At PHOEBE we do not deal with any research with elements which can cause harm to the environment, neither our work involves dual-use research. We focus exclusively on civil applications and do not have a potential of misuse for unethical purposes.
Many times in our work we do deal with collection of sensitive personal data, e.g., when it comes to monitoring certain parameters of human subjects in pilot or deployment sites. All appropriate procedures are followed in such cases, so as we receive the required consents and clearances to proceed with the work.
It is emphasised that the data we collect we turn into anonymised and we only use for enhancing the functionality of our technologies.
All data we collect are classified as open, confidential or secret, depending on their nature, and are handled according to EC and national regulations and guidelines (e.g., GDPR for managing personal (non-sensitive) data, Directives 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy Directives), 95/46/EC, 2002/58/EC. We use encryption technologies where possible to achieve security, confidentiality and integrity of the data while in transit and in storage and access to the data is actively limited to authorized (registered) persons.
We strictly avoid tracking or observation of participants in pilot or commercial deployments. We exchange only anonymized data. In addition, our technologies adopt the “privacy-by-design” principle, for the protection of any collected private data.
Our team puts strong emphasis in ensuring that all actions undertaken by them are compliant with ethical principles as well as the European and local laws. Before executing any activity with third parties, we thoroughly inform the participants and ask them to provide their explicit consent, with which they will clearly state that: they have been informed; they understand that they participate voluntarily and can withdraw from the study at any time; they understand that their participation will be documented and might be audio recorded; they understand that any photos or audio recordings will not be used for any commercial purposes and will not be used by third parties; they understand that data and information they share, will be handled confidentially and anonymously and in line with the EU GDPR; they understand they will not be identified by name or by showing their face and that their personal information will be protected; they understand their participation and the subsequent results from the study, are not part of any performance review; they understand their information will be aggregated with the rest of the data from the other study participants.
