Skip to content

Privacy Policy

1. Controller (Responsible Party)

The "Controller" pursuant to Art. 4(7) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the institution deciding on the purposes and means of processing personal data:

  • Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU)
    Represented by the Rector
    Faculty of Computer Science (FIN) – Chair of Simulation
    Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
    https://www.sim.ovgu.de/

Project Contacts (Implementation)

While the University is the legal controller, the software is developed and maintained by the student project team. For technical inquiries or data deletion requests regarding the OSCAR bot, please contact:

2. Data Protection Officer (OVGU)

OVGU, as a public institution, has an official Data Protection Officer (DPO). For formal privacy-related inquiries regarding the institution, you may contact:

Data Protection Officer of OVGU Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany Email: datenschutz [at] ovgu.de

3. Scope of this Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to:

  1. The OSCAR documentation website (static site).
  2. The OSCAR Discord bot (software service operated on Discord).

4. Documentation Website (MkDocs)

4.1 Purpose & Hosting

This website provides project documentation. It is hosted via GitLab Pages on the university infrastructure (Chair of Simulation / FIN / OVGU).

By design, this site does not use analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Matomo) and does not set tracking cookies.

4.2 Server Log Files

When visiting this website, the web server processes technical access data (server logs), which is standard for all websites hosted on university infrastructure. This includes:

  • IP address
  • Date and time of access
  • Requested resource (URL/path)
  • Browser and operating system information

Legal basis: Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest (Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR), specifically ensuring the security and stability of the IT infrastructure.

4.3 Retention

Server logs are retained only as long as necessary for IT security and troubleshooting, after which they are deleted or anonymized automatically.

5. External Resources & Fonts

To protect your privacy, this documentation website loads nothing from other hosts: no Content Delivery Network, no badge service, no analytics. Every image, icon, script and style sheet comes from the host that serves the page itself.

One request to the faculty GitLab

The header shows how many stars the source code repository has. To show that number, the page asks the GitLab of the faculty (isggit3.cs.ovgu.de) once per visit.

Local Fonts

Fonts used on this website are standard system fonts. No connection to Google Fonts servers is established when you visit this page.

A link you click leaves this website, for example to Discord, to the source code or to a university portal. From then on the privacy policy of that site applies.

6. OSCAR Discord Bot

6.1 Purpose

OSCAR supports semester planning and provides module-related information within the Discord platform.

6.2 Processed Data

To provide its functionality, OSCAR processes the following data:

A. Transient Data (Processed but not stored permanently) * Message Content: The bot reads messages only to identify the two operator commands !ping and !resync. Content not addressed to the bot is ignored, and no message is stored or logged. * Discord Display Names: Used for temporary interaction but not logged.

B. Persistently Stored Data (Database) * Discord User ID: A numerical identifier (e.g., 123456789...) used to link your saved preferences to you. * Preferences: Settings you explicitly save (e.g., study program, language, semester). * Semester Plan: List of Module IDs you have added to your plan. * Feedback: Text entries and ratings you explicitly submit via the feedback command. * Module Ratings & Reviews: The stars, the difficulty and the optional text you submit with /rate. Other students see the rating and the text, without your name and without your ID. * Study Buddies: The modules you opted in for with /studybuddy. Students who opted in for the same module can see your Discord account. Nobody else can, and leaving removes the entry. * Code Golf: Your shortest solution per challenge and the language you named. The leaderboard shows the length and the language, not your name and not your ID.

C. Log The bot writes a technical log: that it started, which commands it registered and which errors occurred. It does not record who used which command, and it does not contain your Discord User ID.

We do not intentionally store: Real names, email addresses, IP addresses of Discord users, or general chat logs.

  • Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR (Public Task): As a project within the university curriculum supporting student organization.
  • Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (Contract-like): Processing is necessary to provide the specific bot features you request via commands.

6.4 Recipients / Third Parties

  • Discord Inc.: The bot runs on the Discord platform. Discord processes data according to their own policies.
  • University Infrastructure: The bot's database is hosted on OVGU/Chair resources.

6.5 Data Retention

  • User Preferences: Stored until you delete your data with /my_data, or until the project is discontinued.
  • Feedback: Stored for up to 6 months for quality evaluation, then anonymized or deleted. /my_data removes yours immediately, without waiting for that.
  • Backups: A copy of the database is made every night and kept for 14 days, readable by the operator only. Data you delete with /my_data is gone from the live database at once and from the last copy after 14 days.
  • Log: At most 50 MB, older lines are overwritten.

7. Transfers to Third Countries

The OSCAR Bot operates on Discord. Discord Inc. is based in the USA. By using the Bot on Discord, you acknowledge that data (metadata, interaction logs) is processed on Discord's servers in the USA. This is governed by the Discord Privacy Policy.

8. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have the right to Access, Rectify, Delete, Restrict processing, and Object to the processing of your data.

  • Access and Delete, without asking anyone: Run /my_data in Discord. It shows you everything the bot stores about you, hands it over as a file you can keep, and deletes all of it on request. The answer is only visible to you.
  • Rectify: /start overwrites your programme, examination regulations, semester and language at any time.
  • For anything else regarding the Bot: Please contact the Student Team (see Section 1).
  • To exercise rights regarding the University generally: Contact the OVGU DPO (see Section 2).

Right to lodge a complaint

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular:

State Commissioner for Data Protection Saxony-Anhalt Otto-von-Guericke-Straße 34a, 39104 Magdeburg, Germany Website: https://datenschutz.sachsen-anhalt.de/