About this study
This study is part of the research project ‘Exploring New Dimensions of Game Cultural Agency: From Marginalisation to Empowerment (ENDGAME)’ funded by the Research Council of Finland from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2029. The project is conducted at Tampere University within the Game Research Lab research group. You can read more about the project here: https://projects.tuni.fi/endgame.
This study aims to find out what kind of meanings and significance different types of game events hold for their organisers, participants, and wider environments. We collect research material by observing game events, which includes taking notes, photos, and videos. We will also collect survey responses from event participants and interview event organisers. We will conduct this study in different events in Finland, Norway, and Canada to compare different types of events organised in different places.
Participation in the study
By participating in this study, you get to bring your own experiences and views regarding game events into an international, comparative study about different types of game events and their various meanings to their organisers, participants, and surrounding environments. There are no known harms or risks related to participation in this study. Participants will not receive financial compensation.
If you are an event organiser, we invite you to participate in a (group) research interview regarding the event. In the interview, we will discuss the event structure, its goal, target audience, values, impacts, and challenges. We will also map out the event’s partner and stakeholder network. Participation in the interview is completely voluntary, and you can interrupt or end the interview at any time by leaving. Any material that has already been submitted (such as a completed research interview) cannot be withdrawn from the study. However, we will protect your privacy, handle the material securely, and present the research findings in a way that individual participants cannot be easily identified. You can read more about our data processing and protection practices in the privacy notice below.
If you are an event participant, we invite you to fill a short online survey regarding the event. You can fill the form if you are at least 15 years old (this age is required for you to give your informed consent for research participation). The aim of this survey is to find out why people want to participate in the event, how do they experience it, and what kind of things help or hinder their participation. We will also ask the respondents’ age, gender, and city of residence as background information. The survey is filled on secure MS Forms platform. Filling the survey will take a few minutes. Filling the survey is completely voluntary and you can stop your participation at any time simply by closing the survey. Any material that has already been submitted (such as submitted survey responses) cannot be withdrawn from the study. However, we will protect your privacy, handle the material securely, and present the research findings in a way that individual participants cannot be easily identified. You can read more about our data processing and protection practices in the privacy notice below.
If you participate in an event that we are observing, you may appear in our research material. We will observe these events on a general level and will not focus on activities of individual people. We will take photos and videos in which individual people may be recognisable, but we will focus on the general environment rather than individual people in them as well. In our research publications and presentations, we will primarily focus on describing events themselves instead of their organisers or participants.
Use and publication of the research material and results
Research material is processed by ENDGAME project’s researchers Essi Taino and Usva Friman from Tampere University. We will collaborate with researchers from Nord University (Norway) and Concordia University (Canada), but they will not have access to material collected from Vectorama.
The results of this study will be presented in academic conferences and other research talks and published in peer-reviewed research journals. All research publications will be made openly available and shared on the project website and we will communicate about the research results through various channels. In addition, we will provide the event organisers with a summary of participant feedback as well as a map of the event’s partner and stakeholder networks produced during our interview with them. After the research project has been completed, the survey and data will be anonymised and archived in the Finnish Social Science Data Archive so that it can be potentially used in other, future studies.
Researchers’ contact information
If you have questions about this study, you can contact us:
Researcher conducting the study: Doctoral Researcher Essi Taino essi.taino@tuni.fi
Project leader: Academy Research Fellow, Assistant Professor Usva Friman usva.friman@tuni.fi
Privacy notice for this study
This privacy notice describes how we process your personal data in compliance with data protection legislation. In data protection legislation, the term ‘data subject’ refers to the person whose personal data are processed. In this privacy notice, we refer to data subject as ‘you’ and controller as ‘we’.
This privacy notice may be updated or edited if necessary. You will be notified of any significant changes as mandated by data protection legislation.
This privacy notice came into force on 1.6.2026.
1. Controller
The controller of the research project is:
Tampere University Foundation sr. (Tampere University)
Business ID: 2844561-8
Kalevantie 4 FI-33100 Tampere, Finland
The contact person for questions about data processing is the research project’s Principal Investigator (lead researcher) Usva Friman, who can be reached at usva.friman@tuni.fi.
If you have general questions about data protection at Tampere University, please email our Data Protection Officer at dpo@tuni.fi.
2. Scope and purpose of data processing
We will process your personal data to conduct a study within the research project ‘Exploring New Dimensions of Game Cultural Agency: From Marginalisation to Empowerment (ENDGAME).’ This research project will last until 31.8.2029. The project is funded by the Research Council of Finland.
This study aims to find out what kind of meanings and significance different types of game events hold for their organisers, participants, and wider environments. For this purpose, we will collect research material that includes personal data, through observation at game events, surveys directed at event participants, and interviews with event organisers. This research material and the personal data that it contains will be processed by ENDGAME project’s researchers Essi Taino and Usva Friman from Tampere University.
