1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 This privacy policy (Privacy Policy) sets out the ways in which we, the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS, we, us, our), may collect and use your personal data (your personal information) in connection with our business. It also explains what rights you have to access or change your personal data. You should also refer to the Terms of Use for FEBS Platforms.

1.2 In this Privacy Policy:

Account means a registered account that enables you to apply/register to Events, make Contributions and otherwise use those parts of our Platforms restricted to Account holders including (depending on the Account you hold and Platform you are using) enabling you to submit, edit or review articles intended for publication in one of the FEBS Press journals;

Contribution means any submissions, edits, information or data (in any form) you make available via your Account including without limitation Contributions to a FEBS Press journal (including articles and reviewer reports), uploading of abstracts and supporting documents for Event or other applications, and posts, documents or videos uploaded to the FEBS Network;

Events means events that are determined by FEBS, including the FEBS Congress and FEBS Advanced Courses managed on behalf of FEBS and using a febscongress.org, febsevents.org, iubmb-febs.org or febs-iubmb-pabmb.org platform for registration (i.e. events for which FEBS collects and uses personal information and is acting as a data controller for personal information). Please note that our Event organizers also collect and use personal information in connection with the Event (including via virtual platforms such as Zoom) and you should refer to the relevant privacy policy of the organizer for additional information. It excludes other events that may be in receipt of FEBS funding, such as certain events operated by FEBS Constituent Societies, or certain Advanced Courses or the FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE  conference not using a FEBS platform for registration; if you are attending such an event you should refer to the privacy policy of the relevant FEBS Constituent Society, Advanced Courses organizer or FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE host institute, respectively.

FEBS Constituent Societies means the biochemistry and molecular biology societies in Europe and neighbouring regions that are Members or Associate Members of FEBS, as listed here;

FEBS Press means the FEBS-owned journals: The FEBS Journal, FEBS Letters, FEBS Open Bio and Molecular Oncology;

FEBS Network means the FEBS Network forum for the molecular life science community at network.febs.org; in addition, subdomains of network.febs.org may be used to support virtual events in the FEBS Advanced Courses program, and reference to the FEBS Network in the Privacy Policy below are also relevant to such virtual events;

Platforms means websites, desktop and mobile applications owned or operated by FEBS or by a third-party data platform (such as Zoom) under the instruction of FEBS and including:

i. www.febs.org,
ii. courses.febs.org,
iii. fellowships.febs.org,
iv. network.febs.org (and domains thereof),
v. febscongress.org (and domains thereof); also febs-iubmb-pabmb.org for a congress in 2022,
vi. febsevents.org (and domains thereof),
vii. febs-iubmb-enableconference.org
viii. manuscript submission sites for the FEBS Press journals at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/febsj mc.manuscriptcentral.com/febsl, mc.manuscriptcentral.com/molonc, mc.manuscriptcentral.com/febsopen

you and your means a person visiting the Platforms, registering for an Account with us or using services on the Platforms as well as if you are registering for an Event, or otherwise interacting with us and using our services outside of the Platforms in any way.

1.3 Our Platforms are not intended for children. We do not knowingly collect or maintain the personal information of children under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, please do not access our Platforms at any time or in any manner. We will take appropriate steps to delete the personal information of persons under the age of 18.

2. ABOUT US

2.1 We are a Registered Charity (Number 1149638) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (Number 08239097) registered in England and Wales, whose registered office is at 2d & 2e, St Andrew’s House, 59 St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge CB2 3BZ, UK. For more information about us please visit www.febs.org.

2.2 If you have any queries about this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal data, please contact us using the following details:

FAO:  Data Compliance managers
Address: The Federation of European Biochemical Societies, 2d & 2e, St Andrew’s House, 59 St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge CB2 3BZ, UK.
Email: [email protected]

Or, if you are based in the European Union you may also contact our EU Representative (appointed under Article 27 GDPR):
ePrivacy GmbH, Große Bleichen 21, 20354 Hamburg, Germany.
https://www.eprivacy.eu

2.3 For all other queries about our Platforms, including technical questions about website functionality, and payment, registration and abstract matters for events, please use the contact form on the relevant part of the Platform.

3. INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT ABOUT YOU

3.1 Information that you provide to us

3.1.1 We will collect any information that you provide to us when you:
(a) make an enquiry, provide feedback or make a complaint over the phone, by email or on our Platforms;
(b) submit correspondence to us by post, email or via our Platforms;
(c) register for or are provided with an Account;
(d) provide us with your details by post, email or over the phone;
(e) update your profile and other Account details;
(f) submit, edit or review a Contribution via your Account;
(g) apply/register to and/or attend our Events;
(h) complete any forms provided to you at our Events;
(i) submit application details for consideration for FEBS funding such as for FEBS Fellowships, FEBS prizes, FEBS bursaries, FEBS Youth Travel Fund grants, and grants to support Event organization;
(j) subscribe to our newsletter or mailing lists;
(k) fill in a form, conduct a search, post content on the Platforms, respond to surveys, participate in promotions or use any other features of the Platforms;
(l) interact with content and other Account holders on the FEBS Network;
(m) ‘follow’, ‘like’, post to or interact with our social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter;
(n) submit an application for a FEBS job vacancy and/or attend an interview or assessment for a FEBS job vacancy. We may collect additional information from you for this purpose as set out in our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

3.1.2 The information you provide to us will include (depending on the circumstances):
(a) Identity and contact data: title, names, addresses, email address, phone number, age or date of birth, gender and nationality;
(b) Account profile data: depending on the Platform upon which you are registering for an Account, you may also provide a username, password, job title/position, affiliations, ORCID identifier and research interests and/or position, or similar such information;
(c) Event and funding application information: if you are applying to attend Events, or applying for or receiving FEBS funding (including grants, FEBS Fellowships and bursaries) or prizes, then we will also collect information to enable your application to be assessed or to determine and process payments. Such information will, depending on the Event or funding applied for, include your academic and work history (or CV), references, bank and invoicing details, travel documents, and number of dependants, and any other such similar details as may be required;
(d) Survey data: from time to time we might ask if you would be willing to participate in our surveys; if you agree, we will also collect any information that you provide as part of that survey;
(e) Employment and background data: if you are submitting a job application, you may also provide additional information about your academic and work history, qualifications, skills, projects and research that you are involved in, references, proof of your entitlement to work in the UK, your national insurance number, your passport or other identity document details, your current level of remuneration (including benefits), and any other such similar information that you may provide to us. For more details, see our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

3.2 Information we collect about you

3.2.1 Information contained in correspondence: we will collect any information contained in any correspondence between us. For example, if you contact us using a contact form via the Platforms or by email or telephone, we may keep a record of that correspondence;

3.2.2 Information transmitted via the Platforms: we will collect information that you upload or post to your Account and/or any correspondence or interactions that you may have with other Account holders via our Platforms;

3.2.3 Platform usage and technical data: we will also collect certain information about how you use the Platforms and the device that you use to access the Platforms even where you have not created an account or logged in. This might include your geographical location, device information (such as your hardware model, mobile network information, unique device identifiers), the data transmitted by your browser (such as your IP address, date and type of the request, content of the request regarding the specific site, time zone settings, access status/HTTP status code, volume of data transmitted, browser type and version, language settings, time zone settings referral source, length of visit to the Platforms, date and time of the request, operating system and interface), number of page views, the search queries you make on the Platforms and similar information. This information may be collected by a third-party website analytics service provider, such as Google Analytics, on our behalf and/or may be collected using cookies. For more information on cookies please refer to the COOKIES section below.

3.2.4 Imagery: we may capture images of you when we take photographs of or film an overview of an Event, or when we take photographs of FEBS Press journal prizewinners at other events. Your image may be included in an image or video of the audience at an Event or your image may be specifically captured such as images of a lecture or talk you deliver at an Event. We will endeavour to let you know, for example by notices at the Event, if we will be photographing or filming. If you do not wish for your image to be used by us, you can let us know by using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice. We may also specifically record content of talks at certain Events for video presentation, and if you are engaged as a speaker for an Event we will separately request your permission to reproduce, distribute and otherwise use such films or recordings.

