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GDPR / Privacy Policy

Personal Data Protection Statement of the Greek Tunnelling Society and its appointed Professional Congress Organizer (CONVIN SA) for WTC 2023.

The Greek Tunnelling Society and its appointed Professional Congress Organizer (CONVIN SA) for WTC 2023

(hereinafter jointly referred to as WTC2023 Organizing Team), recognize and respect the importance of the personal data they handle within the framework of their activity and therefore have fully adapted their policy to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter GDPR) 2016/679/EC.

By this statement, the WTC2023 Organizing Team wishes to inform anyone contacting it in any of the following ways:

  • through physical presence at its registered offices in Athens
  • by phone
  • on its official e-mail addresses or through its website
  • using any of its services

in what capacity, for what purpose and on what legal basis it processes information relating thereto and which can be used to identify them directly or indirectly, namely:

  • their personal data,
  • the categories of their data,
  • the sources of their data (when data are not provided by the person himself),
  • the criteria for determining the period of keeping their personal data,
  • their option to exercise with respect to their personal data the rights to access and rectification and, where appropriate, to erasure, restriction and objection to the processing as well as to automated decision-making, including profiling, any perchance transfer of data to third countries or international organizations,
  • the option of individuals to denounce any violation of their personal data rights to the Data Protection Authority as well as the observance of the relevant data protection policies and guarantees of personal data protection by the WTC2023 Organizing Team.

To this purpose, please take a moment to read the WTC2023 Organizing Team statement.

If you have any questions or concerns, if you wish to receive a copy of this statement or if you wish to exercise any of the rights related to your personal data, you can contact us by email at info@wtc2023.gr

WTC2023 ORGANIZING TEAM STATEMENT

1. The WTC2023 Organizing Team as “Controller” and “Processor” of Personal Data

The Professional Congress Organizer (CONVIN SA) operates in the form of Société Anonyme, registered at the General Commercial Registry (GEMI) of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, under number 7359701000 and it has its registered office at 29 K. Varnali street, Chalandri 15233, Athens.

The Greek Tunnelling Society is a nonprofit Association, seated in Athens, Greece, Ippokratous 196 str.

The WTC2023 Organizing Team processes, in the course of its activity, the personal data of the parties trading with it, becoming as regards such data the “controller” or “processor”.

In carrying out its business, the WTC2023 Organizing Team processes (simple and special category) personal data of the subjects participating in the Programs for the purposes of implementation, evaluation and control and the relevant legal obligation for the processing of personal data in the form of individual participants’ data (microdata) derives mainly from both the General Regulation and the European Social Fund Regulation as well as from specific provisions of the Greek legislation.

The data processing concerned is governed by the provisions of Regulation 2016/679 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).


2. Data sources

The WTC2023 Organizing Team collects your personal data from various sources. Particularly:

1) Personal data you directly provide to it;

2) Personal data that it collects automatically, such as through cookies (see cookies policy). The following may be collected:

– Your IP address;
– Your cookie ID;
– Your browser;
– Your location;
– The web pages you visit on our website (www.wtc2023.gr);

as well as

3)  Personal data collected from other sources, i.e. from other public authorities as well as from publicly accessible sources.
4)  Personal data collected from its contacts with companies / sponsors of its Programs

3. Categories of data

The data we process, as the case may be, are:

  • Simple Data, such as mainly first and last name, date of birth, ID number, TIN, address, telephone, e-mail, etc.
  • Special Category data, such as data on religion, nutritional allergies, possible health problems and data on ethnic origin.

4. Purpose of Processing

The reasons the WTC2023 Organizing Team processes your data, as the case may be, are:

–   to communicate with you;
–   to answer your questions;
–   to process your requests;
–   to conclude contracts with you;
–   to execute its contractual obligations towards you;
–   to declare your membership status and any related entitlement;
–   to declare your participation in events / activities;
–   to fulfil its legal obligations under the domestic and EU law;
–   to organize its activity in the field of electronic communications

5. Legal bases of processing

In particular, as the case may be, the legal bases on which we support the processing of your data are the following:

–   Article 6, par. 1a of GDPR

     When you have given consent to the processing of your data for one or more specific purposes.

