Privacy Policy

How EASL collects, uses and protects your personal data.

Policy

European Association for the Study of Liver (EASL)

Date of issuance: April 04^th, 2022

EASL understands that the collection of Personal data involves a great deal of trust on your part. We take this trust very seriously and make it our highest priority to ensure the security and confidentiality of the Personal data you provide us with.

This is why we implemented privacy by design and privacy by default standards and undertake to store your Personal data in a secured way as well as to process your Personal Data with all appropriate care and attention in accordance with the Federal Act on Data Protection(RS 235.1; FADP), the Ordinance to the Federal Act on Data Protection Act (RS 235.11) and, where applicable, the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation ; “GDPR”

The personal data that we collect from you shall be obtained, processed and transmitted in compliance with applicable data protection legislation, notably GDPR, where applicable. Per the GDPR, “Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person; an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

We also collect at times Sensitive data. “Sensitive data” shall mean data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership or activities, genetic data or biometric data processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation, data on the intimate sphere, social security measures, and data on d. administrative or criminal proceedings and sanctions

Please note that any reference made to Personal data shall include Sensitive data, unless specified otherwise.

Please note that term “Consent” as used throughout this Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of which you, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signify agreement to the processing of Personal data relating to you.

This Privacy policy is in addition to any specific policies concerning specific products or services.

Capitalised terms not defined in this Privacy Policy have the meanings set forth in the Terms of use (the “Terms”).

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your Personal data and how we will treat and process them.

By using and/or registering on the Platform and/or the Community portal, you Consent to the practices described below:

Acceptance

While using the Platform, the Community portal or the Services, EASL may collect and process a certain number of Personal data that relate to you.

The Policy shall apply to any use of the Platform and/or the Community portal or use of the Services, whatever the method or medium used. It details the conditions at which, we may collect, keep, use and save information that relates to you, as well as the choices that you have in relation to the collection, utilization and disclosure of your Personal data.

By using the Platform or the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy and Consent to be bound by it and to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. You also acknowledge that you have read and understood the Terms that apply to the Platform and the Community portal and agree to be bound by them.

EASL may modify this Policy from time to time to comply with statutory data protection and privacy laws and will post the most current version on the Platform. You will be notified by email and you will be asked to Consent to these modifications before they become applicable if the changes are significant.

Data Collection

EASL’s wide range of activities such as provision of membership services, collection and dissemination of scientific information, organization of scientific congresses and events, provision of educational products and services and provision of European affairs projects such as, but not limited to, COFOUND, H2020 work packages, Hepahealth, Lancet-EASL Commission on Liver Diseases in Europe, may require the handling of Personal data of the individuals involved in these activities. Thus, EASL collects Personal data in the following way and from the following sources:

on paper forms received through the postal services or by fax; and
electronically through email or when you use an online service made available on or through the Website (including through our website provider, SOTO and through our CRM software, SugarCRM, or through our surveys using SurveyMonkey).

We collect Personal data from the following sources:

yourself, e.g. when you create an Account or contact us through the Website;
third parties acting on your behalf, e.g. when an agent arranges registration or hotel accommodation for a Conference organised by EASL (Congrex, VMX, and M-anage) or organizations that offer similar type and scope of services.

In the event we receive Personal data relating to you from third parties, we will take all the necessary steps to contact you and provide you with all the relevant information listed in article 14 RGPD namely:

our identity and contact details as well as the identity of our representative in the EU;
the purposes of the processing for which your Personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for such processing;
the categories of Personal data concerned;
the recipients or categories of recipients of the Personal data;
if we intend to transfer Personal data to a recipient in a third country or international organization and the existence or absence of an adequacy decision by the Commission or a reference to the appropriate or suitable safeguards and the means to obtain a copy of them or where they are made available;
the period for which the Personal data will be stored;
our legitimate interest;
your right to request access to and rectification or erasure of your Personal data or restriction of processing of your Personal data and to object to such processing as well as the right to data portability;
if the processing is based on your Consent, the right to withdraw your Consent at any given time, such withdrawal will however not affect the lawfulness of processing based on Consent before its withdrawal;
your right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority;
from which source the Personal data originated and whether it came from publicly accessible sources;
the existence of automated decision-making, if any.

You will be provided with the abovementioned information within the following deadlines:

at the latest within one month after we obtained your Personal data;
at the latest at the time of the first communication to you if the Personal data we were provided with are to be used for communication purposes;
at the latest when the Personal data are first disclosed, if a disclosure to another recipient is envisaged.

If we intend to further process your Personal data for a purpose other than that for which your Personal data were obtained, we will provide you with all relevant information as listed above, prior to further process your Personal data.

Notwithstanding the above, please note that we do not have to provide you with the abovementioned information where:

you have already been provided with all the information;
the provision of such information proves impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort;
obtaining or disclosure is expressly laid down by a law we have to comply with and which provides appropriate measures to protect your legitimate interests; or
the Personal data must remain confidential subject to an obligation of professional secrecy regulated by law, including a statutory obligation of secrecy.