3.3 Sensitive Personal Information:

3.3.1 “Special categories” of particularly sensitive personal information (Sensitive Personal Information) require higher levels of protection. Sensitive Personal Information includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data. We need to have further justification for collecting, storing and using this type of Sensitive Personal Information. We have in place an appropriate policy document and safeguards which we are required by law to maintain when processing such data.

3.3.2 If you are a job applicant, we will process Sensitive Personal Information about your health as necessary for the purpose of arranging your interview and for compliance with our legal obligations to make reasonable adjustments for your circumstances (for more details, see our Recruitment Privacy Notice). Once a position has been offered and accepted, we will only process passport details, provided by you, for the purpose of ID checks prior to starting employment.

3.3.3 If you register to attend an Event you may provide information about your dietary requirements, health or a disability. Any information you provide in this way will solely be used for the purpose of making reasonable adjustments for your circumstances and on the basis of your explicit consent. You may withdraw your consent to our processing this data about you at any time.

3.4 Information we receive from third parties

3.4.1 In certain circumstances, we will receive information about you from third parties. For example:
(a) Verification services: we may use third-party providers to verify information provided by you via your Account, including via any Contributions. For example, we may use ORCID, Crossref and/or any other third-party databases or websites to confirm your CV or publication history;
(b) Referring organizations or contacts: we may receive information about you from third parties that are referring you to FEBS. For example, if you are the co-author or institutional contact of a submitting author, the submitting author will be required to provide us with information about you, or a colleague or institutional contact may be required to provide us with information about you if they are registering for an Account or Event on your behalf or if they are providing your details as their referee. If you are the referring party, you warrant that you have obtained the necessary consent to share this information with us;
(c) FEBS Press peer review: if you are the author of a manuscript submitted to one of the FEBS Press journals, we will collect comments on your manuscript from editors and reviewers;
(d) Service providers: we may collect personal information from our website developers, app developer, IT support provider and marketing software provider (who may be based inside or outside the UK or the EU), and our publishing service providers and Event organizers who will process article processing charges and registration charges;
(e) Other scientific meeting organizers: we may receive information about you from organizers in receipt of FEBS funding for scientific meetings (other than our Events) as part of the organizers’ reports on the meeting.
(f) Website security: we will collect information from our website security service partners (who may be based inside or outside the UK or the EU) about any misuse to the website, for instance, the introduction of viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs, website attacks or any other material or action that is malicious or harmful;
(g) Employers, recruitment agencies and referees: if you are a job applicant we may contact your recruiter, current and former employers and/or referees, who may be based inside or outside the UK or EU, to provide information about you and your application (for more details, see our Recruitment Privacy Notice).
(h) Social media plugins: we may use social media plugins from the following service providers who are based both inside and outside the UK or the EU: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube. By providing your social media account details you are authorising that third-party provider to share with us certain information about you; and
(i) Publicly available sources: we currently use a variety of sources in order to carry out basic research to find potential authors, editors and reviewers and carry out identity and compliance checks. In addition to general information researched on the internet, we make use of information from publicly available and officially registered information providers (such as institutional websites and PubMed).

3.4.2 We might also receive information about you from third parties if you have indicated to such third party that you would like them to share such information.

4. HOW WE USE INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

4.1 We will use your information for the following purposes either on the basis of:

4.1.1 performance of your contract with us and the provision of our services to you;

4.1.2 your consent (where we request it);

4.1.3 where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation; or

4.1.4 our legitimate interests or those of a third party (see paragraph 4.3 below).

