Privacy and Cookie Policy

1. About this policy

This Policy explains how personal data is collected, used, stored and protected in connection with https://eurasiancarbon.com/ (the Website). It covers visitors, people contacting the project and individuals featured in professional profiles, publications or project communications. It also explains cookies and similar technologies.

Separate notices may apply to research participation, event registration or other activities involving additional processing. Personal data means information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. We process data fairly, for specified lawful purposes, and limit it to what is necessary. We take appropriate steps to maintain accuracy and confidentiality and avoid unnecessary retention.

References in website notices to agreement with this Policy mean acknowledgement of the information it provides. This Policy is a privacy notice, not a waiver of your rights or a substitute for consent where consent is required. Separate Terms and Conditions, where provided and applicable, govern use of the relevant service; they do not expand the purposes of personal data processing described here.

2. Controller and contact details

National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University; the Controller, we, us or our) is the legal entity responsible for determining the purposes and means of personal data processing through the Website. The BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre (the Centre) is the responsible unit within HSE University and the contact point for the Website and privacy enquiries.

Website: https://www.bricscompetition.org/

Email: info@bricscompetition.org

Correspondence address: 11 Pokrovsky Boulevard, Moscow, 109028, Russia, Higher School of Economics, National Research University.

Telephone: +7 (495) 772 9590, extension 27870 or 27875.

Full legal designation (Russian registered name): Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики».

English rendering: Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “National Research University Higher School of Economics”.

State registration number (OGRN): 1027739630401. Tax identification number (INN): 7714030726. Tax registration reason code (KPP): 770101001.

Registered address: 20 Myasnitskaya Street, Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. The Centre’s correspondence address is given above.

Please address privacy enquiries to info@bricscompetition.org with the subject “Eurasian Carbon — Privacy enquiry”.

3. Information we process

Contact information. The Website’s contact form requests your full name, email address and comments. We process this information to handle your enquiry and related correspondence. Follow-up messages may contain your organization, professional role or collaboration proposals. Please provide only relevant information and avoid unnecessary sensitive data or information about other people.

The form is intended for project enquiries, not account registration or purchases. We do not request payment details, identity documents or sensitive personal information through it. Required fields are identified in the form. Without sufficient contact details or information about your request, we may be unable to respond.

Technical information. To deliver pages, prevent abuse and diagnose faults, the Website may process IP addresses, request dates and times, requested pages, browser and operating-system details, referring pages and error records. This information is used for operation and security, rather than to identify visitors by name. Technical processing is limited to what is necessary for these purposes. Verification measures are used to distinguish genuine enquiries from automated submissions; data must not be reused for unrelated advertising.

Professional information. The Website publishes expert profiles and project news, including names, affiliations, professional biographies, photographs and information about activities. We use material supplied by the individuals concerned, their organizations or project partners, and appropriately attributed public professional sources. Publication is limited to relevant professional information and requires an appropriate legal basis; public availability alone is not treated as unrestricted permission to republish personal data.

Submitting the contact form confirms that you have been given access to this Policy. Any acceptance of separate Terms and Conditions concerns those terms only. Where we rely on consent to handle your personal data, we obtain that consent separately; acknowledgement of this Policy or submission of the form alone does not replace it.

Cookie and preference information is described in Section 9.

4. Purposes and legal bases

Personal data processing is governed by Russian Federation Federal Law No. 152-FZ of 27 July 2006 “On Personal Data”, as amended, and other applicable Russian legislation. HSE University’s Regulations on the Processing of Personal Data provide the institutional framework for this processing. The purposes and legal bases are set out below.

Where consent is used, it is specific to the relevant purpose and may be withdrawn. Our legitimate interests are maintaining a secure, functioning informational website and preventing spam and technical abuse. Such processing is limited to what is necessary and must not infringe individuals’ rights and freedoms. Visiting the Website does not itself constitute consent. Submitting an enquiry does not itself subscribe you to newsletters or authorize unrelated promotional communications.

5. Processing and recipients

The BRICS Centre handles project enquiries on behalf of HSE University. The contact channel is info@bricscompetition.org and the Website’s contact form. Enquiry records comprise the information submitted and any correspondence needed to respond. Access is limited to authorized Centre staff and other authorized HSE personnel whose duties require it, including support for IT, information security and personal data requests.

Processing may include collection, recording, organization, storage, consultation, use, correction, lawful disclosure, restriction and deletion, by automated or manual means. Messages must be kept in systems authorized by HSE, with access restricted to the purpose of handling the enquiry. They are not published as Website content or automatically treated as newsletter subscriptions.

External technical providers may process data only to the extent necessary to deliver contracted website infrastructure, communications or support services. Where HSE entrusts processing to a provider, the agreement must define the purposes, data and operations, impose confidentiality and security requirements, and govern assistance with requests, incidents and deletion. Access by subcontractors is subject to the applicable agreement and legal safeguards. Providers acting on HSE’s instructions must not use enquiry data for their own advertising or unrelated purposes.

ADVERTRIO is the Website developer. This credit does not confer an independent right to use visitor data. Any access needed for maintenance must be specifically authorized and subject to the same contractual and confidentiality safeguards. HSE retains its responsibilities as operator.

