We are a leading research center for the automotive and rail industries, focusing, among other things, on research in the field of automated driving. Our research encompasses the development, validation, testing, and operation of fail-safe automated driving architectures and ensures the safe coexistence of highly automated vehicles with conventional vehicles in road traffic.

Our goal is to (further) develop automated driving functions and to enhance and improve both vehicle safety and road traffic safety through research and development of new automated driving technologies.

To this end, we have equipped our test vehicles with various sensors, including video cameras and audio recording sensors, which perceive the surroundings of the test vehicles. Our test vehicles are labeled with stickers indicating these recordings.

For more information on our research in the field of automated driving, please visit: www.virtual-vehicle.at/applications/cooperative-networked-automated-mobility

As the protection of your personal data is very important to us, we would like to inform you how we process personal data in connection with our test vehicles:

Information on the responsible organisation:

Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH

Inffeldgasse 21A

8010 Graz, Austria

www.virtual-vehicle.at

Contact Data Protection:
E-Mail: privacy@v2c2.at

What data do we process from you, and for what purpose do we do this?

Our test vehicles are equipped with various sensors, such as LIDAR and radar sensors, as well as video cameras (including audio). These video cameras record the surroundings of the test vehicles to support answering scientific questions in the field of automated driving. This may also involve recording road users who are within the camera’s field of view. Identifying these road users is not intended, but it cannot be entirely ruled out.

The purpose of these video and audio recordings is to detect traffic objects (such as road markings, traffic signs, buildings, bridges, etc.) and other road users (vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, etc.) during test drives, to capture their individual positions and movements in relation to the test vehicle, and to map traffic scenarios, allowing the test vehicle to operate correctly in automated driving mode.

After the test drives are completed, the video and audio data are combined with other sensor data. This enables us to evaluate the driving functions used and the traffic scenarios encountered, as well as to analyze, improve, and further develop algorithms for automated driving.

These processes allow us to operate the test vehicles and to research, test, and (further) develop automated driving functions. This, in turn, serves to increase vehicle and traffic safety.

The traffic objects and road users recorded by our cameras, such as cars, trucks, cyclists, pedestrians, etc., are only categorized and classified as “cars,” “people,” etc. However, the video and audio recordings may still contain footage of individuals, vehicle license plates, or other personal data. Identifying people or license plates is not intended and is not performed by our systems.

As part of presentations, excerpts from the camera footage are shown to exchange information about the current state of research with our research and cooperation partners and to introduce automated driving to a broader public. In these cases, the footage is reviewed beforehand, and recordings without identifiable personal data are selected.

What are the legal bases for our data processing?

The legal basis for processing personal data in the context of these test drives and the subsequent research is our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Abs. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in research, testing, and development of automated or autonomous driving functions and driver assistance systems.

Our research is regularly conducted within the framework of publicly funded projects that serve public interests, such as improving road safety.

Therefore, as a publicly funded research institution, we also regularly inform about our research activities. The legal basis for this is our legitimate interest, as well as the public interest in sharing essential information about our research activities with our research partners or the public.

How long do we store your data?
We store your personal data for as long as we need it to fulfil our research objectives.

How is your data secured?

We secure your data according to the state of the art. In particular, we protect your personal data through the following measures to prevent misuse or other unauthorized processing:

• Collected data is stored on encrypted storage devices.
• Access to our IT systems is continuously monitored to detect and prevent misuse at an early stage.
• Access to image/audio files that may contain personal data is restricted to a limited number of our employees, who have been specially trained on data protection and security measures.
• Where sufficient for the purpose, data is used without any reference to individuals.

To whom do we pass on data, and how do we protect it?

In order to develop and validate safe and reliable driving functions for automated driving, a large amount of sensor data is required, which cannot be collected by a single research institution alone.

Therefore, we share the data collected with our test vehicles with cooperation partners. Whenever sufficient for the specific research purpose, faces and license plates are anonymized before the data is shared.

Our cooperation partners include industry and research partners with whom we collaborate in the field of research and development in automated driving. The transfer of sensor data to our partners is subject to strict purpose limitations (i.e., for research and development in automated driving). Identifying individuals is not permitted, as it is not relevant for the research and development of automated driving systems. Only the position and direction of movement of traffic objects and participants are relevant.

When data is processed in countries outside the European Union (EU) that do not have an adequacy decision by the European Commission, we use EU standard contracts with appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure that your personal data is processed in accordance with European data protection standards.

What rights do you have?

In connection with the processing of your personal data, you have the following data subject rights:

– Right of access to the relevant personal data (Art. 15 DSGVO)
– Right to rectification (Art. 16 DSGVO)
– Right to erasure (Art. 17 DSGVO)
– Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 DSGVO)
– Right to data portability (Art. 20 DSGVO)
– Right to object (Art. 21 DSGVO)

However, these rights may be limited due to legal requirements. Since identification of individuals is not necessary for our processing purposes, data protection law does not allow us to conduct identification to uphold data subject rights. Therefore, we require additional information from you in order to clearly identify you.

You may also approach us or our test drivers during or immediately after data collection by the test vehicle (e.g., if you notice the recording) and ask us or our test drivers to delete any recordings of you.

How can you exercise your rights?

If you wish to exercise your data subject rights, please contact us in writing (see our contact details above). You are also welcome to reach out to us if you need additional information or have general questions.

In addition, you can file a complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority (www.dsb.at).