4.2 We use your information for the following purposes:

4.2.1 To provide access to our Platforms: to provide you with access to the Platforms in a convenient and optimal manner as explained in more detail in our Terms of Use (on the basis of our legitimate interest to ensure our Platforms are presented in an effective and optimal manner);

4.2.2 To register your Account: to provide you with details about your Account (on the basis of performing our contract with you);

4.2.3 To enable you to make and manage Contributions: to enable (as applicable) the receipt, review, editing, production and publication of Contributions to a FEBS Press journal, the uploading of abstracts and supporting documents for Event applications, and posts, documents or videos uploaded to the FEBS Network (on the basis of performing our contract with you);

4.2.4 For performance and appraisals: if you are a reviewer for FEBS Press, we may use your information to create an appraisal which reviews such factors as the time it takes for you to respond to us and the level of detail of your Contribution;

4.2.5 To administer Events: to enable receipt, review and processing of Event applications/registrations and Event submissions such as abstracts and to manage other services for attendance at an Event (sharing your information with selected third parties such as FEBS Congress organizers or Advanced Courses organizers as required, including organizers outside of the EEA), as well as to manage applications, review and awarding of Event funding (including for Event participation support schemes and Event organization grants) and to make payments in respect of awarded funding (on the basis of performing our contract with you and our legitimate interests in the smooth running of our Events);

4.2.6 To administer FEBS Fellowships, prizes and other FEBS funding: to enable receipt and review of applications, to make payments in respect of awarded Fellowships and other funding, to monitor awarded Fellowships, to monitor use of other FEBS funding, and to publicize awards (on the basis of performing our contract with you and our legitimate interests in managing and promoting our Fellowships, prizes and other funding programs);

4.2.7 To administer FEBS Committee and Working Group elections: to enable receipt and review of applications for FEBS Council, and administration of elections (on the basis of our legitimate interests in managing our organization);

4.2.8 Relationship management: to manage our relationship with you, which will include notifying you about changes to our Terms of Use or Privacy Policy, and asking you to leave a review or take a survey (on the basis of performing our contract with you, to comply with our legal obligations and on the basis of our legitimate interests to keep our records updated and study how our Platforms and services are used);

4.2.9 Marketing: to keep in contact with you about FEBS news, FEBS Network, Events, new Platform features or services that we believe may interest you, provided that we have the requisite permission to do so, to conduct marketing analysis to allow us to assess trends and the effectiveness of our newsletter and marketing campaigns, and sharing your information with our marketing services provider in the case of the FEBS e-newsletter (either on the basis of your consent where we have requested it, or our legitimate interests to provide you with marketing communications where we may lawfully do so);

4.2.10 User and customer support: to provide customer service and support (on the basis of our contract with you or on the basis of our legitimate interests to provide you with customer service), deal with enquiries or complaints about the Platforms and services and share your information with our website developers, IT support provider, payment services provider as necessary to provide customer support (on the basis of our legitimate interest in providing access to our services to our Platforms users and to comply with our legal obligations);

4.2.11 Suggestions and recommendations: to share your information with selected third parties, to enable them to contact you with information about things that may interest (only where you give us your consent to do so);

4.2.12 Social media interactions: to interact with users on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter, for example responding to comments and messages, posting, ‘retweeting’ and ‘liking’ posts (on the basis of our legitimate interest in promoting FEBS and our services and communicating with interested individuals);

4.2.13 Analytics: to use data analytics to improve our Platforms, products/services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences (on the basis of our legitimate interests in defining types of customers for our Platforms and services, to keep our Platforms updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy);

4.2.14 Research: to carry out aggregated and anonymised research about general engagement with our Platforms (on the basis of our legitimate interest in providing the right kinds of services to our Platform users);

4.2.15 Publicity and dissemination from Events: to promote our organization and Events, which may include photographs or film of an Event you have attended or participated in; we may use such photographs or films in our printed and online publicity, social media and press releases (on the basis of our legitimate interests in promoting our organization and services). In addition, we may bring content of a talk you have delivered at an Event to a wider audience, through video presentation of a recorded lecture where we have obtained the right to do so;

4.2.16 Commissioning activity: to maintain a record of our commissioning activities such as whether we have previously contacted you to invite you to submit a Contribution or to review or edit a Contribution;

4.2.17 Fraud and unlawful activity detection: to protect, investigate and deter against fraudulent, unauthorised or illegal activity, including identity fraud (on the basis of our legitimate interests to operate a safe and lawful business or where we have a legal obligation to do so); and

4.2.18 Compliance with policies, procedures and laws: to enable us to comply with our policies and procedures and enforce our legal rights, or to protect the rights, property or safety of our employees and share your information with our technical and legal advisors (on the basis of our legitimate interests to operate a safe and lawful business or where we have a legal obligation to do so).