We do not sell contact information. Project partners do not receive private enquiries merely because they are named on the Website. If answering an enquiry requires a partner’s involvement, disclosure must have a lawful basis and be limited to the necessary information; an anonymized summary is preferred where sufficient. Disclosures required by law are made only within the scope of the relevant obligation. Information about the persons processing your data on HSE’s behalf may be requested from the Centre.

6. Storage and international transfers

HSE manages personal data processing under Russian law and its institutional data protection regulations. Storage and access must meet applicable data localization requirements, including requirements governing the collection of Russian citizens’ personal data through the internet. Access to enquiry records is restricted to authorized personnel and contracted providers for the purposes described in this Policy.

Any transfer of personal data outside the Russian Federation must comply with applicable statutory conditions and restrictions. Before initiating such a transfer, HSE assesses the recipient’s confidentiality and security safeguards and completes any required notification to the competent authority. A transfer must not proceed where prohibited or restricted by law or a competent authority. Submitting an enquiry is not, by itself, consent to an international transfer.

You may contact info@bricscompetition.org for information about the storage and processing of your personal data, including recipients, countries involved in any cross-border transfer and applicable safeguards.

7. Retention and deletion

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for its stated purpose and any applicable legal requirements. Enquiries and correspondence are retained while the matter and necessary follow-up remain active. After resolution, continued retention requires a specific legal or operational justification, such as an applicable records obligation or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Technical records are retained only for the period needed to operate and secure the Website or investigate a specific incident. Consent evidence is retained while necessary to demonstrate the lawfulness of the relevant processing. Published professional information is retained while relevant to the project or a justified historical record and is reviewed when circumstances change or a correction or removal request is received.

When the purpose ends, consent is withdrawn without another lawful basis remaining, or processing becomes unlawful, the data must be deleted, destroyed or irreversibly anonymized within the applicable legal timeframe. Deletion requirements also apply to providers and backup copies; retained backup data must be protected against ordinary use and deleted in accordance with applicable deadlines.

8. Security

We apply technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the processing and risks. Our required safeguards include restricted staff access, strong authentication for administration, HTTPS transmission, timely software updates, protected backups, confidentiality obligations and procedures for deletion and incident response. Access is withdrawn when no longer needed. No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. We assess incidents affecting personal data and make notifications to authorities and affected individuals where required by law.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookie use is intended to support the visitor experience and, where analytics are enabled, to understand website traffic and improve content and usability. The notice about continued use informs visitors of this Policy; continued browsing is not treated as permission for optional analytics or other processing that requires consent.

Cookies are small files stored on your device by a website. Similar technologies, including browser storage, can support website functions or remember preferences. Technical requests may also disclose an IP address, browser and device information and the time and page requested, even without cookies.

Necessary technologies may be used to deliver requested functions, maintain a secure session, prevent automated misuse or remember privacy choices. Their use must be limited to those functions. Session cookies ordinarily expire when the browser session ends; persistent cookies remain until their configured expiry or deletion by the user. Retention must not exceed what is necessary for the relevant function.

Optional analytics, tracking or third-party embedded services must not be activated without any consent required by applicable law. Before requesting consent, we provide information about the service, provider, purpose, data collected and duration through the relevant notice or choice interface. Refusing optional processing does not prevent access to basic project information. Continuing to browse does not by itself constitute consent to optional tracking.

You can use your browser’s privacy controls to inspect, block or delete cookies and website storage. Blocking technologies needed for a requested function may prevent that function from working. Where an optional service is offered with consent controls, those controls allow you to change or withdraw your choice. You may also contact info@bricscompetition.org about consent or technical processing.

HSE’s general cookie policy describes technologies used on HSE websites. It does not mean that every service named there is used on Eurasian Carbon. Links to external publications, video platforms or partner websites do not by themselves mean that those services collect data through this Website.

10. External websites and services

The Website links to project partners, publications, media coverage and other external resources. When you follow a link, the destination website’s privacy arrangements apply. Integrated third-party content or tools, if present, and their data collection and activation conditions are disclosed in the relevant service notice before activation.

11. Your rights and requests

Under Russian personal data law, you may request information about processing and access to your data, request correction, blocking or destruction of incomplete, outdated, inaccurate, unlawfully obtained or unnecessary data, withdraw consent and challenge unlawful processing. Withdrawal does not prevent processing that remains lawful on another statutory basis. Additional rights, such as portability, apply only where another applicable law provides them.

Contact info@bricscompetition.org, describe your request and provide sufficient information to locate the records. We may request proportionate identity verification to prevent unauthorized disclosure. Requests are handled within applicable statutory deadlines.

For processing under Russian law, complaints may be submitted to Roskomnadzor, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media: https://rkn.gov.ru/. You may also seek protection of your rights in court. The Centre receives privacy requests at info@bricscompetition.org and routes them to its responsible staff member.

12. Automated decisions

We do not use personal data to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you. The Website is an information outlet and contact channel, rather than a service for evaluating individuals. Any new use involving such decisions would require prior legal review and an updated notice.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Policy to reflect changes in the Website, processing arrangements or applicable requirements. The latest version is made available on the Website. Where notification or renewed consent is required, we take those steps before starting the relevant processing.