Updated February 2019

Your privacy is important to us. To protect your privacy, we provide this notice explaining our information practices and the choices you have regarding the way your information is collected and used. We will protect your personal information. This information is used by authorized personnel only.

Data treatment shall mean any operation, or set of operations, carried out with or without the help of electronic or automated means, and must guarantee the confidentiality and security of your personal data.

The International Atherosclerosis Society (IAS) is a global federation of member organizations dedicated to promoting the scientific understanding of the etiology, prevention, and treatment of atherosclerosis and risk factors including diabetes/cardiometabolic disorders.

The IAS coordinates the exchange of scientific information among its 67 constituent societies to foster research on the development of atherosclerosis and to help translate this knowledge into improving the effectiveness of programs designed to prevent and treat this disease.

The IAS endeavors to achieve these objectives by:

promoting the exchange of existing knowledge;
encouraging and supporting funding for new research ventures and interdisciplinary approaches;
establishing visiting fellowships for young investigators;
fostering the dissemination of knowledge by organizing international symposia, workshops, courses, and meetings;
maintaining an effective website; and
interacting with other organizations with similar objectives.
The IAS’s programs and resources are realized through collaborative efforts with its national and regional constituent societies.

The IAS is a non-profit entity which combines a wide range of activities of atherosclerosis and related diseases, including:

Provision of Membership Services
Collection and dissemination of scientific information
Organisation of scientific congresses and events
Provision of other educational products and services.
This may require the handling of personal information of the individuals involved in these activities and hence the IAS collects personal information in a number of ways from a number of sources.

IAS takes the protection of your personal data very seriously in all our processes. This Data Protection Statement is meant to help you understand how data are collected, processed and stored to meet legal requirements.

The sources of personal information received by the IAS are:

a. The individuals themselves
b. IAS Constituent Member Societies providing details of their Members (Note: Members of National Atherosclerosis Societies are also members of the IAS by virtue of their association’s affiliation to the IAS)
c. Third parties acting on behalf of individuals (eg: an agent arranging registration or hotel accommodation for an IAS organised Meeting or IAS Constituent Member Societies).
It will be very difficult and, sometimes, even impossible for IAS to provide services if you refuse to allow IAS to process your data. For this reason, by providing personal data to IAS, you agree to be legally bound by and explicitly consent to this Data Protection Statement, which may be amended from time to time. If you do not agree to this Data Protection Statement, IAS would not be able to process your personal data and therefore offer you certain services.

1. Scope of this Data Protection Statement

This Data Protection Statement applies to all services offered by IAS.
This Data Protection Statement does not apply to services offered by third parties or individuals.
This Data Protection Statement does not cover the information practices of third parties and organizations who advertise IAS services or any third party operating any website to which the IAS website or other digital asset may contain a link.

2. Data collected and method of collection

In general, IAS collects general and personal data concerning you.

Personal Information you provide:

a. when you provide your details to IAS when registering on the website or in an IAS Meeting
b. when you sign up to receive our newsletters, eblasts, or publications
c. when you participate in an IAS survey
d. when you apply to take part in any IAS activity.
Upon receipt of your data, an electronic profile is created in the IAS’s database system for each person or entity (your “Profile”).

The Profile may contain but is not limited to:

first name;
last name;
home address;
work address;
phone numbers;
email addresses;
field of interest;
areas of expertise;
website username;
website password.
Information we collect automatically

When you visit the IAS Website, information is collected in an automated manner about your computer/device, your IP address, the referring website, what pages you visit, how long you stay on them and the general use you make of the website.
This information is collected using various technologies which includes saving cookies to your computer or device. For more information on our use of cookies, the information we collect with them, and your preferences please refer to our Cookies policy.
During an IAS event, attendees may be photographed and videotaped by IAS or its partners capturing the event. Some of these photographs or videos may be displayed by the IAS or its partners in future publications or materials connected with the event as well as social media. If you do not wish for your image to be displayed by the IAS, please inform the IAS at: [email protected]. Without contradictory instructions from your side, you hereby grant the IAS, the rights to record and use free of charge, on a worldwide basis and for the entire duration of protection of the rights thereto, on any and all supports or forms of media, your image, voice, name, photographs, and video on which you appear for purposes related to Scientific, Educational or Promotional Purposes. You hereby release, waive and discharge the IAS, its employees and independent contractors from any and all demands, claims, causes of action, damages and liabilities directly or indirectly arising out of any use of your image, voice or name pursuant to the foregoing rights grant.

Information we collect from third parties

Agreements made between the IAS and the IAS Constituent Member Societies (IAS CMS) state that the IAS CMS must provide up to date information on their members.
Agreements with Third Parties acting on behalf of individuals (eg: an agent arranging registration or hotel accommodation for an IAS organised Meeting or IAS Constituent Member Societies).

3. Purpose of data collection

Personal information is needed by the IAS to provide and organize our educational activities and services. IAS does not collect more data than is necessary to fulfil such purposes.

The IAS uses your data to create profiles that allow IAS to communicate with you about IAS activities which includes, but are not limited to Newsletters, Eblasts, Fellowships, Grants, Meeting Registration, Working Group, Publications, Slide Library, Dissemination of Scientific Information.