4.3 As outlined above, in certain circumstances we may use your personal information to pursue legitimate interests of our own or those of third parties. Where we refer to using your information on the basis of our “legitimate interests”, we mean our legitimate business interests in conducting and managing our business and our relationship with you, including the legitimate interest we have in:

4.3.1 personalising, enhancing, modifying or otherwise improving the services and/or communications that we provide to you;

4.3.2 to provide you with marketing communications where we may lawfully do so;

4.3.3 promoting FEBS and our services and communicating with interested individuals;

4.3.4 detecting and preventing fraud and operating a safe and lawful business;

4.3.5 improving security and optimisation of our platforms and services.

4.4 Where we use your information for our legitimate interests, we make sure that we take into account any potential impact that such use may have on you. Our legitimate interests don’t automatically override yours and we won’t use your information if we believe your interests should override ours unless we have other grounds to do so (such as your consent or a legal obligation). If you have any concerns about our processing please refer to details of “Your Rights” below.

5. WHO WE MIGHT SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH

5.1 In connection with the purposes and on the lawful grounds described above and in addition to the recipients of your information as described above, we will share your personal information when relevant with third parties such as:

5.1.1 Other Account holders: other Account holders, including where required for the purpose of using your Contribution (such as in relation to the FEBS Press manuscript tracking systems);

5.1.2 Our service providers: service providers we work with to deliver our business:
(a) Platform development and hosting services such as those provided by Studio 24, Cambridge New Media, Granite 5, and Zapnito based in the UK, Effi-Sciences based in Spain and Conference Compass based in the Netherlands;
(b) IT, system administration and security services provided by Sophos Ltd and Camb IT based in the UK;
(c) marketing services provided by Campaign Monitor (based in Australia), advertising services (including the Google AdWords service), and analytics services (including Google Analytics based in USA and GoSquared based in the UK);
(d) Event organizers, who also process registration payments, and may be based outside of the EEA depending on where the Event is held;
(e) publishing services (including processing article processing charges) provided by Wiley based in the UK and USA;
(f) social media services including Facebook and Twitter based in USA;
(g) banking services based in the UK;
(h) legal, accountancy, auditing and insurance services and other professional advisers based in the UK;
(i) recruitment service providers based in the UK;
(j) voting services provided by Mi-Voice, based in the UK, to administer FEBS Council meeting elections.

5.1.3 Affiliates: selected third parties that we work with, where necessary for the purposes of delivering and organizing our Events (including publishing your name in delegate lists in booklets, apps or other event platforms, unless you ask for this to be removed) and collecting payments for the Events;

5.1.4 FEBS Constituent Society representatives: for the purpose of administering FEBS Council elections;

5.1.5 Other third parties: other third parties you indicate to us you would like us to share your information with; for example, if you choose to link your ORCID ID to your Account or if you instruct us to share a record of your Contribution with Publons;

5.1.6 Regulators and governmental bodies: HM Revenue & Customs, regulators, governmental bodies and other authorities acting as processors or joint controllers based in the UK who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances;

5.1.7 Marketing parties: any selected third party that you consent to our sharing your information with for marketing purposes;

5.1.8 Prospective sellers and buyers of our business: any prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets, only in the event that we decide to sell or buy any business or assets; and

5.1.9 Other third parties (including professional advisers): any other third parties (including legal or other advisors, regulatory authorities, courts, law enforcement agencies and government agencies) based in the UK and from time to time legal advisers based outside the UK who work with those firms based in the UK. Where this is necessary, it is to enable us to enforce our legal rights, or to protect the rights, property or safety of our employees or where such disclosure may be permitted or required by law.

5.2 We require third parties to maintain appropriate security to protect your information from unauthorised access or processing.

