Privacy Statement
Privacy statement for users registered with the European Commission's Identity and Access Management Service (IAMS)
(DPR-EC-03187)
1. INTRODUCTION
The European Commission (hereafter 'the Commission') is committed to protect your personal data and to respect your privacy. The Commission collects and further processes personal data pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001).
This privacy statement explains the reason for the processing of your personal data, the way we collect, handle and ensure protection of all personal data provided, how that information is used and what rights you have in relation to your personal data. It also specifies the contact details of the responsible Data Controller with whom you may exercise your rights, the Data Protection Officer and the European Data Protection Supervisor.
The information in relation to processing operation 'EU Login', undertaken by EC DIGIT B3, is presented below.
2. WHY AND HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA?
Purpose of the processing operation:
EU Login is the European Commission's central authentication service.
It allows users to access a wide range of European Commission resources including websites, applications and services, by using a single account.
EU Login can be used by any individual either at its own initiative (by either creating a self-registered account or using its own eID) or at the initiative of the organization they represent, by automatic transfer of information from the user's organization to the European Commission. In all of these cases, EU Login will create a user account.
EU Login also adds a layer of protection to the sign-in process, through the multifactor authentication (2FA or MFA). It provides the following easy to use verification methods:
For EU Institutions staff:
- simple user password
- EU Login Mobile Application (PIN code, or any alternate capabilities offered by the owned mobile device)
- Physical Security Tokens (Security Keys)
- Trusted Platforms
- Physical Tokens (with OTP) provided by the organization
- Passkeys
- eID authentication via eIDAS
For self-registered individuals:
- simple user password
- EU Login Mobile Application (PIN code, or any alternate capabilities offered by the owned mobile device)
- Physical Security Tokens (Security Keys)
- Trusted Platforms
- Passkeys
- eID authentication via eIDAS
The EU Login Mobile application is one of the supported authenticators that is made available for all users to execute two-factor authentications. When authenticating with it, users must verify their identity either by entering the EU Login mobile app PIN code or by using biometric authentication. Biometrics on mobile devices function by locally storing users' biometric data, such as templates generated from a fingerprint or face scan. The biometric data is managed by the device's operating system and never leaves the device. In this case, users' operating system compares the biometric template generated from the user's input to the previously stored value to confirm users' identity so that users' operating system will only receive a limited amount of information, i.e. if there is a match between the two data sets.
EU Login Mobile application also uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) on Android and Apple Push Notification service (APNs) as sole push notifications mechanism. Push notifications are used for core authentication and security workflows and are implemented as silent, data-only messages.
It is to be noted that each application protected by EU Login decides on the authentication protocol and the type of authentication method required and serviced by EU Login, as well as the further processing of personal data within the application. For example, depending on the security level required by the application the user is accessing, the service will require single-factor (username + password), multi-factor (username + password + challenge) authentication.
Your personal data will not be used for an automated decision-making including profiling. Individual Commission (and other EU Institutions) sites and applications that use EU Login for authenticating users, may nevertheless collect additional personal data themselves. This data processing will be covered by the relevant sites' own privacy statements.
3. ON WHAT LEGAL GROUND(S) DO WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We process your personal data because, pursuant to Article 5(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, such processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Union institution or body. The basis for the processing has been laid down in the following Union law:
- The processing is necessary for the performance and support of tasks carried out by the institution as mandated by the Treaties, in particular Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 17, of the Treaty of the European Union and Articles 2, 4, 67, 310, 325 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union.
- Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46 of 10 January 2017 on the security of communication and information systems in the European Commission and Information Security Policy and Internal Rules for handling ICT Information Security Incidents, the Commission Information Systems Security Policy C(2006)3602.
- Regulation No 31 (EEC), 11 (EAEC), laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385), as last amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1611 of 7 July 2016.
- This processing operation is also in line with Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 on establishing a single digital gateway to provide access to information, to procedures and to assistance and problem-solving services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 and within the scope of the EC's eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 on accelerating the digital transformation of governments.
For self-registered users, the basis for the processing has been laid down in the following Union law:
- Decision 2004/387/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding the IDABC programme, Annex II, paragraph h), as further implemented by Decision 922/2009/CE (ISA Programme), Decision (EU) 2015/2240 (ISA2 Programme) and Regulation (EU) 2024/903 (EU Interoperable Act), stating the need to provide identification, authorisation, authentication and non-repudiation services for projects of common interest and that facilitate the delivery of pan-European services to businesses and citizens taking account of their needs.
4. WHICH PERSONAL DATA DO WE COLLECT AND FURTHER PROCESS?
In order to carry out this processing operation EC DIGIT B3 collects the following categories of personal data:
For EU Institutions staff
- Identification data:
- First and last name(s) as provided by the HR Systems
- personal title
- a unique number per EU Institution, Agency or Body attributed by the HR System of each entity (Personal Number)
- a corporate email address (replaced by a personal one in the case of post activity staff like retirees, unemployed)
- Additional information processed:
- information about multifactor authentication (configured authenticators described in 2.1)
- if EU Login Mobile Application is used: unique technical device identifier (MUDI), the type, model and operating system software of the mobile device
- if eID is used for authentication: eID identifier (unique federated ID)
- Administrative data (to identify the relationship with the organization):
- the entity where the individual is assigned
- account status
- organization allocated office phone number
- Personal information (as provided by the individual during self-registration):
- first and last name(s)
- email address
- username
- information about multifactor authentication (configured authenticators described in 2.1)
- if EU Login Mobile Application is used; unique technical device identifier (MUDI), the type, model and operating system software of the mobile device
- if eID is used for authentication; eID identifier (unique federated ID)
EU Login Mobile Application
The EU Login Mobile application processes the following information when installed on the mobile device of the user:
- first and last name(s)
- e-mail address
- username
- Unique Identifier at the EC (uid)
- Mobile Unique Device Identifier (MUDI)
- Mobile OS
- Device Name
- Device Model
- Firebase Cloud Messaging registration ID (RegistrationID)
- Firebase Cloud Messaging installation ID
- Apple Push Token (RegistrationID)
Log files for both user categories
For all users, each time the user authenticates on EU Login, a history of the account activity will be recorded in the logs, including users' IP address and which multifactor authentication method was used.
