PRIVACY POLICY
Thank you very much for using the “HUSH CITY” App.
Your privacy is important to us. Please review this Privacy Policy carefully.
This Privacy Policy informs users as to how their information will be collected, stored, disclosed, used and shared by Dr. Antonella Radicchi, in her capacity of inventor of the “HUSH CITY” App.
By pressing “Accept” you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions to use the App.
1. Introduction
With this app, you are an active part of worldwide research to map quietness in cities.
Our cities have become increasingly noisier by the hour. Only in Europe, over 125 million people are affected by noise pollution from traffic every year, and apparently, quietness is becoming a luxury available only to a few of us. By using this mobile app, you will contribute to making quietness available for all those who appreciate it.
This app will help you map and find the quiet spots in your neighbourhood where you can relax, enjoy time with your kids or simply have a peaceful conversation. Enjoy slowing down!
Additionally, this app will inform you about noise pollution, our need for quietness and the “open source soundscape” approach.
The information was provided in the frame of the research projects “Beyond the Noise: Open Source Soundscapes” and “Hush City Mobile Lab”, which were developed by Dr. Antonella Radicchi, in her capacity of inventor of the App. More information can be found in the info part of this app and at www.opensourcesoundscapes.org.
Please be informed that this Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that we do not own or control, including but not limited to the hosting provider Host Europe GmbH based in Welserstr. 14, 51149 Köln. VAT (ID: DE187370678, Commercial register number: HRB 28495, Website: https://www.hosteurope.de/).
The information collected will be used to compile worldwide maps of the quietness of our cities, which is the goal of this citizen science project.
2. What Information do we collect and how we use it
2.1 Personal Identifiable Information
Your personally identifiable information, including but not limited to, name and email address, may be required to start and run the App.
You acknowledge that this information may be personal to you, and by providing them, you allow us to identify you and therefore you may not be anonymous. The Personal Information we gather enables our system to generate a personal and unique user-ID, which will be needed to use the App.
Personal Information (including the IP addresses) will never be published and will only be accessible to the system administrator.
2.2 Location data and time periods
For the measurements and for compiling the maps on quietness, your precise location is needed. We use various technologies to determine your location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide us with information about devices on Wi-Fi access points and on cell towers nearby.
The location data collected will be used for the survey as specified in the above section 1. “Introduction”, since scientists need to know both your location and the time at which you made the survey. Thus, this app needs to access your GPS to transmit the exact location of your survey.
The collected survey will be part of the citizen science project “Hush City” (www.opensourcesoundscapes.org).
The collected survey be stored with a randomly generated, anonymous ID number into the host provider HostEurope (https://www.hosteurope.de/) and made available anonymously on the Internet and through publications in international journals and public presentations at conferences, symposia, and dissemination events in general. In this latter event, while we can guarantee that the collected surveys will be made available anonymously, we cannot foresee how and where such surveys will be disclosed.
2.3 Email communications
We may occasionally send you email and other communications. In particular, we may use your contact information and send you an email if we notice something peculiar about your measurements.
Please note that you could always opt out of receiving our communications by sending an email to the following address: info@opensourcesoundscapes.org.
2.4 Other Information Collected
We may collect non-personal identifiable information when you use our App, including your urban soundscapes’ audio records and pictures, and answers to the surveys, which could be made public exclusively anonymously and for research purposes.
However, while we can guarantee that we will not disclose the user identity, we can not guarantee, despite our effort to control as much as we can the data uploaded, that the data (pictures, audio records and so on) uploaded by the users do not infringe any third parties rights.
Therefore, “HUSH CITY” App will not be liable for any data uploaded by users.
3. Data storage
All and any collected data and personal information – specified and collected under Art. 2 of the Privacy Policy -will be sent anonymously electronically to the database stored in the host provider HostEurope (https://www.hosteurope.de/), a provider whose servers are based in Germany, where they will be stored.
We take appropriate measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of personally identifiable information and we store all of our information using the required industry-standard techniques.
4. Data sharing and transfer
4.1 Third parties
Neither the email address nor any Personal Information will be distributed to a third party nor used for marketing purposes.
Any data or information collected will be transferred with the sole purpose of storage in the host provider HostEurope specified in above point 3. Please be informed that the browser and other applications provide means to send data to the Internet.
We do not authorise the above-mentioned host provider HostEurope (https://www.hosteurope.de/) to share and/or transfer such data/information stored to third parties. However, we cannot guarantee that HostEurope (https://www.hosteurope.de/) will not disclose anyhow such data/information and, in this event, the latter will be the sole responsible for any privacy infringement.
4.2 Disclosure for compliance/protection of others
We reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information that we reasonably believe is necessary to (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, (ii) enforce this Privacy Policy, including investigation of potential violations hereof, (iii) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues, (iv) respond to user support requests, or (v) protect our rights, property, or safety, our users and the public. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and spam/malware prevention.
