Internal reporting office in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG)
All members and affiliates of the university must comply with applicable laws and regulations in the performance of their professional duties. However, if you become aware of any violations of applicable laws and regulations in the course of your official duties at the university, we would be grateful if you would report them to us.
On July 2, 2023, the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG), which serves to implement the so-called Whistleblower Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1937), came into force. The purpose of the law is to protect whistleblowers who draw attention to violations of laws and regulations in the course of their professional activities.
To implement the Whistleblower Protection Act, an internal central reporting office has been set up for the following universities in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act:
- Protestant University of Applied Sciences Rhineland-Westphalia-Lippe
- University of Health Sciences
- Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences
- Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences
- OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts (TH OWL)
Reports of regulatory violations can be made to this reporting office electronically or by telephone.
In addition, it is also possible to make an external report to the competent federal or EU authority. For universities, this is explicitly the external reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice.
However, we would like to expressly encourage you to use the internal reporting office so that we can bring about improvements directly on site.
In all reports, the confidentiality of the person making the report and the confidentiality of third parties must be protected. Information about the person making the report may only be disclosed in defined exceptional cases (§ 9 HinSchG). The provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) are observed.
The reporting office is bound to confidentiality.
Reporting channels
Electronic reports: whistleblower(at)th-owl.hochschulen.nrw
Telephone reports:
To the employees of the internal reporting office within the meaning of the Whistleblower Protection Act:
Ms. Steinweg: +49 23191128434 and
Mr. Schäfer: +49 23191128258 and
Mr. Kläver: +49 23818789293.
FAQ
The internal reporting office accepts tips from employees within the meaning of Section 2 of the HinSchG (Whistleblower Protection Act) of the following universities:
- Protestant University of Applied Sciences Rhineland-Westphalia-Lippe
- University of Health Sciences
- Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences
- Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences
- OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts (TH OWL)
If the report relates to violations of criminal law, certain fines regulations, or other regulations specified in Section 2 of the Whistleblower Protection Act, you are protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act. As this is not always easy to assess, please contact us if you are in any doubt and we will try to assess the facts together.
The Whistleblower Protection Act applies in particular to criminal offenses (e.g., corruption, theft, fraud, etc.) and violations of environmental law, radiation protection, or nuclear safety regulations.
Your report will be treated confidentially by the internal reporting office; the relevant provisions can be found in Sections 8 and 9 of the HinSchG.
Initially, only the internal reporting office will be aware of your report. We will check the information provided for plausibility and then initiate follow-up measures if necessary.
The internal reporting office cannot guarantee complete anonymity.
This is partly because the report may contain information that is only accessible to a small group of people or that otherwise allows conclusions to be drawn about the person. Furthermore, the internal reporting office and other persons involved have no right to refuse to give evidence to the law enforcement authorities.
Nevertheless, we will process reports that we receive without the sender's details and will not actively attempt to determine the identity of the sender.
After we receive your report, you will receive a confirmation of receipt from us within seven days.
Within three months of confirming receipt of the report, you will receive a detailed response from us regarding any follow-up measures that have already been taken or are planned. However, this can only be done to the extent that it does not infringe on the rights of other persons (in particular those named in the report).
Of course, this does not apply in the case of anonymous reports.
Privacy policy
Contact details of the controller
OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts (TH OWL)
represented by Professor Dr. Jürgen Krahl, represented by Chancellor Nicole Soltwedel
Campusallee 12
32657 Lemgo
Contact details of the data protection officer
OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts (TH OWL)
Data protection officer
Campusallee 12
32657 Lemgo
Email: datenschutz(at)th-owl.de
Processed personal data and purposes
When you submit a report to the internal reporting office and the report is processed, your personal data is collected and processed for the following purposes:
For submitting reports
IP WAN of the device from which the report is submitted
Name and contact details, if applicable
Required personal data that is the content of your report.
For initiating follow-up measures
Personal data required for taking follow-up measures.
Legal basis for data processing
Art. 6 (1) (c) EU GDPR in conjunction with § 10 Whistleblower Protection Act.
Please note that when processing personal data, we will immediately delete or cease processing any data that is not relevant to the case in question.
Data transfers
In individual cases, data may be transferred to third parties on the basis of legal permission, for example, to law enforcement authorities for the investigation of criminal offenses within the framework of the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO).
Deletion periods
Data processed for the purposes mentioned under 2 is generally deleted three years after the conclusion of the proceedings in accordance with Section 11 (5) HinSchG or, if the data is in the form of paper documents, destroyed.
Your rights as a data subject
As a data subject, you can assert your rights under the EU GDPR at any time:
- Right to information about whether and which of your data is being processed (Art. 15 EU GDPR),
- Right to request the correction or completion of data concerning you (Art. 16 EU GDPR),
- right to erasure of data concerning you in accordance with Art. 17 EU GDPR,
- right to request restriction of processing of data in accordance with Art. 18 EU GDPR,
- right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.