–   Article 6, par. 1b of GDPR

     Processing necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.

–   Article 6, par. 1c of GDPR

     Processing necessary for our compliance with our legal obligation as this derives from the EU or the National Law.

–   Article 6, par. 1e of GDPR

     Processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Controller.

–   Article 6, par. 1f of GDPR

     Processing necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the WTC2023 Organizing Team, except where such interests are overridden by your interests and fundamental rights and freedoms as data subjects.

And with regard to special category data:

–   Article 9, par. 2a of GDPR

     When you have given consent to the processing of your special category data (nutritional specificity, health, ethnic origin) for one or more specific purposes.

–   Article 9, par. 2b GDPR

     Where processing is necessary for carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of data subjects in the field of social protection, in so far as it is authorized by the Union or national law.

And as regards data relating to criminal convictions and offences:

–   Article 10 of GDPR

     Where processing is authorized or required by the Union or national law.

6. Disclosure to third parties

The WTC2023 Organizing Team does not proceed to any unauthorized disclosure or transfer of your personal data to third parties. Therefore, it will not share your data with third parties for marketing purposes.

It uses processors, i.e. third parties, providing services thereto. It has contractually bound the processors in order not to be able to manage your personal data unless it gives them specific instructions and thus they will not share your personal data with anyone other than the WTC2023 Organizing Team itself, while it will retain your data safe for the period that it has indicated to you.

In some cases, it may have a legal obligation to disclose your data. Such a case occurs on the basis of a court order or when it cooperates with other public authorities and bodies within the European Union, under provisions of the EU or domestic law.

The WTC2023 Organizing Team may, therefore, disclose or transfer your data to third parties, provided the legal requirements are met, namely when there is:

– Previous consent on your behalf as data subjects;

– Legal Obligation to disclose data to Competent State Agencies and Organizations and to the relevant Judicial and Prosecution Authorities, if lawfully and competently requested.

7. Retention Period of your Data

The WTC2023 Organizing Team shall retain your personal data for as long as the processing purpose lasts. Upon its expiration, the WTC2023 Organizing Team shall lawfully retain your personal data when this is necessary in order to comply with a legal obligation thereof arising from the provisions of the Union or National Law and where retention is necessary to substantiate, exercise or support legal claims of the Company.

8. Which are your rights

According to the General Data Protection Regulation, depending on the legal basis on which WTC2023 Organizing Team is based to process your data, you have the following rights:

8.1 Right of Access

You have the right to receive:

– confirmation as to whether or not your personal data are being processed and
– a copy of such data

You may submit your request to access your personal data in writing, by email to the WTC2023 Organizing Team.

You may not want all the personal data that the WTC2023 Organizing Team has on you. For this reason, it would facilitate and speed up the process if you clarified to the WTC2023 Organizing Team which data do you precisely want.

When requesting access (to personal data), it is necessary to include the following information:

– Your name and contact details

– Any information that the WTC2023 Organizing Team uses to identify you or to differentiate you from other people with the same name, such as a code, etc.

– Details or relevant dates to help the WTC2023 Organizing Team identify what you need. You can use the form below.


When can the WTC2023 Organizing Team refuse to grant access?

The WTC2023 Organizing Team may refuse to satisfy the right of access if your data include other person’s personal data unless the other person has consented to the disclosure of his or her data or it is reasonable that the said information is provided to you without the consent of the other person.

In order to make the relevant decision, the WTC2023 Organizing Team will need to regulate your own right of access vis-a-vis the other person’s rights with respect to his or her own information.

The WTC2023 Organizing Team shall also be entitled to refuse to grant access when this is clearly unfounded or abusive.

In any case, the WTC2023 Organizing Team should notify you and justify its decision. It should also inform you of your right to make a complaint to the Data Protection Authority or even to appeal before Courts.


