1. About this Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice explains how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus may process personal data in connection with the use of the DiasporaCY mobile application.
DiasporaCY currently operates as a mobile application providing information and is available for Android and iOS operating systems. It provides users with access to publicly available information, announcements, guidance, documents, links and other content made available by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or other Government websites.
This Privacy Notice is issued in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR") and the Protection of Natural Persons against the Processing of Personal Data and the Free Movement of Such Data Law of 2018 (Law 125(I)/2018).
2. Data Controller
The Data Controller for the application is:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus
Address: Presidential Palace Avenue, 1447 Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: info@mfa.gov.cy
Telephone: +357 22 651000
Website: www.gov.cy/mfa
Data Protection Officer (DPO)
George-Alexandros Charalambous
Administrative Officer
Address: Presidential Palace Avenue, 1447 Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: dpo@mfa.gov.cy
Telephone: +357 22 651116
3. Personal Data Collected by the Application
The DiasporaCY application does not collect, store, transmit, analyse or otherwise process users' personal data.
In particular, the application does not:
- require users to create an account;
- require users to sign in, including through CY Login or any other authentication service;
- collect names, email addresses, telephone numbers, identity card numbers, Alien Registration Certificate (ARC) numbers, postal addresses or any other identifying information;
- collect location data;
- access users' contacts, photographs, camera, microphone, files, calendar or any other personal content stored on their device;
- use analytics tools, advertising identifiers, profiling tools or behavioural tracking technologies;
- collect crash reports or technical diagnostic information capable of identifying users or devices;
- transmit users' data to third parties; or
- make automated decisions concerning users, including profiling within the meaning of Article 22 GDPR.
Any local settings, such as language selection or display preferences, remain exclusively on the user's device and are deleted when the application is uninstalled.
With regard to the "Registration in the Diaspora Register" option available within the application, users are required to provide their prior consent before being redirected, via a hyperlink, to the existing registration platform (https://cydiaspora.gov.cy/en/registration-of-diaspora-cypriots/). Consequently, a different Privacy Policy applies and is available at:
https://cydiaspora.gov.cy/en/privacy-policy/
That Privacy Policy was developed following consultations between the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection and the Office of the Commissioner of the Presidency, which at the time acted as the Data Controller for both the existing platform (www.diaspora.gov.cy) and the Diaspora Registration Module.
Since March 2024, following a decision of the Council of Ministers, responsibility for the Service for Overseas Cypriots was transferred from the Presidency to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the above platform. The platform continues to operate in accordance with applicable data protection requirements and the relevant Privacy Policy available at:
https://cydiaspora.gov.cy/en/privacy-policy/
Links to Websites or Services Outside the Application
The application may contain links to third-party websites or services. By selecting such links, users leave the application and become subject to the privacy policies of the respective third-party providers.
The Data Controller of the application is not responsible for the content, privacy practices or processing of personal data carried out by such third parties.
Users are therefore encouraged to read the Privacy Policy of each website or service they visit before providing any personal data.
4. Purpose of the Application
The purpose of the application is to facilitate the provision of public information to users by bringing together such information and making it available in a user-friendly format for mobile devices.
No processing of personal data is required for this purpose.
5. Lawfulness of Processing
As the application does not process personal data, no legal basis under Article 6 of the GDPR is required for the operation of the application itself.
Should this change in the future, this Privacy Notice will be updated prior to the commencement of any processing of personal data through the application.
6. Device Permissions
The application does not request any device permissions that would enable the collection or processing of personal data.
In particular, the application does not request access to the device's location, contacts, photographs, camera, microphone, files or calendar.
Should future versions of the application require access to any device permissions, the purpose of each permission will be clearly explained before it is used, and this Privacy Notice will be updated accordingly.
8. Push Notifications
The application does not currently use push notifications.
Should a future version of the application introduce push notification functionality, this Privacy Notice will be updated before such functionality is activated, so as to clearly describe its purpose, technical operation, any service providers involved, any personal data that may be processed, and the users' related rights.
9. Disclosure of Personal Data to Third Parties
The application does not disclose personal data to any third party because it neither collects nor processes personal data.
This Privacy Notice relates solely to the operation of the application by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and does not cover any separate processing of personal data carried out by app store providers or by external websites to which the application may provide links.
10. Data Retention
The application does not retain personal data.
Any local application settings, such as language preferences, are stored exclusively on the user's device and are deleted when the application is uninstalled.
The public content displayed through the application is managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in accordance with its internal records management policies and the applicable legislation of the Republic of Cyprus.
11. International Data Transfers
The application does not transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), as it neither collects nor processes personal data.
The download, installation, updating and rating of the application through third-party app stores are governed by the privacy policies of the respective app store providers.
12. Rights of Data Subjects
The DiasporaCY application neither collects nor processes users' personal data, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not identify users of the application.
Accordingly, the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection and data portability are, as a general rule, not applicable in relation to the use of this application, since no users' personal data are retained or processed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the application.
This does not affect any rights that data subjects may have in relation to any other, separate processing of personal data carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by third-party providers, such as app store providers.
Users may contact the Data Protection Officer (DPO) with any questions relating to this Privacy Notice or to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' processing of personal data.
13. Information Regarding App Stores
The application is available for download through third-party app stores, namely Google Play and the Apple App Store.
The relevant app store provider may process personal data independently, acting as an independent Data Controller, in connection with the download, installation, updating or rating of the application by users. Users are encouraged to consult the privacy policy of the relevant provider.
14. Amendments to this Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice may be updated from time to time.
Any changes, in particular the future introduction of any processing of personal data through the application, will be reflected in an updated version of this Privacy Notice, which will be made available to users before such changes take effect.
15. Contact Information and Right to Lodge a Complaint
For any questions regarding this Privacy Notice, you may contact:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus
Address: Presidential Palace Avenue, 1447 Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: info@mfa.gov.cy
Telephone: +357 22 651000
Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Email: dpo@mfa.gov.cy
Users also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority of the Republic of Cyprus:
Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection
Website: www.dataprotection.gov.cy
This document constitutes the official version of this Privacy Notice. In the event of any discrepancy between the Greek and the English versions, the Greek version shall prevail.
© Republic of Cyprus, 2026