We mainly collect Personal data by the following means:

when you create or update your Account on our Website;
when you, or an agent or any other third party acting on your behalf, enter Personal data relating to you in a form requesting us to provide a Product or a Service;
when you, or someone on your behalf, submit proposals or content in connection with scientific sessions at a Conference;
when you submit your Personal data in order to become a Fellow, a Mentor or a Mentee of EASL, or a Member of EASL constituent bodies such as EASL committees, tasks forces, etc.;
when a third party provides us with your Personal data for you to benefit from an EASL membership or other Services;
when you enter your Personal data on a specific application for an EASL grant or award.

Purpose of data collection

EASL uses Personal data mainly for the purpose of improving the user experience and the Platform and targeting the Services to your needs.

The main reasons why we collect Personal data about you are:

to improve the Platform features and content, to administer your Account;
to identify your needs and target the Services;
to promote our activities in a coherent and adequate manner;
to enable you to enjoy and easily navigate the Platform and benefit from the Services;
to inform you about Conferences or Events;
for the specific purposes stated below in section 5.

The Personal data will be freely provided by you to EASL or collected automatically while using the Platform, in accordance with this Policy. In addition to the information contained in this Policy, the Platform may provide Users with additional and contextual information concerning particular services or the collection and processing of Personal data upon request.

We may supplement information you provide with information received from third parties.

Personal data transmitted to EASL by you may be hosted by EASL or a third party of its choice subject to the same privacy obligations and the same level of data protection as applicable in Switzerland.

Type of Personal data collected

Your Consent to this Policy followed by your submission of Personal data represent your agreement to the collection, processing and storage of Personal data by EASL as described in this Policy. Please note that the provision of your Personal data as described in the sections below is mandatory in order for EASL to be able to provide you with the Services. Failure to provide EASL with some of these Personal data will result in the impossibility for EASL to provide you with the Service requested.

4.1 Registration data

When you register through the Platform or in any other way interact with us (including by email), you may be asked to communicate a number of information, including without limitation, your personal contact details:

title;
first name;
last name;

Your nominative details are needed to properly identify you, to communicate with you, to provide you with the Products and Services you have requested and to ensure that items are properly labelled as yours (e.g. congress badges and scientific contributions such as abstracts and presentations, etc.).

full postal address;

The postal address is needed when items will be sent to you by post (e.g. paper journals, congress badges, etc.) or when you purchase something generating an invoice.

zip code;
city;
country;
personal email address and preferences
phone number;
fax number;
language preference;
date of birth;

Your date of birth is used to help us correctly identify you and avoid duplicate records. It also allows us, where specific fees or charges depending on age apply, to determine whether you are eligible for this fee or charge.

occupation;
institution;
place of work;
position;
fields of interest;
areas of expertise;
professional status;
professional affiliations;

It allows us to provide you with more relevant information and to better understand the preferences of our audience so that we can offer a better service generally.

profile picture if you wish to; and
password of minimum eight characters, including letters, numbers and special characters.

When you order Services or book a Conference through the Platform, we will collect, process and store your Personal data.

We may collect the Personal data that you provide as part of registration and personalization of your Account.

If you only create an Account without ordering or using the Services, we will not collect Personal data listed below (described in the subsections b) to h) below).

4-2 Data collected when you submit an application

When you submit an application for a Fellowship of EASL, a Membership of certain EASL associations and working groups or for a Grant and Research Fellowships (https://www.easl.eu/research/support/easl-fellowship), Mentor / Mentees’ program, you will be asked to provide the following data:

- name and last name;
- email address;
- phone number;
- date of birth;
- your resume;
- a list of your publications;
- any other evidence of scientific achievement;
- Personal data included in the conflict of interest disclosure form and/or any information contained or disclosed during the award application process (including the Confidential information, especially detailed financial and position of influence information, as indicated in the disclosure form);
- Personal data and Confidential information, especially detailed financial and position of influence information, submitted in accordance with EASL Code of conduct;
- Personal data and confidential information submitted in the process of application for a membership to EASL;
- Personal data and Confidential information submitted in the process of application for an EASL mentorship program (https://www.easl.eu/research/support/mentorship-programme) and/or any Personal data and information collected during such mentorship program;
- Personal data and Confidential information submitted in the process of application for an EASL PhD Studentship program and/or any Personal data and information collected during such PhD Studentship program;
- Personal data and Confidential information submitted in the process of application for an EASL Post Graduate Fellowship program and/or any Personal data and information collected during such Post Graduate Fellowship program;
- Personal data and Confidential information submitted in the process of application for an EASL Short time Fellowship program and/or any Personal data and information collected during such Short time Fellowship program.

4.3 Data collected if you wish to submit a proposal or content in connection with scientific sessions at a Conference

If you wish to submit a proposal or content in connection with scientific sessions at a Conference, you will be required to provide the following Personal data:

first and last name;
email address;
city;
country;
picture;
biography;
affiliation to an institution;
conflict of interest declaration.

