Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy applies to your use of the websites (collectively referred to as the “Website”), operated by The European Society of Gynaecological Oncology, a Swiss-based not-for-profit organisation, referred to interchangeably hereafter as “ESGO”.

The “Website” includes, without limitation, the ESGO website (www.esgo.org), sub-websites, and any online platforms used by ESGO which could require your personal data.

ESGO respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the confidentiality of your personal information. This policy explains how ESGO collects and uses Member, customer and site visitor information, and how it protects your privacy.

This policy applies to personal information held about individuals. It does not apply to information ESGO holds about companies and other organisations. It is in addition to any specific policies concerning specific products or services. It does not supersede the ESGO terms and conditions, which govern the use of the ESGO Website.

ESGO reserves the right to amend this privacy policy at its sole discretion, without prior notice, at any time, with the proviso that details of the amendments are published on the ESGO Website. They become effective from the time of posting.

ESGO is the sole owner of the Website and as such is the sole owner of any information collected through the Website.

ESGO is committed to the following standards, on a commercially reasonable basis:

• To collect and use only the minimum information necessary for us to deliver high quality service to users, to administer our business, and to inform you of ESGO products & services

• To protect the information our visitors share with us, maintaining strong standards of security and confidentiality,

• To guarantee individual’s rights to access collected personal data as set in the European Data Protection Rule,

• To require any other organisation that we retain or engage to provide support services to us to conform to our privacy standards, and

• To keep visitor files, if any, complete, up to date, and accurate.

Some features on the Website may require you to register as a user and to receive our authorisation before you can use those particular features. Whether you are an individual or a corporation, partnership, or other form of commercial enterprise, in order for you obtain our authorisation to use those features and to be considered a registered user, you may be required to provide us with certain information about you or your business and, if a business, any or all individuals you designate to represent that business in connection with your use of the Website (e.g. names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and other Personally Identifiable Information of each individual who will use the Website). Once we have authorised you as a registered user, we may provide you with a customer identification number and you will select a unique username and password.

Generally, you will be able to change your password and any personal data you have given us. Please note that submitting information to us is not a guarantee or assurance that we will grant authorisation to you or permit you, or anyone you designate, to use any or all of the services of the Website. If for any reason you are not granted authorisation we will retain the information you submit to us only in order to communicate with you regarding your application; we may, however, request additional or follow-up information for audit purposes or as may be required by law or regulation.

If you are submitting information on behalf of others for registration purposes or otherwise, you represent that you have their permission, agreement and full authorization to provide this information to us. We reserve the right (a) to ask you to provide evidence of your authority at any time during, or even after, the submission process and (b) to contact those individuals to confirm your authority at any time. If we determine that your authority has not been properly obtained, we may immediately and without notice to you discontinue your authorised use of those features of the Website for which you have registered.

How ESGO collects personal information

ESGO is a professional association which combines a wide range of activities in the field of gynaecological oncology, including

• Provision of Membership Services
• Collection and dissemination of scientific information
• Provision of Educational Products and Services

The sources of personal information received by ESGO are:

• The individuals themselves
• Third parties acting on behalf of individuals (eg. an agent or secretary arranging registration for an ESGO organised meeting or event; the submission of abstracts for events by third parties, etc)

ESGO may collect personal information in the following ways:

• When you register personal details when creating or updating a ‘My ESGO’ account on ESGO Web Site
• When you, or an agent on your behalf, enter personal details on a form (electronic or paper) requesting an ESGO product or service (eg when registering for an ESGO organised meeting or event, or subscribing for the ESGO information and education portal)
• When you, or someone on your behalf, submits proposals or content in connection with scientific sessions at an ESGO organised meeting or event (eg Abstract submission)
• When you enter personal details on a form applying to become an ESGO member or to apply for affiliate membership through an affiliate Society
• When you subscribe to an ESGO newsletter or other electronic communication
• When you participate in a survey, questionnaire or such

 

What personal information is collected by ESGO

Mandatory Personal Information

As a general rule, to enable ESGO to correctly identify you, to provide you with the products and services you have requested and to communicate with you, the following minimum information must be provided in order for your order, request, application, etc. to be processed:

• Title
• First Name(s)
• Last Name(s)
• Full Postal Address (institution)
• Email address
• Gender
• Birth date

Optional Personal Information

Other personal information may be requested to help identification (eg nationality by country, etc.) or to enable ESGO to understand your profile so you can be provided with better and more appropriate products and services (eg Professional Interests and Areas of Interest).

Credit Card Information

Credit Card information, along with other information related to specific transactions, is collected at the time of your order, request or application, and is used only for the purposes of that particular transaction. For your protection, the Credit Card information is not retained in ESGO system for later use for other transactions. 
ESGO takes every precaution to ensure that this information is stored in a safe location and that it cannot be accessed by unauthorised parties.

