Face Recognition, Selfie and Biometric Data Processing Notice
PURPOSE AND HOW IT WORKS
Momento offers an optional face matching feature so that visitors can find their own photos in the respective event gallery. To do this, the faces in the gallery’s photos are compared with the selfie provided by the person searching, solely for the purpose of carrying out this search. Face matching runs when a search is started. No permanent database of face templates is created.
The biometric face templates generated from the selfie and during matching are used only for the duration of the process. Once it is complete, they are deleted; they are not stored for later searches and are not included in backups. This information concerns the selfie used for the search and the temporary face templates. The original photos uploaded to the gallery by the photographer or the event organizer are subject to the access and storage conditions of the respective gallery.
Biometric data for the unique identification of a person are special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9(1) GDPR. Their processing as part of face matching takes place solely on the basis of your explicit consent under Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR (in addition to a legal basis under Art. 6 GDPR).
CONTROLLER AND ROLE OF CXR APP
The controller within the meaning of Art. 4(7) GDPR is the photographer, event organizer or other gallery operator who decides to create a gallery, upload and publish photos, open access and determine the purposes of using the gallery. This status does not arise from the fact that the person took or uploaded the photo, but from the fact that they decide on the purposes and essential means of the respective processing. The identity and contact details of the gallery operator are stated in the gallery notices that are accessible to visitors.
The processing location is currently the existing infrastructure on which Momento is operated. The migration of the applications to Hetzner in Germany is planned and has not yet been completed. Before the migration, or in the case of a different processing location or a new service provider, we will update the notices and obtain your explicit consent again for new search processes.
CXR App is offered and operated by Visual Memory Works GmbH (“VMW”). For the hosting and matching services, VMW acts on the instructions of the gallery operator as a processor (Art. 28 GDPR). For processes such as account management, its own billing and the security of the platform, which VMW carries out for its own purposes, VMW is the controller. If, in another process, VMW determines purposes and essential means, the role will be assessed separately according to the actual arrangement. This delineation does not remove VMW’s obligations regarding data security and lawful processing.
Whether a data protection impact assessment under Art. 35 GDPR is required for face matching must be assessed by the gallery operator as the controller. This notice is not an assurance that such an assessment has been carried out.
INFORMATION AND SEPARATE EXPLICIT CONSENT
Searching for your own face does not in itself permit the processing of the faces of other people in the gallery. The gallery operator must ensure the necessary legal basis and information for the gallery photos that are included in the search. Photos that do not meet these requirements must not be included in the biometric matching.
Before the search, visitors must be able to view the gallery-specific privacy notices and give their explicit consent by a separate action. Acceptance of the Terms of Use, entering the gallery, a cookie selection or the mere uploading of a selfie does not replace explicit consent. Even fleeting processing is processing of biometric data; the fact that there is no permanent storage removes neither the duty to provide information nor the requirement of an appropriate legal basis.
ALTERNATIVE ACCESS AND MATCHING RESULTS
Face matching is not mandatory. Albums and galleries are also accessible without face matching, within the access settings of the respective gallery operator. If you do not give explicit consent, face matching will not be carried out. Whether a gallery is public or access-restricted is a separate access decision and does not release the gallery operator from its obligation to share content lawfully.
Matching results are based on similarity; they are not a binding identity check and not a guarantee of error-free results. Please check the photos displayed before downloading or purchasing. If you appear in a matching result, this does not give you permission to make the photo public or to use it in a way that infringes the rights of other people.
CHILDREN’S DATA
When processing children’s face data, appropriate information is provided, taking into account age and capacity to understand, and, where necessary, legal representatives are involved. Where the involvement of legal representatives is required, consent given solely by the child or by another visiting person is not sufficient. If the required procedure cannot be completed, no biometric search is carried out for the child; instead, access to the gallery without face recognition is available. Access to an open gallery does not remove the obligation to protect children’s data.
WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT AND REQUESTS
You can refrain from the search before it starts. If a cancellation or a withdrawal of consent is received during processing, the new biometric processing is ended and the temporary data of this process is deleted. Once the process is complete, the selfie and the temporary face templates must already have been deleted. For every later search, explicit consent is obtained again. You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR); the lawfulness of the processing carried out up to the withdrawal remains unaffected. Withdrawal does not automatically delete the original photos in the gallery. Requests for erasure and access concerning the gallery photos are assessed separately.
Under the GDPR, data subjects have in particular the rights of access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20) and objection (Art. 21), as well as the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77). For VMW, the competent supervisory authority is the Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (www.ldi.nrw.de).
Please direct requests concerning processing in galleries to the respective gallery operator. For VMW’s own processing and for forwarding requests received by VMW to the competent gallery operator, you can contact:
Visual Memory Works GmbH · Elbestraße 10, 45768 Marl, Germany
E-mail: erguen.kalayci@visualmemoryworks.de · Phone: +49 2365 5033557