4.4 Data collected if you wish to present an Abstract during a Conference

If you wish to present a summary of your research (“Abstract”) during a Conference, you will be required to provide the following Personal Data that relate to you:

first and last name;
email address;
city;
country;
picture;
biography;
affiliation to an institution;
conflict of interest declaration

If you wrote the Abstract with one or more authors, you will be required to provide the following Personal Data relating to him or her or each of them:

first and last name;
email address;
city;
country;
affiliation to an institution;
conflict of interest declaration.

When providing the information relating to your co-author(s), you will be required to confirm that you obtained his / her or their Consent to provide EASL with their Personal data by checking a tick box.

4.5 Data collected if you wish to represent EASL

If you wish to hold an office at EASL and/or represent EASL, you will be required to provide the following Personal data:

detailed financial information;
position of influence.

4.6 Data relating to the use of the Services

When you use the Services, we may collect the following Personal data:

contact information, such as first name, last name, company, address, country, email address;
site registration credentials, such as login and password;
computer information, such as IP address, operating system, pages you visit, how long you stay on them, referring websites, general use you make of the website, type of device, browser, login dates;
User preferences, such as areas of interest, newsletters, community choices and other information you select in the User profile when registering on the Platform or indicated by your use of the Platform;
usage interaction information, such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs, and methods used to browse away from the Platform;
expressed preferences, such as communications and language settings;
communications, such as emails and messages with EASL;
when you use the Platform on a mobile device, we automatically collect information on the type of device you use, operating system version, and the device identifier;
when you attend to a Conference or a meeting, you might be photographed or videotaped by EASL or its partners capturing the event;
in case you post Content on the Community portal, the following information will also be collected:
any interaction with the Content;
the Content;
comments on a post;
upload of a picture;
sharing of a Content.

4.7 Payment data

We do not collect nor process any payment data on or through the Platform. If you pay with your credit card, Payment data will be exclusively collected and processed by our Payment provider.

We guarantee not to copy, store, save, capture or intercept payment instruments related information such as credit card (AMEX, VISA or MASTERCARD) numbers, expiry date, holder name, card summary (last 4 digits), card BIN or IIN (6 first digits), card type, issuer, issuing country, CVV codes, passwords entered into the Payment interface. Your credit card information will be transferred to the Payment provider as encrypted data to the Payment provider’s server. Encrypted data can only be decrypted by the Payment provider.

Credit card information will remain on the EASL Platform and will not be saved by EASL. You understand and explicitly agree that the Payment provider will act as data controller of your Payment data.

4.8 Transaction data

When you book a Conference, purchase a Product and/or a Service on or through the Platform, we collect a number of information about the Transaction including but not limited to order number, type of Transaction and Transaction status.

We also collect a number of information about you including but not limited to IP Address, User number, title, first and last names, address, zip code, city, country, email address and phone number.

4.9 Conference data

When you attend any EASL’s Conference and/or Event, we may collect the following Personal data:

Photographs;
Videos (including sound);

Use of your Personal data

The following paragraphs describe the various purposes for which we collect and use your Personal data, and the different types of Personal data that are collected for each purpose.

Please note that not all of the uses below will be relevant to every individual.

a) In general

You Consent to the following uses of your Personal data:

Your title, first name and last name are used to properly identify you, to communicate with you, to provide you with the Products and Services you requested and to make sure that items are properly labelled as yours (e.g. badges, scientific contribution etc.).

Your postal address is used when you order a Service that requires us to send you something, e.g. a badge, a journal or a Product.

Your email address is used as part as the login information into your Account. It is also used to communicate with you and provide you with order/request confirmation. It also allows to avoid duplicates and permits to reinitialise your password in an automated and secure way in the event you forgot it.

Your telephone and telefax information will only be used to contact you rapidly when needed.

Your email preferences are used to advise us whether you Consent to receive marketing emails from us. You may, at any time, opt-in or opt-out of any of the communication sent to you by EASL. All the emails sent to you offer the possibility to unsubscribe by following the link provided at the end of the email.

Your Personal data relating to your professional activity, your place of work, your fields of interest and your areas of expertise are used to enable us to provide you with more relevant information and to better understand your preferences to be able to provide you with a better service.

If you choose to provide us with your affiliation to an institution and your role in said institution, these data will only be used to enable us to have a better understanding of the key institutions in the hepatology field.

Your credit card information will only be used to enable you to make a payment through the Website. You may save these details, securely, for a later use.

Your professional status, along with proof of said status, is used to assess whether, where specific fee applies, you are eligible for said specific fee.

Your affiliation information to an organization is only required and used when you submit an Abstract.

If you are required to submit your detailed financials and your position of influence information, they will only be used to complete EASL’s Declaration of Interest.

