BrtH

@seg you wouldn't use 'consent' as the base to process a name, you would use 'legitimate interest'. Consent is the weakest of the 6 bases and should be your last resort. But it's hard too argue that using a birthyear in an e-mail address is a legitimate interest, because less privacy-invading alternatives like a serial number are available and commonly used.

@seg consent must be able to be withdrawn at any time without negative consequences, and anyway it is usually understood that you can not freely consent to your employer because of the implied power they hold over you. So no, you can not 'certainly do it'.

Why does the software need a citation? Can't you just mention the software when describing your method? Or am I taking the word 'cite' too literally?

@MarkRotteveel You're completely right that this wouldn't be legal, but if an employer in the Netherlands asked me this, and it's a one-off, I would still follow this answer. This just isn't worth the conflict (if you still want the job of course).

Rankings that are based on the Anglo-Saxon model rank Anglo-Saxon universities higher. Quelle surprise.

@Dilworth "I think that this is one reason European universities to a certain extent lag behind their US competitors". That's a very strong claim. Do you have any way to back that up? On the other hand, Americans thinking they are better than the rest of the world is a widely observed phenomenon...