The information on this site and its newsletter is subject to a disclaimer, a copyright notice and rules on personal data protection.

Disclaimer

The European e-platform for women entrepreneurship WEgate is an initiative implemented with the contribution of the COSME Programme of the European Union.

The WEgate website and its content as well as the newsletter are managed by a consortium led by the European Small Business Alliance (ESBA) and comprising Business Angels Europe (BAE), MIR Foundation and GYB International.

The content of the website and the newsletter represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (the Agency) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for the use that may be made of the information it contains.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in all the web pages and newsletter issues, the WEgate consortium or any person acting on its behalf, makes no warranty nor do they assume any legal liability, whether direct or indirect, or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information.

The WEgate consortium will also endeavour to correct any inaccuracies brought to its attention.

The WEgate website and the newsletter may have links to third party information providers who may or may not be affiliated with the WEgate consortium. We cannot make any warranties as to the accuracy, reliability or security of information contained on those sites, and accept no liability for damages resulting from the use of that information.

The information contained in this e-platform and newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or legal advice on any particular matter (do not act or rely in any of these materials without first consulting a suitable qualified professional).

The WEgate consortium will not upload any commercial or profit-generating content or abusive content.

In case registered users upload messages, topics or posts with commercial or abusive content, the WEgate consortium will delete them and the related user account.

Copyright notice

© 2020 WEgate. All rights reserved.

All contents on the WEgate website and newsletter are protected under intellectual property law, in particular by copyright.

Cookies

To make this site work properly, we sometimes place small data files called cookies on your device. A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site.

It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another.

How do we use cookies?

A number of our pages use cookies to remember:

  • if you have already replied to a survey pop-up that asks you if the content was helpful or not (so you won’t be asked again)
  • if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site

Cookies are also stored by Matomo (https://matomo.org/), a web analytics platform which ensures your privacy. Any data collected by Matomo is stored on servers owned by Eworx S.A. and not transferred to third parties.

Enabling these cookies is not strictly necessary for the website to work but it will provide you with a better browsing experience. You can delete or block these cookies, but if you do that some features of this site may not work as intended.

The cookie-related information is not used to identify you personally and the pattern data is fully under the control of Eworx S.A.

These cookies are not used for any purpose other than those described here.

How to control cookies

You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details, see AllAboutCookies.org. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed.

If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site and some services and functionalities may not work.

Data protection notice

I. Your personal data are processed in full compliance with EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [1]

II. The data controller of the processing operations is European Small Business Alliance (ESBA), who is the coordinator of WEgate consortium and manager WEgate e-platform.

III. The legal basis for the processing operations is your explicit consent for your personal data to be processed (Article 6 subpar. 1 pt. a of GDPR).

The purpose of this processing operation is to:

  • To register interested persons to the online WEgate Directory, in order to be part of the WEgate community – which is a restricted area – access to message and chat functionalities, add other users to their contacts, rate and comment content published on WEgate, receive the WEgate newsletter and/or email alerts, participate in surveys and being contacted by telephone (upon prior explicit consent) by WEgate consortium on topics/initiatives of interest to the WEgate e-platform and women entrepreneurship.
  • register to the WEgate newsletter. WEgate registered users can subscribe by ticking the Newsletter box in the personal data section of their profile, interested persons can subscribe by filling in the newsletter registration form on the WEgate top menu bar of the WEgate website.
  • register to the WEgate “email alerts”. WEgate registered users can consent to receive email alters by ticking the email alert box in the personal data section of their profile. Subscription to email alerts is currently unavailable to external users.
  • ask questions/send feedback through the online contact form and receive an answer from the WEgate secretariat.
  • share ideas/answer to specific questions or campaigns initiated by the WEgate consortium as a response to specific occurring event or matter that can be accessed through the WEgate home page.
  •  publish news, events and inspiring information, success stories on the Wegate e-platform on topics/initiatives of interest to the WEgate and women entrepreneurship.