Other purposes: IAS may use your data as IAS believes to be necessary or appropriate: (a) under applicable law, including laws outside your country of residence; (b) to comply with legal process; (c) to respond to requests from public and government authorities including public and government authorities outside your country of residence; (d) to protect IAS’s operations; (e) to protect IAS’s rights, privacy, and safety.

IAS will ask your consent before using data for a purpose other than those that are set out in this Statement subject to mandatory laws.

4. How long personal information is stored

General and personal data will be kept by IAS only as long as reasonably necessary taking into consideration our need to answer queries or resolve problems, to provide improved and new services and to comply with legal requirements under applicable laws or with inquiries from Clients on past events or activities. IAS will retain general and personal data during a maximum period of 5 years if no specific legal requirement. For constituent data that may include financial aspects, IAS required by law to keep those data for 7 years.
You may cancel/delete your IAS account by sending an email to our Data Protection
Officer: [email protected]

5. Location of storage and controller of data base

The Profiles that IAS maintains are stored in a central database at a third-party provider’s location in Germany.

6. Your duties

You must ensure that the data you provide us are:

correct
accurate;
current;
truthful; and
compliant with any applicable laws.
Since the IAS will mainly use electronic communications with you, you are required to provide us with your email address and to notify us of any modification.

7. Disclosure of information and data to third parties

IAS has activities worldwide. Your personal data may therefore be transferred to countries whose data protection laws may be different from, and less stringent than, those in your country of residence. You hereby agree and give your consent to IAS to transfer and communicate your data as follows:

a. Transfer to third-parties: IAS works with third parties to obtain and provide services and, in some cases, personal data will be shared with these third parties in order to pursue IAS’s mission and goals.

These services include but are not limited to:

in connection with meetings and events services: hotel booking services, ground transportation requirements or airline ticket issuance, badge providers;
in connection with provision of online educational services and educational content provider.
IAS does not transfer your data to third parties for promotion and marketing purposes. Prior to a transfer, third-parties are required to sign a data transfer agreement with IAS that requires them to follow the applicable data protection laws.

b. Regulatory transfers: IAS may be required by law to transfer data to governments and
regulatory and/or supervisory authorities.

Electronic transfer of data

If you visit IAS’s website, your data will be transported via an open publicly accessible network. The data might therefore be transmitted across national borders. This involves notably the risk that your data may be intercepted and read by third parties.

Furthermore, you are notified that information you transmit or allow to be transmitted to you by IAS via an electronic medium, in particular via e-mail, SMS, contact forms, etc. are usually unencrypted and therefore neither confidential nor secure. Even in the event of an encrypted transmission, sender and recipient remain unencrypted in each case.

If you provide IAS with personal information, your personal data may be transferred by IAS to countries whose data protection laws may be different from, and less stringent than, those in your country of residence as set forth above.

8. Security and organizational measures

To ensure the safety of your data on IAS’s website and systems, IAS has implemented appropriate technical, contractual, administrative, physical and organizational measures to protect your personal data from loss, destruction, unauthorized access, accidental or unlawful disclosure and manipulation. These measures are subject to continuous development in accordance with technological progress and are periodically reviewed to comply with all applicable privacy laws.

Only authorized IAS staff, third party companies’ (i.e. service providers) staff have access to your personal data. All IAS staff who have access to your personal data are required to adhere to the staff confidentiality regulations and all third-party employees who have access to your personal data have signed non-disclosure agreements. In addition, data transfer agreements are in place with third-party companies that have access to your personal data to make sure this data remains secure.

9. Your rights

In accordance with applicable data protection laws and regulations, you have a right to unsubscribe at any time, to request access to, rectification of your Data, or restriction of processing, and to object to said processing, as well as the right to data portability to the extent applicable. Moreover, you have a right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Under certain conditions you also have the right to have your personal data that is stored by IAS blocked and deleted, unless IAS has to keep this data for legitimate business or legal purposes. For more information, you should contact the Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned e-mail address.

IAS will try to comply with your request(s) as soon as reasonably practicable. Please also note that if you do opt-out of receiving marketing-related messages from IAS, we may still send you important administrative messages, and you cannot opt-out from receiving administrative messages.

10. External Links

The IAS Website contains links to other websites. Please be aware that the IAS is not responsible for the privacy policies of other sites. You are therefore encouraged to read the privacy policies of any other site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy policy applies solely to information collected by the IAS.

11. Cookies Policy

Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer’s hard disk for record keeping purposes. They are small text files that a website can use to recognise repeat users and facilitate their ongoing access to, and use of, the site. They do not pose a threat to your system or files.
The athero.org uses Cookies to enhance the user experience while visiting our web site. Cookies are used for authentication primarily. We do not store any personal information about a user in our cookies. We do track your interests on the site so that we can provide you with additional content that might be of importance to you. Most Web browsers accept cookies and you can use the “help” menu on your browser to assist you in preventing, accepting, or receiving notice of new cookies. However, please be aware that if you block cookies, Web site functionality may be lost.
We draw your attention to the fact that disabling cookies may prevent you from accessing certain features on our website and other websites.

12. Changes

This Statement may be revised and updated by IAS from time to time to comply with statutory data protection and privacy laws. IAS will post any statement changes on its website and, if the changes are significant, IAS will send a notice to the e-mail address provided in your Profile.

13. Contact

If you need further assistance, please contact the IAS office at: [email protected]