You may revoke your Consent at any time for any use of your Personal data by EASL. Please note that the withdrawal of your Consent will not affect the lawfulness of the processing of your Personal data based on your Consent before its withdrawal.

b) Interaction and communication

You Consent that we use your Personal data in order to provide you with the Services, to interact with you, including by means of telephone, and to respond to your requests. Your Personal data may also be used for fraud detection purposes. By creating an Account on the Platform, you Consent that we may process and use your Personal data so that we may contact you, in particular by sending email containing general information. For this purpose, your Personal data shall also be used in order to:

create an Account;
manage your Account;
provide you with a My EASL space where you can provide/review/edit your Personal data;
process your application for a Fellowship, a Mentorship or a Membership to an EASL Association, Committee or Task Force;
process your application for an EASL grant, training fellowship or another award;
process your registration to a Conference, a meeting, a course or any other Event;
process registration or hotel requests for another person if you are acting on behalf of a third party;
process a subscription to an EASL journal and handle your online access to such content;
manage access and use of EASL E-learning platform and to the restricted content on the Website;
handle scientific program activities in connection with Conferences or meetings;
handle attendance at a social event at an EASL congress, meeting, Conference or another Event;
handle specific processes for leadership and volunteers representing EASL;
communicate with you including by email and by telephone;
send you our newsletter (provided you subscribed to it);
fulfill your requests for Services;
provide and improve the Platform and/or the Services;
conduct research and compile statistics on usage patterns;
provide anonymous aggregate reporting for internal and external partners;
respond to your questions and comments;
prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities;
enforce the Terms;
ensure the security of the Platform;
access to third party services if you connect your Account with such third-party services;
comply with legal requirements;
as otherwise described to you at the point of collection.

c) Attendance at a Conference

With your specific Consent, we will use the photographs and/or videos taken at a Conference and on which you appear. These photographs and/or videos will be displayed by us or our partners in future publications or materials connected with the Event as well as on our social media.

You may revoke your Consent at any time. If, during the Conference, you do not wish for your image to be displayed by us, please go to the nearest information desk in order for them to put a special sticker on your badge.

d) Marketing

EASL does not sell, trade, or rent your Personal data to others.

With your specific Consent, we will use your email address to send you information regarding our Services and any promotional offers and for electronic advertising purposes. EASL may use your Personal data for its own commercial, promotional or marketing purposes. EASL always endeavors to send you advertising material tailored to your interests. EASL will however not monetise your Personal data by transferring them to third parties.

Your Personal data may also be used in in order to test your interest in the creation of new services, products or activities based on elements of your profile, your interests or your use of the Service. Your Personal data may also be used in order to improve the Services offered by EASL and to prepare anonymous statistics, including for big data purposes.

If you no longer wish to receive marketing communications or promotional offers, you can at any time unsubscribe from receiving marketing-related communications at any time, by following the instructions provided in each such communication or by sending an email to: gdpr@easloffice.eu. You can also at any time adjust your privacy settings in your Account. Please note that, even though you opt out from receiving marketing communications, you may still receive administrative communications from us or notifications about your Account activities (e.g. Account confirmations, password changes, etc.), and/or other important announcements regarding the Platform, the Community portal, the Policy or the Terms.

e) Personalization

You Consent that we use your Personal data in order to analyze your preferences and your patterns, to personalise your experience on the Platform, as well as to optimise the Platform. You also Consent that we may suggest content to you which is best suited to your interests.

We use your Personal data for the following personalised features:

to analyze your preferences and consumption habits;
to anticipate your needs based on our analysis of your profile;
to improve and personalise your experience on our Platform;
to ensure that content from our Platform is optimised for you and for your computer or device; and
to allow you to participate on the Community portal, when you choose to do so.

If you no longer wish to have your Personal data used by EASL to provide you with a personalised experience, you can at any time adjust your privacy settings in your Account.

f) Customer service

You Consent that we use your Personal data for customer service purposes, including responding to your enquiries. This typically requires the use of certain personal contact information and information regarding the reason for your inquiry (e.g. technical issue, question/complaint, general question, etc.).

g) Services

EASL may supply your information to its contractors to perform specific services such as, for example, to the publishers who deliver EASL journals, the mobile app suppliers who supply guidelines, recommendations and congress applications, CRM service providers (e.g. Sugar), email service providers (e.g. MS outlook), banking partners, and others, Article 19 being reserved.

Otherwise, EASL does not disclose Personal data to any other person or organization without your Consent.

You Consent that we use your Personal data to provide you with the Services you ordered.

Registration to a Conference

When you register to a Conference, your Personal data will be processed by JMarquardt Technologies GmbH (“JMT”), Felix-Wankel-Strasse 1, 82152 Krailling, Germany who provides us with the “m-anage” software and associated services for online and on-site registration of participants. JMT will have access to your name, your address, your date of birth, your gender, your email address, your telephone number and your photograph. These data will only be used in order for JMT to register you as a Member or a participant to a Conference, to register you as a member of an organization or as a user of the services or to be able to send you information tailored to your interests.

The Personal data you provide while registering to a Conference will be stored and used by JMT, Germany. This also applies to the continuous handling of any membership or the use of your Personal data for future events, in order to avoid multiple registrations and allow a more efficient service.

With your Consent, JMT is allowed to release your Personal data to other participants or Members in order to allow the use of search functions or other tools to facilitate communications between participants or Members. You may, at any time, revoke your Consent by logging into your Account.