IV. What personal data are collected?

1. To register to the WEgate directory as an individual user (entrepreneur or “would be entrepreneur”, mentor):

1.1)  Whether you already own a business, aspire to start one, or you are just passionate about entrepreneurship and supporting other women in their ventures, certain private data are part of the mandatory information necessary to register yourself in the WEgate Directory.

Registration is done through the “Entrepreneur” form, through which you create your account and user profile (through a user name and password) in the WEgate directory, which is a restricted area.

  • Mandatory information: first name, surname, username, position, organisation, country, e-mail address (personal or functional).All the emails from the WEgate system will be sent to your provided e-mail address, if you wish to receive a new password or if you consent to receive the WEgate newsletter, WEgate email alerts and participate to surveys.

    This email address is not made visible to other registered users if you do not want to.

In the “Email visibility” you are asked if you wish to show email in your profile. You can choose one of the two options by clicking on the related button:

  •  Don’t display Email in Profile
  • Display Email in Profile
  • Optional information: picture (you can choose to add your company logo or visual), telephone number (personal or company number), CV

About your telephone number, you can choose in your profile one of these options by clicking on the related button:

  • Don’t display your Phone number on Profile
  • Display your Phone number on Profile (your telephone number will be visible on your public profile)

1.4) You can choose to add or not some information in three non-compulsory blocks of information in your profile:

  • “About me”: Talk about yourself, what you like, what you do, what you would like to do…
  • “Professional information”: Your experiences, skills, interests, people you would like to be connected with. You can choose to upload your CV or not. Please note that you can decide or not to include some of your private data in your uploaded CV. You can remove it at any time.
  • “Personal information”: age range and education level

If you have added some information in the “Personal information” and/or the “Professional information” in your profile, you can choose to display them or not to the other registered users through the following options in your profile’s menu on the left side, after clicking on “Visibility settings”:

  • Personal Information Visibility:
    • Don’t display Personal information on Profile
    • Display Personal Information on Profile
  •  Professional Information Visibility
    • Don’t display Professional Information on Profile
    • Display Professional Information on Profile

In your profile you can also add information about your online channels (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and your website) under “Social network”. If you choose to add this information, it will be shown on your profile page.

1.5) In your profile, the “private message functionality” is enabled by default. You can choose to disable the “Private message functionality”, by unclicking the “Enable private messages” box in the Personal Data section of your Profile. Please note that disabling private messages prevents you from sending or receiving messages from other users.

1.6) In your profile, you can choose to receive the WEgate newsletter and/or WEgate email alerts –- by:

In your menu, after clicking on “Personal data” at the bottom of your profile form, by clicking on the button of your choice:

“I want to receive the newsletter “: NO/YES

And/or

“I want to receive the email alerts”: NO/YES

1.7) Once your profile is created, you will be able to:

  • Connect through “Private message” with the other registered users who are using “Private message”, if you have selected this functionality by clicking the “Enable private message” box in your profile,
  • Contact registered users in the WEgate Directory by email (if their email is visible) or being contacted by a WEgate user (registered or not) by email if your email address is visible in your public profile
  • Chat with other registered users
  • Add other registered users to your “Contacts” or being added in the “Contacts” of other registered users
  • Use the forums. Only registered users are able to view or participate in a forum discussion (by adding a new topic or reply to a post)
  • Rate or post a comment about content published on WEgate
  • Receive the Wegate newsletter and/or WEgate email alerts if you have subscribed by clicking on the related YES button.

2. To register to the WEgate directory through the registration form for support organisations:

2.1) If your organisation or association is active in supporting female entrepreneurship through free-of-charge services, you can register through the registration form for support organisations.

Mandatory information: first name, surname, username, e-mail address (personal or functional).

These private data are part of the mandatory information necessary to register through this form and create an account and a user profile for your organisation in the WEgate directory, which is a restricted area, and having your details as contact person.

All the emails from the WEgate system will be sent to the email address encoded, if you wish to receive a new password or to receive the WEgate newsletters and/or WEgate email alerts and participate to surveys.