How long will it take for the WTC2023 Organizing Team to respond?

The WTC2023 Organizing Team must answer your request within a month.

In specific cases extra time may be needed to assess your request and up to two months to answer.

If it is going to use the additional time, the WTC2023 Organizing Team will inform you within one month of the reason why it needs more time.


Can the WTC2023 Organizing Team charge a fee for satisfying my right of access?

A copy of your personal data will be provided to you free of charge. However, if your claim is manifestly abusively repeated or excessive, it may charge you a fee for the administrative costs associated with it.

8.2 Right to Rectification

You have the right to ask for your data to be rectified when they are inaccurate or completed when they are incomplete.

In order to exercise your right, you must inform the WTC2023 Organizing Team that you dispute the accuracy and completeness of your personal data. You will need to identify what data are inaccurate or incomplete, explain how the WTC2023 Organizing Team will have to correct them and provide relevant evidence of inaccuracies.

When you ask the WTC2023 Organizing Team to rectify your data, it will thoroughly check whether the data are accurate or not, on the basis of the evidence you will provide thereto and those held by it. It will then let you know if it has rectified, erased or completed the data. In case the WTC2023 Organizing Team considers that the inaccuracy or incompleteness of the data is not substantiated, it will inform you accordingly, providing at the same time a justification for its negative response. If it has disclosed the data to third parties, the WTC2023 Organizing Team will contact them and inform them of the rectification or completion of the data, unless this is impracticable or requires disproportionate efforts. At the same time, if you wish, it can inform you to which recipients it has transferred your data. 

8.3 Right to Erasure

You have the right to request the erasure of your personal data if you no longer wish to have such data processed and if there is no legitimate reason for the WTC2023 Organizing Team to hold them as Controller.

In particular, this right shall be exercised:

  • when the legal basis of processing is your consent and you withdraw it, so, if there is no other legal ground for the processing, data must be erased;
  • where your data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed or illegally processed or if you object to the processing thereof and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing; and, finally,
  • if the data have been collected illegally or when you were a child within the frameworks of provision of an on-line service.

It should be noted, however, that this is not an absolute right, as further retention of personal data by the WTC2023 Organizing Team is lawful when it is necessary for reasons such as compliance with a legal obligation of the WTC2023 Organizing Team or the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.

The WTC2023 Organizing Team is entitled to refuse to erase the data in the following cases:

  • when retention of data is necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information;
  • when retention of your data is a legal obligation;
  • when retention of your data is necessary for reasons of public health;
  • when retention of your data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims;
  • when erasing your data would significantly hinder or render processing impossible for scientific or historical research purposes.
8.4 Right to Restriction of Processing

As an alternative to the right to erasure and the right to object, you have the right to request the restriction of your data processing only where one of the following applies:

  • the accuracy of your data is contested by you and the WTC2023 Organizing Team as Controller considers the request;
  • when processing is unlawful;
  • when data are no longer necessary for the purpose of the processing, but you are requesting their retention for the establishment and defense of your legal claims;
  • when you have objected to processing and the WTC2023 Organizing Team as Controller examines whether the legitimate grounds thereof override yours.

This right may be combined with the right of rectification and the right to object, and in particular:

  1. If you request correction of your inaccurate data, you may request that the processing be restricted for as long as the WTC2023 Organizing Team examines the request for rectification or
  2. If you request the right to object, you may request at the same time the restriction of processing for as long as the WTC2023 Organizing Team examines the request to object.
8.5 Right to Data Portability

You have the right to receive your personal data that have been processed by the WTC2023 Organizing Team as controller in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format (e.g. XML, JSON, CSV etc.).

You also have the right to ask the WTC2023 Organizing Team to transmit those data without hindrance directly to another Controller.

The right to portability can only be exercised by you when the following conditions are cumulative satisfied:

  • Personal data are processed by automated means (i.e. printed records are excluded);
  • The processing is based either on your consent or on the performance of a contract to which you are a party (Article 6 par. 1b of GDPR);
  • Personal data concern you as data subject and have been provided by you;
  • The exercise of the right does not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.
8.6 Right to object

You have the right to object at any time and on grounds related to your particular situation to processing of personal data concerning you when processing is based either on a task carried out in the public interest or on the existence of a legitimate interest pursued by the company, including profiling.