For EU Login mobile application, the controller also processes a unique technical device identifier, the type, model and operating system software of the mobile device used for the two-factor authentication.
This information is processed for security purposes in line with the European Commission log correlation service (cf. DPR-EC-2986) and the DIGIT IT security operations and services (DPR-EC-02886.5).
EU Login obtains personal data either from the IAMS (DPR-EC-08606) for the EU Institutions staff, or directly from the data subject for the self-registered individuals and from Sign-In services via the federation with eID.
5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL DATA?
EC DIGIT B3 only keeps your personal data for the time necessary to fulfil the purpose of collection.
Data related to the European Institutions Staff are kept for as long as the user has an active assignment in one of the European Institutions, Agencies and Bodies and, the personal data is made available to the IAMS.
Data related to self-registered individuals is kept until either the user personally deletes their EU Login account or requests the deletion by the Data Controller.
Data related to the use of the EU Login Mobile application is kept until the individual deletes the application from their mobile device and from the list of linked mobile devices in their EU Login account.
Log files are kept for 6 months.
6. HOW DO WE PROTECT AND SAFEGUARD YOUR PERSONAL DATA?
All personal data in electronic format (databases) are stored on the servers of the European Commission. All processing operations are carried out pursuant to the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46 of 10 January 2017 on the security of communication and information systems in the European Commission.
The Commission's contractors are bound by a specific contractual clause for any processing operations of your data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations deriving from the transposition of the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU Member States ("GDPR" Regulation (EU) 2016/679).
In order to protect your personal data, the Commission has put in place a number of technical and organisational measures in place. Technical measures include appropriate actions to address online security, risk of data loss, alteration of data or unauthorised access, taking into consideration the risk presented by the processing and the nature of the personal data being processed. Organisational measures include restricting access to the personal data solely to authorised persons with a legitimate need to know for the purposes of this processing operation.
7. WHO HAS ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL DATA AND TO WHOM IS IT DISCLOSED?
Access to your personal data is provided to the Commission staff responsible for carrying out this processing operation (e.g. system administrators or service desk agents, system owners) and to authorised staff from other EU Institutions Bodies and Agencies according to the "need to know" principle. Such staff abide by statutory, and when required, additional confidentiality agreements.
When you authenticate through EU Login Mobile application, your personal data may be transmitted to Google and Apple. Google and Apple teams for the push notification services of EU Login Mobile App may receive the following information: platform-generated registration token (registration ID), EU Log user ID, Firebase Cloud messaging installation ID, device model, OS version, device name, language code, country code, time zone, app bundle ID and IP address.
As a result, Apple and Google act as data processors regarding the abovementioned technical identifiers, since they are transmitted to them to be able to provide the push notification services, which is essential for the functioning of the mobile app. They may also use this limited technical data for the purposes of ensuring security and improving their products and services.
For the push notification service implemented in EU Login mobile application, your personal data may be transferred to recipients in a third country. The push notification service is global in nature because it requires ultra-low latency to wake up mobile devices instantly.
The personal data that can be transferred are limited to the data that is processed by Apple and Google in the context of the push notification service, as described above.
Transfer of your personal data to a third country is based on the adequacy decision of the Commission or, in the absence of this, on the basis of Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the Commission.
The information we collect will not be given to any third party, except to the extent and for the purpose we may be required to do so by law.
8. WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS AND HOW CAN YOU EXERCISE THEM?
You have specific rights as a "data subject" under Chapter III (Articles 14-25) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, in particular the right to access, your personal data and to rectify them in case your personal data are inaccurate or incomplete. Where applicable, you have the right to erase your personal data, to restrict the processing of your personal data, to object to the processing, and the right to data portability.
You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, which is lawfully carried out pursuant to Article 5(1)(a) on grounds relating to your particular situation.
You can exercise your rights by contacting the Data Controller, or in case of conflict the Data Protection Officer. If necessary, you can also address the European Data Protection Supervisor. Their contact information is given under Heading 9 below.
Where you wish to exercise your rights in the context of one or several specific processing operations, please provide their description (i.e. their Record reference(s) as specified under Heading 10 below) in your request.
9. CONTACT INFORMATION
The Data Controller
If you would like to exercise your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, or if you have comments, questions or concerns, or if you would like to submit a complaint regarding the collection and use of your personal data, please feel free to contact:
- For EU Institutions staff, your HR department; then all modifications will be automatically reflected in EU Login;
- For self-registered individuals, directly the Data Controller, at: EU-LOGIN-EXTERNAL-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu.
The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Commission
You may contact the Data Protection Officer (DATA-PROTECTION-OFFICER@ec.europa.eu) with regard to issues related to the processing of your personal data under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
You have the right to have recourse (i.e. you can lodge a complaint) to the European Data Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu) if you consider that your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data by the Data Controller.
10. WHERE TO FIND MORE DETAILED INFORMATION
The Commission Data Protection Officer (DPO) publishes the register of all processing operations on personal data by the Commission, which have been documented and notified to him. You may access the register via the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/dpo-register.
This specific processing operation has been included in the DPO's public register with the following Record reference: DPR-EC-03187