Data Protection and Privacy Statement

By registering for  ECMWF’s Code for Earth and agreeing to its terms of use, you are entering into a contract with ECMWF. Your personal data will be collected and processed by ECMWF, as data controller, based upon the following rules:

1. Data controller

This site is operated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

2. Categories of Data Processed

When accessing the Code for Earth website, your Internet Protocol (IP) address will be recorded.

When signing up to the Code for Earth newsletter, the only personal data collected and further processed is your first name, last name, email address, and country, if you choose to provide it.

When submitting a proposal to the Call for Participation, the only personal data collected and further processed is the information you enter yourself in the registration/application form(s). The compulsory fields concern your name and surname, a valid email account, a phone number, your country of residence during the coding phase and your nationality. You will also be asked to confirm that you are not on the list of EU restrictive measures.

3. Purpose(s) of the Processing

When you access the Code for Earth website, we may use the personal data collected to perform an analysis of the use of the services and to derive use statistics of all items and services available on the Code for Earth website in order to improve service performance as well as user relations and experience.

When you sign up to the Code for Earth newsletter, and enter into a service contract with us, we collect and process your personal data to provide you with information updates about Code for Earth.

When you submit a proposal to the Call for Participation, you are entering into a contract with ECMWF on the Terms and Conditions for the 2025 Edition of Code for Earth and we will collect and process your personal data to enable your participation in Code for Earth 2025. 

4. Recipients of the Data Processed

The personal data you provide for the subscription of the Code for Earth newsletter  or for the submission of  a proposal to the Call for Participation will be shared with CommPla S.r.l., via Nino Bixio 25, 56125 Pisa, Italy, to organise the distribution of the newsletter and/or the submissions via the registration form and Trust-IT Services LTD, Via Francesco Redi 10, 56124 Pisa, Italy to execute the grant payment on behalf of ECMWF.

If the challenge you apply to is sponsored by one of our Code for Earth partner organisations, the personal data you provide when submitting a proposal for the Call for Participation will be shared with the Code for Earth sponsor sponsoring such challenge.

In case your proposal will require the use of cloud credits, the personal data you provide when submitting a proposal to the Call for Participation will be shared with Mercator Ocean International, Parc Technologique du Canal, 8-10 rue Hermes – Batiment C, 31520 Ramonville Saint-Agne, France. ECMWF executes the award of the cloud credits from the European Weather Cloud and Mercator Ocean International executes the award of the cloud credits from the European Union’s Copernicus DIAS reference service WEkEO.

5. Security of your personal data

ECMWF secures your personal data from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.  Our computer servers and software applications operate in a controlled, secure environment and we adopt internationally recognised security best practice standards and techniques to manage the security of your personal information throughout its lifetime, from creation to destruction. We have implemented robust processes to deal with any suspected security incidents that may include notifying you of any breaches of your personal data.

6. Right of Access, Rectification, Erasure and Portability

You may ask ECMWF to access a copy of your personal data, as well as rectify and erase any of your data. Deletion of the account will terminate your contract with ECMWF. Any such request, as well as all further personal data related requests should be sent in writing to ECMWF PII Protection Officer, Shinfield Park, Reading, RG2 9AX, United Kingdom (pii-protection-officer@ecmwf.int).

7. Data Retention

The information collected and processed when accessing our website will be retained for up to 3 years.

The information you provide in order to enter the contract will be retained for the duration of this contract.

Please note that ECMWF will not be in control of personal data which it legally passed on to other data controllers.

8. Concerns and Complaints

ECMWF does not accept any liability with a view to obligations under applicable personally identifiable information legislation for any third-party website which are linked to the Code for Earth websites. Please refer to the privacy policy governing each of these websites.

If you have a concern or complaint about the way that your personal data has been or is being processed, please direct it to the ECMWF PII Protection Officer, Shinfield Park, Reading, RG2 9AX, United Kingdom (pii-protection-officer@ecmwf.int).

9. Changes to this Data Protection and Privacy Statement

ECMWF will occasionally update this Data Protection and Privacy Statement to reflect organisational changes and user feedback.  We encourage you to periodically review this Data Protection and Privacy Statement to stay informed on how we use and protect your personal information.