The WTC2023 Organizing Team shall no longer process the personal data unless it demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms as data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.

8.7 Right to Non-Automated Individual Decision-Making including Profiling

If the WTC2023 Organizing Team is required to make a decision that produces legal effects concerning you based solely on automated processing, including profiling, we inform you of the following:

  • The WTC2023 Organizing Team as controller may lawfully take such a decision only if you have given us your explicit consent or when the decision is necessary for entering into or performance of a contract between us or if such a decision is authorized by the Union or National law, which also lays down suitable measures to safeguard the data subject’s rights.
  • If such a decision is taken as necessary for entering into or performance of a contract between us, namely the WTC2023 Organizing Team as the Controller and you as the data subject or based on your explicit consent, you have the right to contest the decision so that the WTC2023 Organizing Team will be obliged to implement suitable measures to safeguard your rights, at least the right to obtain human intervention in decision-making, or the right to express your point of view and contest the decision as data subject.
  • If the WTC2023 Organizing Team intends to process data automatically, including profiling, it will provide you, when receiving the data (when it has collected them from you) or in a reasonable time (when such data have been taken from another source), also the following additional information:
    • whether and to what extent automated decision-making, including profiling, takes place;
    • on the logic involved;
    • on the importance and the foreseeable consequences of the processing;
    • information on the subject’s right to object, which is presented clearly and separately from any other information.

You are entitled, in the case that profiling takes place, to obtain restriction of processing at any stage thereof.

The WTC2023 Organizing Team will be obliged to erase the relevant personal data if profiling is based on your consent and this is revoked or if you exercise the right to erase your data and if there is no other legal basis for processing in accordance with the provisions of Regulation.

You have the right to object at any time and on grounds related to your particular situation to processing of personal data concerning you when processing is based on the existence of a legitimate interest pursued by the company, including profiling and the WTC2023 Organizing Team shall no longer process the personal data unless it demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms as data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.

9. Right to lodge a Complaint with the Data Protection Authority

If you find out that your personal data are being unlawfully processed or your rights in connection with your personal data have been infringed, provided you have previously contacted the WTC2023 Data Protection Officer (DPO) about the relevant issue, that is you have exercised your rights vis-a-vis the WTC2023 Organizing Team and you either did not receive a reply within one month (the deadline being extended to two months in case of a complex request) or you believe that the response you received from the WTC2023 Organizing Team is not satisfactory and your issue has not been resolved, you can contact the Data Protection Authority, 1-3 Kifisias Avenue, PO Box 11523 Athens complaints@dpa.gr, fax 2106475628 (for more information, see also the Authority’s Portal https://www.dpa.gr/en).


10. Security of Personal Data

The WTC2023 Organizing Team implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure an adequate level of protection of personal data in order to prevent the destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized access, disclosure or transfer to a non-entitled person or entity in any way.

The WTC2023 Organizing Team has business continuity and recovery plans, which it periodically tests and updates; it has in fact established and implemented appropriate policies and procedures for the security and protection of the data it processes.

In addition, to that purpose, the WTC2023 Organizing Team has reviewed the contracts it holds with the processors to commit them to respect your personal data under the GDPR by taking and enforcing measures to secure them from risks of destruction, loss, alteration unauthorized access, disclosure or transfer to a non-entitled person or entity, in any way and by signing a confidentiality clause.

11. Links to other websites

When we provide links to websites or other Organizations, this personal data protection notice does not cover the way in which these sites or Organizations process your personal data and the information provided by you in general. That is why we encourage you to read the privacy policies of other websites you visit.

12. Social Media Accounts

We maintain social media pages for your information. We do not share your data with another organizations, but social media providing companies have their own GDPR policy to which we refer you.