6. COOKIES

6.1 We use cookies to ensure that you get the most out of our Platforms. Cookies are small amounts of information in the form of text files which we store on the device you use to access the Platforms. Cookies allow us to monitor your use of the software and simplify your use of the Platforms. For example, a temporary cookie is also used to keep track of your “session”. Without that temporary cookie (which is not stored after you quit your browser) you would have to log on every time you access a new page.

6.2 If you do not wish for cookies to be installed on your device, you can change the settings on your browser or device to reject cookies, or, in the case of non-essential cookies set by our platform providers, reject these via options presented through a cookie notice on the site you visit. For more information about how to reject cookies using your internet browser settings please consult the “Help” section of your internet browser (or alternatively visit http://www.aboutcookies.org). Please note that, if you do set your Internet browser to reject cookies, you may not be able to access all the functions of the Platforms.

6.3 The names of the cookies used by the Platforms and the purposes for which these cookies are used are set out in the Cookies information for each Platform at the following locations:

Name of platform	Platform url	Cookie Policy
FEBS website	www.febs.org	www.febs.org/cookies/
FEBS Advanced Courses application and reporting system	courses.febs.org	courses.febs.org/cookies
FEBS Fellowships application system	fellowships.febs.org	fellowships.febs.org/home/cookies/
FEBS Network	network.febs.org	network.febs.org/pages/febs-cookie-policy
FEBS Congress website	www.febscongress.org	https://2025.febscongress.org/cookies https://2024.febscongress.org/cookies https://2023.febscongress.org/cookies https://2022congress.febs-iubmb-pabmb.org/cookies
FEBS Advanced Courses websites	Various subdomains of febsevents.org	Example at https://molmechdisease2025.febsevents.org/cookies
FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE conference website	febs-iubmb-enableconference.org	https://febs-iubmb-enableconference.org/cookies/
FEBS Press manuscript submission sites	Example at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/febsj	https://clarivate.com/legal/cookie-policy/

 

6.4 On our Platforms we may allow Google Analytics to use tracking technologies to collect information about your visit and devices. On our FEBS Network platform(s) we also use GoSquared to provide relevant analytics about your use of the FEBS Network platform(s). This information helps us understand how our Platforms are being used. Our email marketing provider, Campaign Monitor, also uses tracking pixels which are embedded into our newsletter to allow us to collect information about newsletter uptake and links opened. This enables us to analyse the success or failure of our email campaigns and content in our newsletter. On the FEBS website’s Contact form we use Akismet to reduce spam. On our Event websites we use Google reCAPTCHA to protect our Contact forms from spam and abuse, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, linked from the Google reCAPTCHA symbol on Contact pages, apply.

6.5 Our Platforms may contain content from and links to other websites (including social media plug-ins) that are operated by third parties that may also operate cookies. We don’t control these third-party websites or cookies and this Privacy Policy does not apply to them. Please consult the terms and conditions and privacy policy of the relevant third-party websites or social media platforms to find out how they collect and uses your information and to establish whether and for what purpose they use cookies. Some relevant privacy policies can be found here: X: https://x.com/en/privacy; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy; YouTube: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB

7. HOW WE LOOK AFTER YOUR INFORMATION AND HOW LONG WE KEEP IT FOR

7.1 We use appropriate technological and operational security measures to protect your information against any unauthorised access to or unlawful use, such as:

7.1.1 ensuring the physical security of our offices, warehouses or other sites;

7.1.2 ensuring physical and digital security when using our equipment and devices including appropriate password protection and encryption;

7.1.3 maintaining a data protection policy for, and delivering data protection training to, our employees; and

7.1.4 limiting access to your personal information to those in our company or our Affiliates (as defined in 5.1.2) who need to use it in the course of their work.

7.2 We will retain your information for as long as is necessary to provide you with the services that you have requested from us or for as long as we reasonably require to retain the information for our lawful business purposes, such as for the purposes of exercising our legal rights or where we are permitted to do so. We operate a data retention policy and look to find ways to reduce the amount of information we hold about you and the length of time that we need to keep it. We maintain a suppression list of email addresses of individuals who no longer wish to be contacted by us. So that we can comply with their wishes we must store this information permanently.

7.3 For further information or a copy of our data retention policy please contact us via the details set out at the top of this Privacy Policy.

