Google), under their respective privacy terms

8. Your rights under GDPR

You have the right to:

• Access, request a copy of any personal data we hold about you
• Rectification, request correction of inaccurate data
• Erasure, request deletion of your personal data
• Restriction, request we limit processing of your data
• Portability, receive your data in a portable format
• Objection, object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Withdraw consent, at any time, without affecting prior processing

Note: Because our surveys are anonymous, we are unable to identify or retrieve individual survey responses, this is by design to protect your privacy.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at: info@ailearningsafety.org

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority: Datenschutzbehörde (dsb.gv.at)

9. Cookies

This website does not use cookies for tracking, advertising, or analytics. Basic session functionality may use technically necessary cookies, these do not require consent under GDPR.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our activities develop. Significant changes will be noted on this page with an updated date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

11. Contact

For any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle data, please contact:

Dr. Eileen Smith Zechmeister
AI Learning & Digital Safety
Vienna, Austria
info@ailearningsafety.org