13. Revision of the Personal Data Protection Statement

This statement is subject to periodic revisions and updates. In this case you will be informed through the WTC2023 website.

Tarcisio Celestino

Tarcisio Celestino was previously ITA President (2016-19) and President of the Brazilian Tunnelling Committee. He was the Animateur of the ITA Working Group 12 on Sprayed Concrete Use (2005-10). He earned his doctorate degree in Civil Engineering (Rock Mechanics) from the University of California, Berkeley (1981).

He is currently Professor at the University of Sao Paulo and employed by Themag Engenharia Ltda., Sao Paulo (Brazil), where he leads the Geotechnical Engineering, Engineering Geology &Transportation Engineering Design Groups. He is also responsible for the geotechnical designs of several hydroelectric power plants, subways, highways etc., including major underground works (since 1990). He has also acted as consultant.

Professor Celestino continues to contribute his knowledge for the graduate courses & research areas on Rock Mechanics & Underground Works, at the São Carlos Engineering School, University of São Paulo and for the ITACET Foundation.

2. Excursion of history and adventure in Lavreotiki
Sunday 14 May, 2023

Our destination is the exploitation galleys of one of the largest underground mines of Attica. The chambers of metal extraction, rich in recognisable minerals, combine the mystery of ancient drifts with the beauty of caves. We will wander underground for up to 3 hours and explore the maize of drifts, the chambers supported by natural as well as carved-out pillars and the stalactites decoration reminiscent of natural caves. Each of the routes we follow hides surprises waiting to be discovered! 

After we will visit the great “Chaos” sinkhole, a heart-shaped sinkhole formation 150m in diameter and 55m deep. This chiasm may have been formed by the collapse of a cave roof as many of the area’s mining tunnels end there.

Scientific theme: Underground mining activity in Lavrio

Duration: 6 hours inclusive

Detailed program

9.30-10.30 Athens-Lavrio

10.30-13.30 Underground mines

14.00-14.30 Stop at dolin “Chaos” and return to Athens

14.30 – 15.30 Lavrio-Athens

Cost per person: 40,00 €

*limited participation on a first come first served basis. In case participants are less than 20, the respective event will be cancelled and a refund wil be given.

Photo Gallery

1. We go down Athens underground. (Athens centre, moving around on foot)
Saturday 13 May, 2023

How many surprises can the Athens underground have in store for its visitors? The stroll will start from underground shelters and detention areas of the German Kommandatur, remnants of the 2nd World War in Athens. Then, we will take the steps that start off under a timeworn trap door on the side of a road or hidden away in a sidewalk flower–bed, that will lead us in a different, forgotten underground area of the city! For hundreds of years, underground pathways have been used for various and mysterious purposes. Some say that all underground pathways are interconnected although there is no proof of this. Nevertheless, the allure of an unknown world is always there, beneath the ground we walk on. We lift up the antiquated hatch and descend the stone steps.  In the catacomb, we come across tunnels of ancient aqueducts, roman baths and byzantine crypts. The Athens river is also found hidden below the ground, running in old galleys under the most central streets of Athens – we can hear the cars passing over our heads! 

We invite you to discover together the hidden secrets of our city!

Scientific theme: underground constructions of the 19th and 20th century.

Duration: Maximum of 4 hours.

Detailed program:

11.00 Meeting outside Metro Station Panepistimio

11.30 Memorial Site (Korai Street). Two-level underground shelter below the Mansion of Ethniki Insurance Company.

13.00 Catacombs of the Russian Church (Filellinon Street). Inside the catacombs a tunnel and a shaft from ancient Peisistratus aqueduct, ruins from roman baths and crypts of the Byzantine order of Likodimos -11th century.

14.00 Ilissos River (area of Panathenaic Stadium). The buried riverbed of Athens river Ilissos.

Cost per person : 35,00 €

*limited participation on a first come first served basis. In case participants are less than 20, the respective event will be cancelled and a refund wil be given.

