Privacy policy

Any data you enter in the contact form will be sent by email to the head of the decentralised complaints office, Ms Annegret Schallmann. The heads of the decentralised complaints office, Annegret Schallmann and Stefanie Merka, have access to the data submitted.

Any data you provide to the decentralised complaints office in person, by telephone, in writing or by email (annegret.schallmann@sowi.uni-goettingen.de or stefanie.merka@sowi.uni-goettingen.de) is accessible only to the named individuals at the decentralised complaints office; where applicable, you may be asked whether you consent to your data, or parts thereof, being passed on to other counselling centres or ombudspersons.

The entity responsible for the collection and processing of personal data is: Georg-August University of Göttingen, represented by the President, Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen. The relevant department is the Student Office of the Faculty of Social Sciences, specifically Annegret Schallmann and Stefanie Merka (Head). Contact: annegret.schallmann@sowi.uni-goettingen.de or stefanie.merka@sowi.uni-goettingen.de.

The Data Protection Officer is Prof. Dr Andreas Wiebe, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 6, 37073 Göttingen, Tel. 0551 39-27381, email: datenschutz@uni-goettingen.de The decentralised complaints office handles suggestions and complaints from students relating to their studies and teaching. Students receive information, advice and support in the event of study-related conflicts and critical situations within the faculty. The feedback is used to improve the quality of teaching. Data processing is carried out for the purposes of communication and to deal with enquiries, including monitoring recurring issues from which a need for structural change may be identified. The legal basis for the processing of your data is your consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This consent is deemed to have been given as soon as you have provided your data to the decentralised complaints office.

In order to process your enquiries, we store the following personal data provided by you, insofar as you disclose it to us: surname, first name, telephone numbers, email addresses, the full text of your correspondence with us, student registration number, degree programme and semester. We normally store this personal data for a period of two years; however, if in individual cases a matter has not yet been resolved after two years, we will retain it until the matter is resolved. We also store the following data relating to the matter: method of contact, date of receipt and date of resolution, nature of the enquiry, summary of the enquiry, internal responsibility for handling the enquiry, processing history including the departments involved, status and outcome. Case-related data is stored for a period of five years. Your data will only be disclosed to third parties (e.g. staff from other departments, teaching staff) if you have given your prior consent in writing or by email. Case-related data may also be used for activity reports and statistics; in such cases, it is ensured that no conclusions can be drawn about specific individuals.

You may ask us what data we hold about you. You may also have the stored data amended or deleted at any time, provided the legal requirements are met. Furthermore, you may request that we restrict the processing of your data or object to the processing of your data. You may also withdraw your consent. To do so, please send an email to annegret.schallmann@sowi.uni-goettingen.de or stefanie.merka@sowi.uni-goettingen.de. If you subsequently object to the processing of your data, we will cease processing the data from the time of your objection and delete it without delay. If you withdraw your consent, you will not suffer any disadvantages, except that your enquiry cannot then be processed further. Data processing up to the time of withdrawal remains lawful. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 of the EU GDPR) regarding our processing of your personal data, for example with the State Data Protection Commissioner for Lower Saxony, Prinzenstraße 5, 30159 Hanover, Tel. 0511/120-4500, poststelle@lfd.niedersachsen.de.