With your Consent, JMT and EASL are allowed to forward your Personal data for consulting, advertising, market or opinion research purposes to industry partners whose stand you visited during the Conference and whom you allowed to scan the QR Code of your name badge. You may revoke your Consent at any time by sending an email to security@m-anage.com and gdpr@easloffice.eu.

When using JMT’s portal, JMT may use cookies. Cookies are small quantities of data which can be stored on your computer while visiting JMT’s portal. They simplify your visit and help recognise you on your next visit. Cookies can serve the purpose of creating user profiles. Please note that cookies can do no damage to your computer. You may refuse the use of cookies. However, in this case, it may be that certain functions on JMT’s portal cannot be activated or that errors occur.

You may, at any time, change the Personal data provided to JMT, revoke your Consent to the processing and using of your Personal data by JMT by sending an email to: security@m-anage.com.

During the Conference

If, during the Conference, you accept to have your badge scanned when visiting an exhibiting company booth or by a hostess at an industry sponsor session (i.e. industry satellite symposium), your badge will enable them to retrieve the following information:

title;
first name;
last name;
postal address;
email address;
telephone;
fax;
professional activity;
place of work;
fields of interest.

The way this information is stored and processed is subject to the privacy policy of the company who scanned your badge. EASL cannot accept any liability in this regard and recommends you make yourself aware of the relevant privacy policy.

Arranging your stay and attendance at a Conference

When you book a hotel through EASL, your Personal data will be provided to the following agency handling the hotel booking and the travel arrangement:

Congrex;
VMX;
M-anage;
Enovation Solutions Ltd;
or organizations that offer similar type and scope of services

If you provide us with your passport details, they will solely be used in order to allow the travel agency to book a transportation ticket and/or a hotel accommodation.

Where your registration is handled by someone other than yourself, your confirmations, badges or vouchers may be sent to this third party.

E-Learning platform

a) When you register to the EASL Campus platform Moodle, your Personal data will be processed by Enovation Solutions Ltd, The Friary, Bow Street, Smithfield, D07X680, Ireland, (“Enovation”), who provides us with a webcast service, an e-poster service and an e-learning portal (together: “E-Learning platform”). By submitting your Personal data to Enovation, you acknowledge and Consent explicitly that your Personal data will be processed and hosted in Ireland.

In order to register on the E-Learning platform, you will need to provide us with the following Personal data:

first name;
last name;
Institution;
Address;
Country; and
personal email address.

Once you are registered on the E-Learning platform, you will have access to webcasts of Conferences, posters, debriefs of Conferences as well as the presentation of abstracts.

Enovation will have access to your first name, your last name and your personal email address. These data will only be used by Enovation to provide you with the services available on the E-Learning platform.

The Personal data you provide while registering to the E-Learning platform will be stored and used by Enovation. The Personal data will be stored by Enovation. EASL will not have access to the data relating to your behavior on the E-Learning platform, i.e. what information you are looking for, what you download or watch. EASL will only have access to information regarding your login, i.e. the date, time and the type of device you used to log in.

Enovation may use cookies on the E-Learning platform. Cookies are small quantities of data which can be stored on your computer while visiting the E-Learning platform. They simplify your visit and help recognise you on your next visit. Cookies can serve the purpose of creating user profiles. Please note that cookies can do no damage to your computer. You may, at any time, refuse the use of cookies. However, in this case, it may be that certain function on the E-Learning platform cannot be activated or that errors occur.

You may, at any time, change the Personal data provided to Enovation, revoke your Consent to the processing and using of your Personal data by Enovation by sending an email to gdpr@easloffice.eu

Submission of an application to EASL for a Fellowship, a Mentorship or a Membership

If you apply to a Fellowship, a Mentorship or a Membership and are required to submit your resume, your list of publications and all other evidence of scientific achievement, your Personal data will only be used to assess whether you are eligible for any of the abovementioned program.

You Consent that the Personal data and information you submit for a Fellowship, a Mentorship or to become a Member of EASL’s bodies such as the Committee or the Task forces, will be forwarded to the leading hepatologist or committee of hepatologists, in order for them to assess your application and accept it or deny it.

Submission of an application to EASL for a Grant, a Training Fellowship or an Award

If you apply for a Grant, a Training Fellowship or an Award and are required to submit your resume, your list of publications and all other evidence of scientific achievement, these data will only be used to assess whether you are eligible for any of the abovementioned program.

You Consent that the Personal data and information you submit for an EASL Grant, Training Fellowship or an award will be forwarded to the committee of hepatologists responsible for assessing the applications and making the award.

Submission of a proposal or content in connection with a scientific session at a Conference

If you submit a proposal or content in connection with a scientific session at a Conference, your Personal data will only be used for the intended purpose.

The proposal or content will be shared with the following providers, which information will be made available to you at the time of the submission, along with the following Personal data that relate to you:

Poster/ePoster provider: first and last name, country, institution affiliation, email address and abstract;
Webcast/live broadcaster provider: first and last name, email address and presentation or session title;
Book design company and printer: first and last names, country, institution affiliation and presentation or session title;
App provider: first and last name, country, email address, institution affiliation, presentation or session title, biography and picture;
Abstract book editor (Elsevier): first and last names of all the authors and co-authors, country, institution affiliation, email address and abstract.