For this purpose, we will collect research material including personal data by observing game events, which includes taking notes, photos, and videos. We will also collect survey responses from event participants and interview event organisers. We will conduct this study in different events in Finland, Norway, and Canada to compare different types of events organised in different places. We will collaborate with researchers from Nord University (Norway) and Concordia University (Canada), but they will not have access to material collected from Vectorama. The project’s Principal Investigator Usva Friman is responsible for overseeing the research project, including the processing of personal data.
Findings made from this survey and interview material will be presented in a way that individual participants cannot be easily identified (all direct identifiers will be removed). The results of this study will be presented in academic conferences and other research talks and published in peer-reviewed research journals. All publications will be made openly available and shared on the project website and we will communicate about the research results through various channels. After the research project has been completed, the survey and interview data will be anonymised and archived in the Finnish Social Science Data Archive so that it can be potentially used in other, future studies.
3. Lawful basis for processing personal data
The lawful basis for processing personal data is Article 6(1)(e) GDPR (task carried out in the public interest), as specified in Section 4(1)(3) of the Finnish Data Protection Act and Section 2 of the Universities Act. Special category personal data are processed under Article 9(2)(j) GDPR for scientific research purposes, subject to appropriate safeguards.
4. Sources and types of personal data
We will collect personal data directly through online surveys targeted at event participants and research interviews with event organisers. In addition, we will collect personal data through photographs and videos taken at these events.
We will process the following types of personal data:
- General personal data: age and city of residence (online survey); name, voice, and video (research interview); photograph and video (observation material from events)
- Special category data (sensitive personal data): gender identity (online survey)
5. Transfer and disclosure of personal data
In addition to the project’s research team, your personal data may be processed for survey response translation or interview transcription by a company with whom the university has concluded appropriate data processing agreements.
Your personal data collected within this region will not be transferred to a third country or an international organisation located outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA).
6. Protecting personal data
Your personal data will be protected using appropriate technical and organisational measures. We will protect your data through technical measures, including antivirus software, firewalls and regular software updates. Users who can access personal data are required to log in with a username, password, and multi-factor authentication. Material including special category personal data (i.e. sensitive personal data) will be stored on personal work laptops and a Microsoft OneDrive server provided by the university in an encrypted format. The software that we use in processing your data is provided by the university and suitable for material including special category personal data.
We will also protect your data through organisational measures. Our staff are obligated to maintain confidentiality, and access to data is restricted. Any physical documents will be safeguarded by storing them in locked facilities.
Survey material will be collected without direct identifiers. Interview registrations and interview recordings will include direct identifiers, and these will be securely stored separately from the analysis material and only stored until the interviews have been conducted and transcribed. We will present research findings made from the survey and interview material in a way that individual participants cannot be easily identified. In our research publications and presentations, we may include photos and videos taken from these events in which individual people may be recognisable, but these will focus on the general environment rather than individual people.
7. Retention period for personal data
We will retain your personal data for only as long as necessary, as determined on a case-by-case basis. The retention period also depends on the requirements set out in data protection legislation. We will adhere to our Data Management Plan and all applicable legislation when determining the retention period of personal data.
Your personal data will be retained until the planned research publications based on this material have been published, estimated to be by the end of 2029.
After the research project has been completed, the survey responses will be anonymised and archived in the Finnish Social Science Data Archive without personally identifiable information.
8. Profiling and automated decision-making
We will not use your personal data for profiling or automated decision-making.
9. Data subjects’ rights and how to exercise them
Data protection legislation affords certain rights to data subjects, depending on the lawful basis for processing their personal data. Under certain circumstances, your rights may be restricted, for example, due to our legal obligations or if personal data are processed for scientific research, statistical or archiving purposes. If your rights have been restricted, we will implement appropriate and necessary technical and organisational measures to protect your privacy. As a data subject, you have the following rights which you can exercise by sending us a request.
Right of access
You have the right to request confirmation of whether we hold your personal data and to receive a copy of the data we hold.
Right to rectification
You have the right to request that any incorrect or incomplete personal data we hold about be revised or supplemented. You can also request to have any unnecessary personal data erased from our records.
Right to restrict processing
You may have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain cases defined by law. For example, this right may apply if you believe the personal data we hold about you is incorrect or that your data are being processed in violation of data protection legislation, or if you have opposed the processing of your data.
Right to object
In certain circumstances, you have the right to object to the processing of personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation.
Right to data portability
Under certain circumstances, you have the right to request that the personal data you have provided be transferred to another system.
Right not to be subject to automated decision-making
You have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing (such as profiling) that produce legal effects concerning you or otherwise similarly and significantly affect you. However, there are exceptions to this prohibition.
Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Data Protection Ombudsman), if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates data protection legislation.
Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman
Street address: Lintulahdenkuja 4, FI-00530 Helsinki, Finland
Postal address: PO Box 800, FI-00531 Helsinki, Finland
Switchboard: +358 29 56 66700
Fax: +358 29 56 66735
Email address: tietosuoja@om.fi