8. HELP KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE

8.1 You can also play a part in keeping your information safe by:

8.1.1 choosing a strong Account password and changing it regularly;

8.1.2 using different passwords for different online accounts;

8.1.3 keeping your login and password confidential and avoiding sharing these details with others;

8.1.4 making sure you log out of our Platforms each time you have finished using them. This is particularly important when using a shared computer;

8.1.5 letting us know if you know or suspect that your account has been compromised, or if someone has accessed your account without your permission;

8.1.6 keeping your devices protected by using the latest version of your operating system and maintaining any necessary anti-virus software;

8.1.7 being vigilant to any fraudulent emails that may appear to be from us.

9. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS OF YOUR INFORMATION

9.1 FEBS is an organization based in the UK but with operations across the EEA.

9.2 We also engage third parties and affiliates around the world to assist us in providing our Platforms, Events and other services to you.

9.3 In circumstances where your information may be processed outside of the UK or European Economic Area (EEA) by third party service providers or affiliates, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following transfer solutions are implemented:

(a) We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the UK government’s adequacy regulations. The UK recognizes all countries within the EEA as providing adequate levels of protection for personal data. Please see Information Commissioner’s Office website for more information; and

(b) Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the Information Commissioners Office and/or the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe. For further details, European Commission: Model contracts for the transfer of personal data to third countries.

9.4 Please contact us using the contact details at the top of this Privacy Policy if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK or EEA.

10. YOUR RIGHTS TO THE INFORMATION WE HOLD ABOUT YOU

10.1 You have certain rights in respect of the information that we hold about you, including:

10.1.1 the right to be informed of the ways in which we use your information, as we seek to do in this Privacy Policy;

10.1.2 the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes;

10.1.3 the right to request access to the information that we hold about you;

10.1.4 the right to request that we correct or rectify any information that we hold about you which is out of date or incorrect;

10.1.5 the right to withdraw your consent for our use of your information in reliance of your consent (refer to section 4 above to see when we are relying on your consent), which you can do by contacting us using any of the details at the top of this Privacy Policy;

10.1.6 the right to object to our using your information on the basis of our legitimate interests (refer to section 4 above to see when we are relying on our legitimate interests) (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground;

10.1.7 the right to receive a copy of any information we hold about you (or request that we transfer this to another service provider) in a structured, commonly used, machine readable format, in certain circumstances;

10.1.8 in certain circumstances, the right to ask us to limit or cease processing or erase information we hold about you; and

10.1.9 the right to lodge a complaint about us to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (https://ico.org.uk/) as well as a right to lodge a complaint with the relevant authority in your country of work or residence.

10.2 How to exercise your rights

10.2.1 You may exercise your rights above by contacting us using the details at the top of this Privacy Policy, or in the case of preventing processing for marketing activities also by checking certain boxes on forms that we use to collect your data to tell us whether you do or do not want to be involved in marketing or by updating your marketing preferences via your Account with us.

10.2.2 Please note that we may need to retain certain information for our own record-keeping and research purposes. We may also need to send you service-related communications relating to your Account even when you have requested not to receive marketing communications.

10.3 What we need from you to process your requests

10.3.1 We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and to enable you to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

10.3.2 You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances. We will try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

11. SHARING DATA DIRECTLY WITH THIRD PARTIES

11.1 You might end up providing personal information directly to third parties as a consequence of your interactions with our Platforms and other services offered by us. For example, you may attend an Event hosted by us where you communicate personal information directly with other attendees or exhibitors. We are not responsible for how such third parties use personal data provided by you.

11.2 Please be responsible with personal information of others when using our Platforms and the services available on it. We are not responsible for your misuse of personal information, or for the direct relationship between you and others when it takes place outside of the Platforms or our services.

12. THIRD-PARTY LINKS

12.1 The Platforms may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our Platforms, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

13. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

13.1 We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any changes to our site, or notify you of any material changes by issuing a post on the “Latest News” page on the FEBS website.

13.2 It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us by updating your profile Account information or contacting us via the contact details at the top of this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy was updated on 23 September 2024.