Privacy Policy

Who we are

Matters (matters.frl) is a student media platform. It is built and operated by NHL Stenden, as part of the Creative Business programme. This policy covers the matters.frl website: student accounts, content submissions, and related features.

Data we collect

• Account data: your email address and password (stored hashed, so we never see the actual password) when you register or log in.
• Profile data: display name, bio, avatar, header image, social links, work and education timeline, external portfolio links, and CV or résumé. All of this is optional. It is only shown publicly on your /students/ page if you choose to publish it.
• Submission data: the title, synopsis, crew credits, notes, and video file you upload when you submit a film, series, or podcast for review.
• Activity data: likes, follows, favorites, watchlists, watch progress, and notifications you generate while using the platform.
• Technical data: your IP address (used to limit abuse on actions like logging in and submitting content), session cookies, and basic request logs.

Why we process your data, and on what legal basis

• To provide your account and the platform’s features (login, profile, submissions, social features): this is necessary to perform our agreement with you as a user of Matters.
• To review and moderate submissions, and to send you related notifications (for example approval or rejection emails, password resets): also necessary to perform our agreement with you.
• To keep the platform secure (rate-limiting, abuse prevention): based on our legitimate interest in protecting the service and its users.

We do not sell your data, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.

Google APIs and YouTube

When you submit a film, series, or podcast, we upload your video file to Matters’ own YouTube channel using the YouTube Data API. It is never uploaded to a personal or student YouTube account. New videos are uploaded as Private, so only the Matters editorial team can see them. Once an editor approves your submission, the video is set to Unlisted and embedded on the matching matters.frl page.

This upload happens through a Matters-owned Google account, not through your own Google or YouTube account. Submitting to Matters does not connect to, read, or affect your personal Google account in any way. The only Google-related data involved is the video file and its title and description, which you already gave us directly through the submission form.

Because this feature uses a Google API, some data (the video file and its metadata) is processed by Google, including on servers outside the European Economic Area. Google participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which is the recognised legal safeguard for this kind of transfer. Matters’ use of Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements: Google data is only used to run this feature, never sold, and never used for advertising.

Who else processes your data

Besides Google (for the YouTube feature above), we use a small number of other services to run Matters: our hosting provider, and an email delivery service for account and notification emails. These providers only process data on our instructions, to help run the platform.

Cookies

We only use strictly necessary cookies: to keep you signed in (session and refresh tokens) and to remember your theme preference (light or dark mode). We do not use advertising or tracking cookies, so we do not need to ask for cookie consent.

How long we keep your data

If your submission is rejected, we delete it, together with its private YouTube video, within 90 days of that decision. Published content and your account stay in place for as long as you are a Matters user, including after you graduate, since your portfolio is meant to outlive your time as a student. You can ask us to delete your account or content at any time; see “Your rights” below.

Your rights

You can view and edit most of your profile data yourself on your account page. Under the GDPR (AVG), you also have the right to:

• ask what personal data we hold about you, and get a copy of it;
• ask us to correct data that is wrong or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your data;
• ask us to limit how we use your data, in certain situations;
• receive your data in a portable format, so you can move it elsewhere;
• object to how we use your data, in certain situations.

To use any of these rights, contact us at contact@matters.frl. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can also file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data? Email us at contact@matters.frl.