5. Data cancellation and account closure
5.1 Data cancellation
Users can cancel the datasets they have collected at any time without providing any justification. The process is straightforward and can be easily completed through the Hush City app, following this procedure: 1) Go to the app’s section “My Recent Surveys”; 2) Click on “Edit”; 3) Select the datasets to delete; and 4) Click on “Delete”. Your request will be received by the app’s admin and the selected datasets will be automatically deleted.
5.2 Account closure
Users can cancel their accounts at any time without providing any justification. The process is straightforward and can be easily completed through the Hush City app, following this procedure: 1) Go to the app’s section “Settings”; 2) Click on “Close account”; 3) Type “Close my account” in the text box which will pop up; and 4) Click on “Agree”. Your account will be automatically deleted.
6. Changes in the company structure/ownership
Please note that if “Hush City” project will transferred to third parties, or come to an end, the data collected, including personally identifiable information we may possess about you, will be stored and protected according to the terms set forth in this Privacy Policy.
7. Disclaimer of warranty
This Privacy Policy only governs information collected by the “HUSH CITY” app.
This app is provided free of charge. We are therefore not responsible for any charges applied by third parties (e.g. Internet or mobile service providers) even if those services are required to use the App.
Moreover, we are not responsible anyhow, for the privacy policies and/or practices of third-party’s app and/or services, that you could anyhowcome across by using our App and of the information you deliberately decide to share through third parties.
6.1. No Warranties
To the maximum extent permitted by law: the software is provided “as is” and used at your sole risk with no warranties whatsoever.
6.2. Compliance clause
This Privacy Policy is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR no. 679/2016).
8. Contacts
We will retain your Personal Information and data collected as long as we need it for the purposes set hereby and as long as those purposes are not prohibited by law.
You can always contact us if you decide to cancel your data/personal information from our app and from the host provider HostEurope or if you prefer not to receive emails or any sort of communications from us, by sending an email to the following address: info@opensourcesoundscapes.org.
9. Privacy Policy Updates
We may change this Privacy Policy at any time, but we will inform you of any changes. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or its implementation or if you require changes to the collected data at the following address: info@opensourcesoundscapes.org
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. Introduction
The following terms and conditions govern all use of the App and all content, services and products available at or through the app.
The App, operated by Dr. Antonella Radicchi, in her capacity of inventor of the “HUSH CITY” App and associate scientist at the Institute of City and Regional Planning, Technical University of Berlin is offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules and policies (including, without limitation, the above Privacy Policy).
Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully before accessing or using our App.
To use the app “HUSH CITY” you need to read the following terms and conditions carefully and then accept them.
Please note that by accepting the following terms and conditions you allow us, inter alia, to collect your Personal Information and data, expressly consenting that we use, share and store them according to our Privacy Policy.
If you do not accept the following terms and conditions completely, you are not allowed to use this App.
2. Usages of the “HUSH CITY” App
2.1. Basic requirements
The app can be used on devices running:
- iOS 9.0 and higher;
- Android 5 and higher.
2.2. Third-party charges
Measurements and data are transmitted between clients and the secured host provider HostEurope (https://www.HostEurope.de) over the Internet, encrypted by an SSL certificate.
For this, charges by third parties, (e.g. internet or mobile service provider) might apply. Any such charges are the responsibility of the smartphone user.
2.3. Updates
Infrequently, software updates might be necessary for patches, new functions, plug-ins or new software versions. Failing to allow the required updates may result in the app’s system failure.
2.4. Underaged persons
When accepting these terms and conditions you confirm that you are 18 years or older.
2.5. Outdoor use
The app is designed to be used outdoors. Before using the app you must examine the intended use area to ensure there are no potential hazards. Potential hazards could include but are not limited to, tripping, traffic, animals, severe weather and crime.
A second adult must be present for the duration of app use, to watch for the development of any new hazards during app use, and alert the user to halt app use in the case that a potential hazard exists.
3. Authorisation of the app
3.1. Precise location (GPS and network-based)
By accepting these terms and conditions you allow the app to get your precise location using the Global Positioning System (GPS) or network location sources such as mobile towers and Wi-Fi. These location services must be turned on and available to your device for the app to use them. Apps may use this to determine where you are and may consume additional battery power.
Please note that without your permission to transmit your location, your surveys cannot be used.
3.2. Full network access
By accepting these terms and conditions you allow the app to create network sockets and use custom network protocols. The browser and other applications provide means to send data to the Internet; therefore, by accepting these terms and conditions, you give consent to share the data on the Internet. Please be informed that in this event, we can not foresee nor guarantee on how and where such data will be disclosed and shared.
3.3. Read phone status and identity
By accepting these terms and conditions you allow the app to access the phone features of the device. By accepting these terms and conditions, you give consent to determine your phone model.
3.4. Identity
When first started, your username and email address with the measurements will be transmitted to the server by the app, encrypted by the Secure Sockets Layer (the industry-standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser), and then they will be saved into the database, where an anonymous user-ID will be generated by the system.
3.5. Modify system settings
By accepting these terms and conditions you allow the app to modify the system’s settings data. Please be informed that malicious apps may corrupt your system’s configuration.