Privacy

Edmund is an artwork by Dark Tales (darktales.xyz). Dark Tales is the controller of the personal data described here. Write to [email protected] about anything on this page.

This page summarises our own data protection impact assessment, which we keep up to date as the installation changes.

The installation has a camera pointed at the room. It finds faces so that Edmund's eyes can follow the people in front of him. The points it finds on a face are discarded with every frame.

So that Edmund can recognise you if you come back, the installation also turns your face into a face template: a list of numbers describing it, not a photograph. A template is made for every visitor who stands in front of him. It is biometric data.

If you do not want to be recognised, do not stand in front of him.

No photographs and no video are stored. Camera images never leave the installation's own computer.

Your speech is turned into text on the installation's own computer. To compose Edmund's reply, the text of the conversation is sent to Google's Gemini service. When he recognises you, what he remembers about you is sent there too, so that he can greet you.

Edmund keeps the conversation, and may note things you tell him and things he concludes from what you say, so that he can remember you next time. These are kept with your record.

Your record, including your face template and your conversations, is kept for 30 days from your last visit. Each time Edmund sees you again, the 30 days start over. After 30 days without a visit, the record is deleted automatically.

A longer memory, up to three years, would need your explicit written consent. We are not offering it at this exhibition.

When your record expires, a copy of your conversation may be kept to improve the character, with the link to you removed and the date reduced to the month. We try to remove names and identifying details from these copies; that removal is not yet complete, so they can still contain something you said about yourself.

A small set of earlier conversations, with people's names replaced, is kept indefinitely so that changes to Edmund can be tested against the same examples.

Your face template is made with your consent, which you give by choosing to stand in front of Edmund and take part in the artwork. If you do not want a face template made, do not stand in front of him. If you already have, ask him to forget you, or write to us.

Your conversations are kept on the basis of our legitimate interest in an artwork that talks with its visitors and remembers them for 30 days. You can object at any time by asking Edmund to forget you.

What Edmund concludes about you from a conversation is kept on the basis of our legitimate interest in an artwork that remembers its visitors. You can object to it at any time, as described below.

Ask Edmund to forget you. Say so in your own words, for example "I don't want you to remember me" or "dimenticami". He will ask you to confirm, and once you do, your record is deleted: your face template, your conversations, what he noted about you, and the copies kept to improve the character.

Asking Edmund in person is the most reliable way. Once you have left, we usually cannot tell which record is yours, because we do not ask for your name or contact details. You can still write to [email protected], and in any case your record is deleted 30 days after your last visit.

You also have the right to access your data, to have it corrected, and to complain to the Italian data protection authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (garanteprivacy.it).