This email address is not made visible to other registered users if you do not want to:

Further to the question “Show email in your profile?” you can choose one of the two options by clicking of the related button:

  • Don’t display Email in Profile
  • Display Email in Profile

2.2) Optional information: picture, telephone number (personal or organisation number)

The picture concerns the logo or visual of your organisation. We recommend you not to upload your personal picture.

About your telephone number, in your profile, you can choose one of these options by clicking on the related button:

  • Don’t display your Phone number on Profile
  • Display your Phone number on Profile (your telephone number will be visible on your public profile)

2.3) In your profile’s menu on the left side, after clicking on “Other configuration”, you have the choice to allow your profile to be visible to all users or only to registered users by selecting one of the buttons:

  • Visible only for registered users
  • Visible for all users

2.4) In your profile, you can choose to use or not the “Private message functionality”, by clicking or unclicking on the “Enable private messages” box

Disabling private messages prevents you from sending or receiving messages from other users.

2.5) In your profile, you can choose to receive the WEgate newsletter and/or WEgate email alerts – by:

In your menu, after clicking on “Personal Data” at the button of your profile, clicking on the button of your choice:

“I want to receive the newsletter “: NO/YES

And/or

“I want to receive the email alerts”: NO/YES

2.6) Once the profile is created, you will be able to:

  • Contact registered users in the WEgate Directory by email (if their email is visible) or being contacted by a WEgate user (registered or not) by email if your email address is visible in your public profile
  • Connect with other registered users through “Private message” if you have selected this functionality, by clicking the “Enable private message” box in your profile, with the other registered users who are using “Private message” as well
  • Chat with other registered users
  • Add other registered users to their “contacts” or being added in their contacts
  • Use the forums. Only registered users are able to view or participate in the forum (by adding a new topic or reply to a post)
  • Rate or post a comment about content published on WEgate.
  • Receive the Wegate newsletter and/or WEgate email alerts if you have subscribed by clicking on the related YES button.

3. To send questions/feedback, through the WEgate contact form:

Mandatory information: name, e-mail address (personal or functional).

The button linking to this contact form is available on each WEgate page on top under the name “Contact us” and in the Contact menu at the bottom.

This information is necessary so that the WEgate secretariat can contact you back to answer your request/feedback. The online form sends the content to a private email created for this purpose.

4. To share ideas/answer to specific questions or campaigns:

The WEgate consortium wishes to gauge interest/raise awareness on specific occurring events and matters related to or affecting women entrepreneurs and help to better deliver the objectives of this initiative. To that end, the WEgate secretariat might publish specific questions or campaigns that can be accessed through the WEgate home page and allow anyone interested in the topic to share their ideas/answer to these questions/campaigns.

  • Mandatory information: name, occupation, country.
  • Optional information: age.

This information is necessary so that the WEgate secretariat can publish your content on publicly visible sections of the WEgate e-platform.

5. To register to the WEgate newsletter:

  • As explained under paragraphs 1.6 and 2.5 above, new and existing registered users in the WEgate Directory can choose to register to the newsletter through their profile by clicking on the related YES or NO button
  • Non-registered users in the WEgate Directory can subscribe to the newsletter through the NEWSLETTER section in the menu bar appearing on top of each page of the WEgate website (Mandatory information are: e-mail address (personal of functional), first name, last name, organisation)
  • Non-registered users in the WEgate Directory who contacted the WEgate secretariat through the contact form can ask to receive the latest issue of the WEgate newsletter for information.

6. To register to the WEgate email alerts:

  • As explained under paragraphs 1.6 and 2.5 above, new and existing registered users in the WEgate Directory can choose to register to the WEgate email alerts through their profile by clicking on the related YES or NO button
  • Non-registered users cannot subscribe to the WEgate email alerts.

7. To write and publish new, inspiring information and success stories and good practice stories on the Wegate e-platform and promotion on Social Media and via newsletters on topics/initiatives of interest to the WEgate and women entrepreneurship.

We collect first name, last name, picture, e-mail address, phone number and city/country of women entrepreneurs and support organisations in order to conduct interviews, write and publish success stories and good practice stories on the WEgate platform. Articles, name and picture will only be published on the WEgate e-platform with prior explicit consent of the entrepreneur/support organisation.

