Communication is a central element in every project. In Erasmus+ projects, organisations work together across many national borders, so regular and intensive communication is particularly important. 

Digital communication has long since replaced traditional channels such as letters or the analogue telephone. The majority of communication therefore takes place via email, messenger and video conferencing.

The General Data Protection Regulation applies to communication services at various levels. If the project partners exchange email addresses or user IDs for individual services, this is done voluntarily and for the purpose of mutual communication. This is harmless from a data protection perspective, as it is not possible to work on the respective project without communication. The exchange is necessary for the fulfilment of the project contract.

Attention

In accordance with the duty to inform enshrined in the GDPR, each project partner would, strictly speaking, have to inform the people involved in the project about what happens to the contact data in their own organisation: where it is stored and for how long, who has access to it and so on. As a rule, however, this is not done in practice. 

As soon as communication with external groups of people (e.g. external experts or participants in events and training courses) is planned, the information obligations of the GDPR should be implemented in any case.

Source: Zadok Artifex on Pixabay