Data Protection

Privacy information for lecturers regarding course evaluations

Here, we explain the purpose for which we process your personal data in connection with the evaluation of your courses, and the legal basis on which we do so.

Data protection is a key priority for Hochschule München and a legal obligation. Hochschule München (hereinafter also referred to as ‘HM’, ‘we’ or ‘us’) takes the confidential handling of your personal data very seriously. We therefore incorporate the data protection requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into our processes and procedures.

Data controller

The data controller within the meaning of the GDPR is Hochschule München, located at Lothstraße 34, 80335 Munich.

Processing for quality assurance purposes

In surveys conducted for quality assurance purposes, no personally identifiable data is collected as a matter of principle. However, these surveys are not always anonymous, as the nature of the questions and the answers could allow conclusions to be drawn about individual persons. The collection of the relevant information is always necessary in order to carry out the quality assessment intended by the survey. The information provided is always anonymised through aggregation. Any details that might allow identification of an individual are deleted following this aggregation, so that it is no longer possible to identify specific individuals. The surveys are therefore generally not personally identifiable, but effectively anonymous. The surveys are analysed in anonymised form.

Processing for research purposes

If you take part in academic surveys – that is, surveys conducted as part of the university’s research projects – we assure you that any information relating to your person will be anonymised as soon as the nature of the research allows. Until then, the characteristics by which individual details about your personal or factual circumstances can be linked to you as an identified or identifiable individual will be stored separately. They will only be combined with the individual details to the extent required by the research purpose. Should excerpts from the free-text fields be included in the publication of the results, this will be done in such a way that it is not possible to identify you.

Please note that if you are invited to take part in a scientific survey that is not being conducted as part of a research project at Hochschule München, the data protection notice issued by the organisation or the person responsible for the research project in terms of data protection will apply.

Purpose and legal basis

When we invite you to take part in a survey, we process your contact details – usually your email address – so that we can send you the invitation to take part in the survey. If you take part in a survey to which we have invited you, we will process the information you provide as part of the survey either for research purposes (conducting academic surveys) or to ensure the quality of university organisational processes and/or Quality in Teaching (quality assurance).

The invitation to take part in academic surveys and in surveys carried out as part of quality assurance is issued in order to fulfil the public duties entrusted to the university under the Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act (BayHIG). The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(a), (2) and (3) of the GDPR in conjunction with Article 4 of the Bavarian Data Protection Act (BayDSG) and the provisions of the BayHIG. In order to invite you to take part in a survey, the university is permitted to use the data collected, in particular the email address provided. The legal basis for this is Article 6(1) of the BayDSG.

One of the university’s responsibilities is to ensure the quality of its work in the fields of research, teaching and the arts, as well as transfers, in supporting early career researchers and artists, and in fulfilling its equality mandate. It is authorised to regularly evaluate the quality assurance systems in place and to publish the results; see Articles 7 and 76 of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHIG).

One of the University of Nursing’s primary tasks is to contribute to the advancement of science and the arts through research, artistic creation, Teaching, studies and continuing professional development; see Article 2 of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHIG). Within this framework, the University carries out research projects.

The processing of data collected as part of surveys is carried out on the basis of your consent. By answering questions and/or completing questionnaire fields, you are deemed to have given your consent to the processing of your data. The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(a), Article 4(11) and Article 7 of the GDPR.

Purpose of the processing

We process your data solely for the purpose of evaluating teaching in accordance with the BayHIG. Your data will therefore be used (a) to carry out the student teaching evaluation and (b) for the purpose of quality assurance in teaching through student course evaluations. There are no plans to change this purpose.

Type of personal data

In order to carry out the student course evaluation, lecturers’ titles, first names, surnames, email addresses and details of the events being evaluated are processed.

For the purposes of quality assurance in teaching through student course evaluations, in addition to the data mentioned above, students’ ratings are processed as personal data.

Legal basis for processing

The evaluation of teaching for the purposes of quality assurance of the university’s work takes place as part of the fulfilment of the public remit entrusted to the university. The university’s work may be evaluated on a regular basis, as provided for in Article 7(2) of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHIG). This may also be carried out digitally, as permitted by Article 76(2), second sentence, No. 1 of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHIG).

The university is authorised to carry out the necessary surveys and further data processing for this purpose, and lecturers, as data subjects within the university, are obliged to cooperate and provide data. This is governed by Article 7(2) and Article 76(2), second sentence, point 1 of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHIG).

For the purposes of evaluating teaching, Article 7(3), first sentence, and Article 76(2), second sentence, point 1 of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHIG) permit the anonymous collection of data from students as participants in courses (from third parties) and the processing of the data thus obtained.

Recipients of personal data

As a lecturer, you will receive a summary of the students’ feedback (evaluation data) for each event via the (central) survey tool.

The Dean of Studies of the department, or a person appointed by them, will receive the individual student evaluations for analysis in the event that the data is collected by non-electronic means. Where evaluations are collected electronically, the Dean of Studies of your department will, if required, receive the evaluation data in the same format as the lecturers.

Within the university, personal data is disclosed, in accordance with Article 7(3), third sentence, and Article 76(2), second sentence, point 2 of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHIG), to the relevant department body, the students of the department and the university management, and is used for the evaluation of Teaching. Such disclosure is made exclusively for the specified purpose and only after we have informed you of this.

Retention / Retention period

Data relating to the delivery of the course will be retained for a maximum of 10 years, whilst data relating to student evaluations will be retained for a maximum of three (3) years. Once the retention period has expired, the data will be deleted or anonymised, unless there are further statutory retention obligations.

What else you should know – your rights

You have the right to request confirmation as to whether the relevant data is being processed, and to request access to that data, as well as further information and a copy of the data, in accordance with Article 15 of the GDPR.

In accordance with Article 16 of the GDPR, you have the right to request that data relating to you be completed or that any inaccurate data relating to you be rectified.

In accordance with Article 17 of the GDPR, you have the right to request that the data in question be erased without delay or, alternatively, in accordance with Article 18 of the GDPR, to request that the processing of the data be restricted.

You have the right to request, in accordance with Article 20 of the GDPR, to receive the data relating to you that you have provided to us and to request that it be transferred to other data controllers.

You have the right to withdraw any consent you have given, in accordance with Article 7(3) of the GDPR, with effect for the future, by contacting datenschutzbeauftragter@hm.edu .

You may object at any time to the future processing of your personal data in accordance with Article 21 of the GDPR. In particular, you may object to processing for direct marketing purposes by contacting datenschutzbeauftragter@hm.edu .

You also have the right, in accordance with Article 77 of the GDPR, to submit a complaint to the relevant supervisory authority.

The authority responsible for Hochschule München is the Bavarian State Commissioner for Data Protection. You can contact them as follows:

Last updated: 23 July 2020

The information on this page was translated into English for your convenience. In case of any discrepancies between the English and German versions, the German version shall prevail.