Photo Gallery

Professor Kyriazis Pitilakis

Professor Kyriazis Pitilakis has more than forty years of intensive academic, research and professional experience in civil, earthquake and geotechnical engineering. Vice-President of the European Association of Earthquake Engineering (EAEE), ex- Chairman of the Technical Committee “Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering andAssociated Problems” (TC203) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), and past President of the Greek Society of Earthquake Engineering. He is presently Professor Emeritus in Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece and since 2019 visiting Professor in Tongji University, International Laboratory of earthquake Engineering (ILEE), Shanghai, China.

Coordinator and scientific responsible of numerous European research projects, namely EUROSEISTEST and SYNER-G, he has a long experience in European research activities in earthquake engineering, geotechnical engineering, vulnerability and risk assessment of civil engineering structures, infrastructures and lifelines. According to the recent Stanford classification he is among the top 10 leading researchers in Civil Engineering in Greece, and among the top 10 leading international researchers in specific topics like Soil Dynamics, Engineering Seismology and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering.

Chairman of several international conferences including the 16th European Conference of Earthquake Engineering, Thessaloniki 2018 and invited keynote lecturer in many International Conferences. Author of more than 650 scientific papers (h-factor 57) published in peer review scientific journals, and conference proceedings, author and co-author in several books, editor of four books published in Springer Editions, all in relevant subjects of earthquake engineering, seismic risk and geotechnical earthquake engineering. Professor Kyriazis Pitilakis is founder and coordinator of EUROSEISTEST, a large scale experimental facility in earthquake engineering, soil dynamics and engineering seismology that is unique in Europe and worldwide. He supervised more that 30 PhD thesis and numerous of his students hold academic positions in Greece and worldwide.

Professor Kyriazis Pitilakis is strongly involved in the ongoing revision of EC8 (Part 1-Seismic Actions and Part 5-Seismic design of foundations, retaining structures, soilstructure interaction, liquefaction, slope stability and underground structures), while he has been international expert for the revision of other seismic codes worldwide.

He is member of the editorial advisory board in Springer editions (Geotechnical, Geological and Earthquake Engineering), member of the editorial board and reviewer of numerous scientific journals and member of many international societies in earthquake and geotechnical engineering.

Honors: Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques, French Republic.
Thessaloniki 06.06.2022

Professor Marc Panet

The 12th Muir Wood lecture will be delivered by Professor Marc Panet during the WTC2023 in Athens. His nomination being a Muir Wood lecturer was proposed by the French Tunnelling & Underground Space Association (AFTES) as per ITA’s Statues and By-laws.

Marc Panet graduated in Civil Engineering at the École des Mines de Paris and obtained a Master degree at the University of California at Berkeley. He started his career in 1965 at the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées, in Paris, where he was a Research Engineer, Head of the Geotechnical Department and Technical Director. In 1982 he joined the SHP Group, in Paris, as Scientific Director. From 1984 to 1996 he was the President and CEO of SIMECSOL; and from 1996 to 2000 President and CEO of FC International SA. Since then he has been working as a consultant. He taught at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, at the École des Mines and at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, in Paris.

Marc has been in charge of numerous studies in geotechnical engineering for underground works, highways, bridges, and natural hazards. Among the main projects are: the Mont Blanc Tunnel (11.6km), the Frejus Road Tunnel (12.9 km), the Large Electron–Positron Collider (CERN in Geneva), the Channel Tunnel (from 1967 to the end of the construction), the Millau Bridge, the Loetschberg Base Tunnel (43 km), subways in Paris, Rennes, Caracas, Athens and Algiers, the slides of the city of Constantine (Algeria), the project of the suspended bridge on the Straits of Messina (Italy) and the project of the cable-stayed bridge on the Golden Horn (Turkey). He is presently involved in a large number of geotechnical projects.

He is the author of a large number of publications in professional journals and international conferences and of the well-known book “Calculation of tunnels using the convergence-confinement method”.

Marc Panet is a Honorary Member of the French Academy of Technology, Knight of the National Order of Merit and Knight of the Order of Academic Palms.