Submission of an Abstract

If you submit an Abstract, your Personal data will be forwarded to an EASL committee who will review its content.

h) Journal of Hepatology

With your specific Consent, we will provide your Personal data to Elsevier Masson S.A.S, éditeur de contenus scientifiques et médicaux, 65 rue Camilles Desmoulins, 92442 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, in order for you to receive the Journal of Hepatology.

i) Internal research, analytic, security

You Consent that we use your Personal data, in accordance with applicable laws, for other general business purposes, such as conducting internal marketing and demographic studies and measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. You Consent that we also use your Personal data for security purposes.

j) Legal reasons or merger/acquisition

In the event that EASL or its assets are acquired by, or merged with, another company including through bankruptcy, we may share your Personal data with any of our legal successors. We may also disclose your Personal data to third parties (i) when required by applicable law; (ii) in response to legal proceedings; (iii) in response to a request from a competent law enforcement agency; (iv) to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, or the public; or (v) to enforce the terms of any agreement or the terms of the Platform.

Public profile

By registering on the Platform and/or the Community portal, you Consent that your Personal data such as your profile picture and username will be published and displayed on the Platform and/or the Community portal and be publicly available. EASL shall not be responsible for any reproduction, use or referencing (by search engines) of your Personal data made publicly available on the Platform or the Community portal. You shall not collect, web scrap or use in any way for your own profit information made publicly available on profiles, unless you are expressly entitled to do so by EASL.

Storage of your Personal data and international transfers

By using and/or registering on the Platform, you acknowledge and agree that Personal data you submit to EASL will be hosted by EASL or a third party of its choice for an indefinite period of time.

Your Personal data will be stored in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including Switzerland.

The storage as well as the processing of your Personal data may require that your Personal data are ultimately transferred/transmitted to, and/or stored at, a destination outside of your country of residence, notably Switzerland. Where permitted by law, by accepting the terms of this Policy, you agree to such transferring, transmission, hosting, storing and/or processing. You also agree that such activities may take place to or in countries offering a similar level of protection than your country of residence or a lower level of protection than your country of residence, provided standard contractual clauses or binding corporate rules are implemented and you are provided with sufficient information as to the country with a lower level of protection to which your Personal data are to be transferred.

Your submission of Personal data and your explicit Consent to such international transfer represent your agreement to such international transfers and hosting abroad as specified above in accordance with the terms of this Policy.

Period for which your Personal data will be stored

In accordance with applicable laws and the principle of proportionality, we will use your Personal data for as long as necessary to satisfy the purposes for which your Personal data was collected or to comply with applicable legal requirements. Personal data used to provide you with a personalised experience will be kept for a duration permitted by applicable laws.

Your Account is only kept for a reasonable period of time, dependent upon the nature of the information and its intended use, but subject to a maximum of 5 (five) years after your last use of the Service.

When you delete your Account, your Personal data will be kept for a period of 12 (twelve) months in order to comply with legal requirements.

Personal data that is related to a specific purpose, e.g. leadership position, exam certification, are kept for a varying period of time according to the process involved. You may, at any time, contact us to obtain this information from us.

Invoices and expense claims are kept for 10 (ten) years in our system, for accounting purposes.

Electronic communications protocol

In addition to the purposes specified above, you Consent that EASL may collect information about your use of the Platform through electronic communications protocols. EASL may automatically receive information from you as part of the communication connection itself, which often consists of network routing information (where you came from), equipment information (browser type), referring site and date and time. Collecting this automatic information helps us customise your experience as a User. It allows us to monitor and analyze use of the Platform and to increase the Platform’s functionality and user-friendliness.

You Consent that EASL may re-associate the information provided by the technologies described above with your Personal data.

System logs and maintenance

For operation and maintenance purposes, you Consent that EASL and any third-party services may collect files that record interaction with the Platform (system logs) or use for this purpose other Personal data (such as IP Address).

Cookies and similar technologies

A Cookie is a piece of information that is placed automatically on your computer’s hard drive when you access certain websites. The Cookie uniquely identifies your browser to the server. Cookies allow EASL to store information on the server (for example language preferences, technical information, click or path information, etc.) to help make the Web experience better for you and to conduct Website analysis and Website performance review. Most Web browsers are set up to accept cookies, although you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. Note, however, that some portions of the Website may not work properly if you refuse cookies.

We use clear gifs in our email marketing communications which is used to track the emails that are opened by the recipients. This information allows us to have accurate reports and improve the effectiveness of our marketing and make our services and Website better for you.

Our websites do work without cookies, but you will lose some features and functionality if you choose to disable cookies. In particular, if you do choose to disable cookies, you will not be able to enjoy the full range of online services available through the My EASL area or any of the restricted content. For full information on our use of cookies and how to accept/reject them, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

Google analytics

The Platform (to the exclusion of cloud services available on the Platform) uses Google Analytics, an Internet site analysis service supplied by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies which are text files placed on your computer to help to analyze the use made of the Platform by its Users. The data generated by the cookies concerning your use of the Platform (including your IP address) will be forwarded to, and stored by, Google on servers located outside of Switzerland. Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the Platform, compile reports on site activity for its publisher and provide other services relating to the activity of the Platform and the use of the Internet. Google may release these data to third parties if there is a legal obligation to do so or when the third parties process these data for the account of Google including, in particular, the publisher of this Platform. Google will not cross-reference your IP address with any other data held by Google.

You may deactivate the use of cookies by selecting appropriate parameters on your web browser. However, deactivation of this kind might prevent the use of certain functions of this site. By using this Platform, you specifically Consent to the processing of your Personal data by Google under the conditions and for the purposes described above.

Security of your Personal data

The security of your Personal data is very important to us. EASL processes your Personal data in a proper manner and shall take appropriate technical and organizational measures to prevent unauthorised access, disclosure, modification, or unauthorised destruction of your Personal data.

The Personal data processing is carried out using computers and/or IT enabled tools, following organizational procedures and modes strictly related to the purposes indicated. In addition to EASL, in some cases, the Personal data may be accessible to certain types of persons in charge, involved with the operation of the Platform (administration, sales, marketing, legal, system administration) or external parties (such as third party technical service providers, mail carriers, hosting providers, IT companies, communications agencies) appointed, if necessary, as data processors by EASL. The updated list of these parties may be requested from the data controller at any time.

To protect your information, EASL uses an industry standard security protocol called Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt the transmission of sensitive information between you and our Websites. To know if transmissions are encrypted, look for the lock on your web browser or check that the URL starts with https://.

You shall be solely responsible to keep your password and other information relating to your Account confidential and not allow any third party to access and use your Account. In the event that your Personal data is unduly accessed, or is reasonably believed to have been unduly accessed, by an unauthorised person and applicable law requires notification, EASL shall without undue delay, and where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of it, notify the breach to the competent supervisory authority, unless said breach is unlikely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms. If the breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, EASL shall communicate this breach to you without undue delay.

To assist you in ensuring security, we require a complex password be set to access your Account which must comprise of at least 8 characters including letters, numbers and special characters. After 10 wrong password attempts, your Account will be locked.

Please note that EASL will never ask you for your personal details, password or credit card details by email. We advise you to be vigilant and apply caution. All transactions should go through your secure My EASL area.

YOU HOWEVER ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE USE OF THE INTERNET IS NOT SAFE AND THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN INHERENT RISKS TO YOUR PERSONAL DATA. EASL SHALL MAKE REASONABLE EFFORTS TO PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA BUT IT CANNOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT PERSONAL DATA YOU PROVIDE TO EASL IS SAFE AND PROTECTED FROM UNAUTHORISED THIRD PARTY ACCESS AND THEFT AND, THEREFORE, WAIVES ALL LIABILITY IN THIS RESPECT. IN NO EVENT, SHALL EASL BE HELD LIABLE FOR CIRCUMVENTION OF ANY PRIVACY SETTINGS, VIRUSES OR SECURITY MEASURES CONTAINED ON THE PLATFORM

Access to your Personal data and information rights

You have the right to request access to or information about the Personal data related to you which are processed by EASL.

Where provided by law, you, your successors, representatives and/or proxies may (i) request deletion, correction or revision of your Personal data; (ii) oppose the data processing; (iii) limit the use and disclosure of your Personal data; and (iv) revoke Consent to any of our data processing activities, if we are relying on your Consent and do not have another legal basis to continue processing your data.

These rights can be exercised by writing to us at: EASL, 7, rue Daubin, 1203 Geneva, Switzerland, or by sending us an email at the following address gdpr@easloffice.eu attaching a copy of your ID. If the request is submitted by a person other than you, without providing evidence that the request is legitimately made on your behalf, the request will be rejected.

The request is free of charge unless your request is unfounded or excessive (e.g. if you have already requested such Personal data multiple times in the last twelve months or if the request generates an extremely high workload). In such case, we may charge you a reasonable request fee according to applicable laws.

We may refuse, restrict or defer the provision of Personal data where we have the right to do so, for example if fulfilling the request will adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

Please note that any information that we have copied may remain in back-up storage for some period of time after your deletion request. This may be the case even though no Personal data about your Account remains in our active Users’ databases. Please note that Personal data posted on third party services, such as social networks, are not located on our servers and will, therefore, not be deleted from the Internet by EASL.

Portability of your Personal data

You also have the right to receive your Personal data, which you have provided EASL with, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from EASL.

This right can be exercised by writing to us at: EASL, 7, rue Daubin, 1203 Geneva, Switzerland, attaching a copy of your ID. If the request is submitted by a person other than you, without providing evidence that the request is legitimately made on your behalf, the request will be rejected.

We may refuse, restrict or defer the provision of Personal data where we have the right to do so, for example if fulfilling the request will adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

Privacy by design and by default

EASL will, both at the time of the determination of the means for processing and at the time of the processing itself, implement appropriate technical and organizational measures, such as pseudonymization, which are designed to implement data-protection principles, such as data minimization, in an effective manner and to integrate the necessary safeguards into the processing in order to meet the requirements of the GDPR and protect your rights.

EASL will implement appropriate technical and organizational measures for ensuring that, by default, only Personal data which are necessary for each specific purpose of the processing are processed. This obligation applies to the amount of your Personal data we collect, the extent of their processing, the period of storage and their accessibility. These measures will ensure that by default your Personal data are not made accessible without your intervention to an indefinite number of third parties.

Data controller

The data controller is EASL, 7, rue Daubin, 1203 Geneva, Switzerland.

External Links

If any part of the Platform contains links to third party’s sites or pages, those third party’s sites or pages do not operate under this Policy. If you choose to visit third party sites or pages, you will be directed to these third party’s sites or pages. We do not exercise control over third party sites and therefore recommend you to examine the privacy statements posted on these other sites or pages to understand their procedures for collecting, using, and disclosing Personal data. We reject any liability relating to the privacy policy in force on said third party’s site, the collection and use of your Personal data by the latter and relating to the contents of said sites (whether the links are hypertext links or deep-links).

Third party disclosure

Your Personal data may be accessed and stored as necessary for the uses stated above in accordance with this Policy. While EASL may share your Personal data with agents and contractors in order to perform the functions listed above, including hosting services and Platform management, we require that they treat your Personal data, and limit their use, in accordance with the standards specified in this Policy. EASL may transfer your Personal data to a third party for hosting or processing purposes only.

EASL may transfer and share your Personal data with other companies of the group EASL, as well as with our suppliers.

EASL may also share your Personal data to the following external partners in the circumstances below:

Conference exhibitors who scan your badge: If you accept to have your badge scanned when visiting an exhibiting company stand, or by a hostess at an industry sponsor session, your badge will enable them to retrieve the following Personal data: nominative (title, first name(s), last name(s)), address (postal address and email), telephone, fax and profile information (professional activity, place of work and fields of interest).
Agencies handling EASL managed hotel bookings: Nominative information is provided to local agencies where EASL handles hotel bookings for a particular Conference or Event. Please note that the large majority of hotel bookings are now made directly through the local agency website but faculty and Committee members may still be handled this way.
Groups representatives and agencies handling your Conference or Event registration: Where your registration is handled by someone other than yourself, your confirmations, badges or vouchers may be sent to this third party. These contain nominative details about you.
Travel agency handling flight and hotel bookings on behalf of EASL Leadership and volunteers engaged in EASL business: the relevant Personal data is transferred to the travel agency handling these bookings
EASL Leadership assessing EASL Fellowship, Mentorship and Membership applications: An application to become an EASL Fellow, Mentor or a Member of certain EASL bodies (e.g. EASL Task Forces, or Committees) requires the submission of a resume, publication list and, sometimes, other elements to support the application. This information, together with nominative information concerning the applicant, is assessed by a leading hepatologist or committee of hepatologists, prior to acceptance or refusal of the application.
EASL Leadership assessing applications for EASL Grants, Training Fellowships or other awards: An application for an EASL Grant or other award requires the submission of appropriate career and other information to support the application. This information is made available to the committee of hepatologists responsible for assessing the applications and making the awards.

When you use the Platform, you submit information to EASL that we store in order to offer you personalised features.

In any case where cross-border transfer is done, we ensure that an adequate protection is guaranteed for Personal data to be transferred outside of Switzerland and the EEA. In some specific cases when this level of protection is not guaranteed, we will obtain your prior Consent or establish with the recipient of Personal data a contractual framework or sufficient safeguards that ensure an adequate level of protection abroad. You may request access to a copy of these safeguards by contacting us.

Unless otherwise stated, the third parties who receive data from EASL are prohibited to use this Personal data beyond what is necessary to provide the Service to you, directly or by participating to our activities.

For compliance, please contact: gdpr@easloffice.eu.

Compliance with laws and law enforcement

EASL may share your Personal data to relevant third parties, in particular if we are requested to do so to comply with a court order or law enforcement authorities request, or if we find it necessary, as determined in our sole discretion, to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, to defend our interest, in case of violations of the Terms or as otherwise required or permitted by law.

Jurisdiction and applicable law

This Policy and all matters arising out of or relating to it shall be governed by the substantive laws of Switzerland, without regards to principle of conflicts of laws thereof.

Any controversy, claim or dispute between a user and EASL arising out of or relating to this Policy shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction to the ordinary courts of the seat of EASL without prejudice to an appeal to the Swiss Federal Court.

Contacting us and right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

We hope to be able to answer any questions or concerns you may have about your Personal Data. Should you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us at: gdpr@easloffice.eu or EASL, 7, rue Daubin, 1203 Geneva, Switzerland.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you feel your Personal data has been mishandled or if we failed to meet your expectations. You are encouraged to contact us about any complaints or concerns but you are entitled to complain directly to the relevant supervisory authority.