Email address information

Your email address is mandatory when you use ESGO electronic services on the ESGO Web Site
Electronic communication is for most purposes ESGO’s preferred method of communication because it is generally convenient, rapid, environmentally friendly and efficient.
You are required to supply your email address when you create your ‘My ESGO’ account on ESGO Web Site, which enables you to access a variety of services online.
Please note that each email address must be unique and that you are not allowed to share email addresses with another person.

Unique Email Address

For your convenience and security, your email address is unique to you in the system. (ESGO does not permit two different persons to have the same email address in the system). You are strongly recommended to use an email address which is personal to you and that is not shared with others. This is to ensure that communications which are sent to you personally are not read by others, and that others do not gain access to the information in your ‘My ESGO’ account. Furthermore, ESGO may use your email address to communicate with you about value added products linked either to your membership or your congress attendance.
Your unique email permits automated retrieval of your login details, which are sent to your personal email address.

Data from surveys and questionnaires

ESGO conducts a number of surveys or questionnaires every year whereby we collect data from volunteer respondents about a certain number of topics that are of interest to us as a society or to the practice of gynaecological oncology. The respondent data remains completely anonymous, unless the respondents specifically choose to share their contact data. Upon completion of the survey or questionnaire, to ensure confidentiality, information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to the survey tool platform. Data entered are stored on the survey tool server, which is accessible through a dedicated ESGO account only. When exported, data are stored on ESGO's internal server. To ensure the complete anonymity of all respondents, all data collected are kept confidential and no individual respondent’s answers will be disclosed at any time by ESGO.

How ESGO uses personal information

Personal information is needed by ESGO to enable it to properly manage its member files. These files are used to enable ESGO to fulfil its role in providing a wide range of services to its members and contributors.
The personal information, which you supply may be specifically used to:

• Enable ESGO to provide you with the products or services you request
• Enable ESGO to communicate with you about specific matters regarding your transaction, eg. Registration for a meeting or event, abstract submission, grading, membership etc.
• Enable ESGO to send you information about ESGO activities

Listed below are some of the security procedures that ESGO uses to protect your privacy:

• A personal username and a password is required in order for users to access their personal data
• Uses firewalls to protect information held in our servers.
• Closely monitors the limited number of ESGO employees who have access to your data
• Requires all ESGO employees to abide our Data Protection Policy and be subject to disciplinary action if they violate it.
• Backs-up our systems to protect the integrity of your data.

Email privacy

ESGO respects the privacy of personal email addresses and complies with the current legislation on email communication (according to the Swiss Data Protection Act, the Tele Service Data Protection Act and the European Data Protection Rule). ESGO will not send you unsolicited email messages and will not contact you on behalf of third parties without your consent.

You may receive emails concerning:

• Products and services similar to those you have already received from ESGO
• If you are an ESGO Member, you will receive email newsletters as part of your membership benefits – you may opt out from these newsletters at any time
• Transactional messages linked to the following (non-exhaustive) list of transactions: your registration for an event, submission of abstracts, application for grants or fellowships, membership dues, etc.

All mailings sent to you offer the possibility to unsubscribe.

Disclosure of information and marketing

ESGO complies with Swiss and EC directives (Switzerland and the Swiss data protection legislation are both recognized to be compliant with General Data Protection regulation 2016/679) and takes all reasonable care to prevent any unauthorised access to your personal data. ESGO staff and contractors have a responsibility to keep your information confidential.

ESGO may supply your information to its contractors to perform specific services.

ESGO uses contractors in these cases:

• for management of the association and its products and services
• for membership registration system
• for participants registration to ESGO events

Full list of ESGO contractors may be found in our Principles of data protection policy.

Otherwise, ESGO does not disclose personal information to any other person or organisation without your consent.

Right of access to your ESGO information

If you would like to know exactly what personal information ESGO holds about you, you are entitled to obtain it. If it transpires that the information is inaccurate, or you wish to oppose its use in future, ESGO will make the necessary amendments and confirm that these have been made.

Please contact ESGO by email at gdpr@esgo.org.

Data security

To protect your information, ESGO uses an industry standard security protocol called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt the transmission of sensitive information between you and our website.

SSL is used, for example, when you make a credit card payment. To know if transmissions are encrypted, look for the lock on your web browser or check that the URL starts with https://.
Despite ESGO’s efforts to protect your personal data, there is always some risk that an unauthorized third party may find a way around our security systems or that transmissions of information over the Internet will be intercepted. ESGO is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort arising from or relating to any breach of our security or interception of your transmissions (see Terms of Use).

Conclusion

If you have any further questions about the ESGO Privacy Policy you can find more details in the ESGO Principles of personal data protection and information about processing of personal data or its implementation, or if at any time you believe that ESGO has not adhered to the principles stated in this Policy, please contact us at gdpr@esgo.org

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