V. Who will be the recipients or have access to your private data?

  • – European Small Business Alliance (ESBA), who is the coordinator of WEgate consortium and manager WEgate e-platform. Other WEgate consortium members (Business Angels Europe (BAE), MIR Foundation and GYB International) charged with specific project tasks may also be granted access to your personal data to the extent demanded by the implementation of that specific task for the purposes mentioned above.
  • the WEgate secretariat, run by ESBA, is responsible for managing and promoting the WEgate e-platform and its community, replying to your enquiries, for technical matters, access to your personal data as “Admin” of the WEgate website and its Directory, and for managing the WEgate newsletter, WEgate email alerts and user surveys, by entering your e-mail address, name and/or organisation name.
  • We use a third-party provider, E-goi, to deliver our e-newsletter and e-mail alerts.E-goi is registered in Portugal and collects, uses and discloses information in accordance with its Privacy Policy here: https://login.egoiapp.com/legal/anti-spam-policy.

    Your personal data collected for the e-newsletter and e-mail alert purpose may be transferred, stored and processed by E-goi in Portugal.

  • The WEgate Directory registered members and/or visitors of the public parts of WEgate:

    If you are registered in the WEgate directory, you have the choice to allow your profile to be visible to all users or only to registered users, depending on your choice of visibility settings.

  • the European Commission, the Agency or any other body of the European Union (e.g. European Anti-fraud Office – OLAF or European Court of Auditors – ECA) that are charged with checks, reviews, audits and investigations related to the WEgate project.
  • We may disclose and share your personal information with our service providers, who are working with us to perform functions and process user data on our behalf. We only work with GDPR-compliant service providers, and we utilise Processing Agreements when the situation requires it.
  • We may also disclose your data to third parties when we are legally obliged to comply with statutory obligations, such as court orders or to cooperate with authorities as the police.

It may be possible that the WEgate website, WEgate newsletter and WEgate email alerts contain links to other third-party websites whose privacy practices may be different from this site. Neither ESBA nor any other member of the WEgate consortium is responsible for the privacy practices within any of these other sites.

You should be aware of this when you leave the website WEgate, WEgate newsletters and WEgate email alerts, and we encourage you to read the privacy statements on other web sites you visit, as we have no control over information that is submitted to, or collected by, these third parties.

VI. How long is your personal data kept?

The data will be kept only as long as necessary for the fulfilment of the purposes mentioned above. Personal data (based on consent as a legal basis) will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

VII. You have the right to access your personal data and the right to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

  • As regards your profile in the WEgate directory, you can at any time update yourself your private data, your other data and your functionality choices through the “Edit” button on top of your profile.
  • If want to delete your account, send your request through the WEgate online contact form (under “Comment” or “Feedback” or “other” of the menu) or reach us via info@wegate.eu.
  • If you do not want to receive the WEgate newsletter or email alert anymore, you can unsubscribe at any time:
    • by clicking the link “Remove” in the footer of the Newsletter emails or email alerts
    • by clicking on the “NO” button in your profile form if you are a registered user in the WEgate Directory.
    • by sending your request through the WEgate online contact form or to the WEgate secretariat: info@wegate.eu
  • If you want to update your personal data after you have registered to the WEgate newsletter, you can do so at any time:
    • by clicking the link “Edit subscription” in the footer of the Newsletter emails or email alerts#
    • by sending your request through the WEgate online contact form or to the WEgate secretariat: info@wegate.eu.

If you have any queries concerning the processing of your personal data, you may address them to ESBA acting as data controller, at the following email: secretariat@esba-europe.eu

You shall have right to address a complaint (in French, Dutch or German) to the Data Protection Authority (DPA) of Belgium via:

Email: contact@apd-gba.be

Mail: Rue de la Presse 35, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium

WEgate reserves its right to modify this Privacy Notice at any time. Any modification about this privacy notice will be updated in this web site to inform users.

—–

[1]Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance)