UEMS Privacy and Data Security Policy

Welcome!


The UEMS committed to ensuring the protection of your Personal Data and your privacy. To better protect your privacy, we provide this page explaining UEMS Privacy and Data Security Policy and describing how and why personal data are collected and used by UEMS. UEMS takes all possible care to prevent any unauthorized access to personal data and to ensure confidentiality for the data collected and processed.

1. Definitions and identity of the data controller:

UEMS refers to “European Union of Medical Specialists”, Belgian AISBL with a postal address of 24 rue de l’industrie, 1040 Brussels, Belgium and registered in Brussels under number BE 0.469.067.848, which is the data controller under Privacy Legislation. Privacy Legislation refers specifically to the Belgian Law of December 8, 1992 on the protection of privacy and its various implementing regulations and rulings or any current or future Belgian legislation regarding data protection, and to the 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. Data subject refers to a natural person. Examples of a data subject can be an individual, a customer, a prospect, an employee, a contact person, etc. Personal data are any information relating to an identified/identifiable natural person (= data subject), whether it relates to his or her private, professional, or public life. Personal data can be anything from a name, photo, email address, bank details, posts on social networking sites, medical information, IP address, or a combination of the data that directly or indirectly identifies the person. Some information such as health, racial or ethnic origin, genetic or biometric data (among others) are considered to be “sensitive data” and are subject to a special level of protection.

2. Data collected and processed by UEMS:

UEMS does not process data regarding children under 16 years old.

UEMS does not process any sensitive data.

The Personal data collected by UEMS are:

  • Nominative Information - Title, First Name(s), Family Name(s): Your nominative details are needed to properly identify you, to communicate with you, to provide you with the services you have requested and to ensure that items are properly labelled as yours (e.g. Congress badges, Certificate of attendance, etc.).
  • Email address: Your email address is used to communicate with you for all UEMS activities (document approbation, registration to a meeting, information about new developments, etc…)
  • Full Postal Address : When collected, your Postal Address is needed when items will be sent to you by post (e.g. exam diplomas, documents…). It also helps to correctly verify your identity (where other persons have the same or a similar name).
  • Date and place of Birth: When collected, your date and place of birth are used to help UEMS to correctly identify you and avoid duplicate records.
  • Telephone number: When collected, this enables the UEMS to contact you rapidly in case of need.
  • Curriculum vitae, list of publications and other information requested to support applications for the European examination: When collected, these data are used to define whether you are a suitable candidate for a UEMS position or if you are eligible to a UEMS Examination. 
  • For activities implying payment, the personal information that we may collect includes purchase history, payment information and Credit Card information if you chose this payment method.

The types of Personal Data that we collect will depend on the communication, application or service you apply for or receive. You may always choose not to provide the requested information, but in doing so we may be unable to provide the communication, application or service you request. UEMS makes sure to collect and process data that are strictly necessary to the purpose of its activities.

3. How does UEMS collect data:

The sources of personal information collected by UEMS are:

  • The individuals themselves when they contact UEMS office
  • Third parties acting on behalf of individuals enter personal details on a form requesting a UEMS service (e.g. an agent arranging registration or hotel accommodation for an UEMS Exam or UEMS Meeting)
  • Member Organisations providing details of their Members (The National Medical Associations members of UEMS send UEMS office an individual personal details to appoint him/her as national delegate of UEMS Specialty Bodies ).

Where we receive personal information about individuals from sources other than the individuals themselves, we take all practical steps to contact the data subject to advise of their rights to object the use of their data or to rectify it.

4. Why does UEMS collect and process Personal data

The UEMS pursues the objective of reaching the highest level of medical care in Europe through the following activities: defense of the medical specialists interests in Europe; the definition of high standards of care, training and practice; the promotion of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development ; the development of quality assurance in specialist practice. While working on these goals, UEMS combines a wide range of activities in the field of medical training and continuing medical education, such as :

  • Communication related to UEMS and UEMS Specialists Bodies activities
  • Collection and dissemination of scientific information and knowledge  Enable individual communications with the individual about specific matters - e.g. sending confirmations, receipts, requesting further information to solve queries, etc.
  • Organization of medical congresses and events
  • Accreditation of medical events (EACCME)
  • Provision of other products and services such as EU examination, accreditation of medical centers, preparatory courses, etc…
  • handle specific processes for UEMS leadership and volunteers representing the UEMS, including hotel accommodation, expense claims and Declarations of Interest

When disclosing your personal information to us by using UEMS website or by completing and submitting paper or electronic forms to us, you consent to the collection, storage and processing of your personal information as stated in this policy.

5. Email addresses

Electronic communication is for most purposes the UEMS’s preferred method of communication because it is generally convenient, rapid, effective and efficient. In order to be able to communicate with you directly electronically, we need your email address.The UEMS respects the privacy of personal email addresses and complies with the Privacy legislation on email communication. The objective is not to send you unwanted messages, and your email details will not be passed on to any other individual or organization without your permission. We kindly ask you to provide us an e-mail address which is properly secured and which only you can access. You may request to exercise a right in application of the GPDR by e-mail. UEMS has the right to consider every request received from your e-mail address as issued by you.

6. How long do we keep Personal data

Personal information is only kept for a reasonable period of time, dependent upon the nature of the information and its intended use.
Exceptionally, nominative information (only) is kept indefinitely for persons:

  • who have had leadership positions in the UEMS (UEMS Executive and UEMS Bodies Executives)
  • who have passed UEMS European Examinations (The nominative information is kept to reference it and to prevent fraud and false diplomas)

If you are delegate to a UEMS body, your information will be kept in the UEMS system while you continue to be a delegate, even if you do not use products or services during that time, unless you request us not to keep it, (in which case you will cease being a UEMS delegate). From the moment you cease to be a delegate, for any reason, your information will be kept in the UEMS system unless expressly requested otherwise by you. UEMS wishes to keep your information during this period in order to facilitate your re-registration as a delegate as the case may be and for archiving reasons.

7. Transfer of Personal Data

UEMS does not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to others. The UEMS may supply your information to its contractors to perform specific services (such as Event or examination organisation). Otherwise, UEMS does not disclose personal information to any other person or organisation without your consent. In this context, your personal data may be disclosed to the following external partners in the circumstances described below:

  • Professional Congress Organizer handling the congress 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.
  • Agencies handling flight and hotel bookings on behalf of UEMS : Nominative information is provided to local agencies where the UEMS handles hotel bookings for a particular congress or event.
  • Members of the Eligibility Committee for EU Examinations, Honorary Diplomas or preparatory Courses : An application to a become an ESC Fellow or a Member of certain ESC bodies (eg ESC Working Groups) requires the submission of a CV, publication list and, sometimes, other elements to support the application. This information, together with nominative information concerning the applicant, is assessed by a leading specialist or committee of specialists, prior to acceptance or refusal of the application.

As Data Subject, you have several rights regarding your data which are listed herein below .

8. How are your Personal Data protected?

We maintain reasonable physical, electronic, standard security practices, including encryption, passwords and physical security measures, and managerial procedures to protect the security and confidentiality of Personal Data. Only a limited number of persons within us are authorized to access, delete or modify your data. We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that your privacy interests are protected.

9. What are your rights

You have several rights over the processing of your data:

  • You have the right to be informed about the processing of your personal data which covered by this privacy policy and any future specific communication
  • You have the right to access your data which means that UEMS will confirm whether personal data concerning you has been processed as well as provide you with all the relevant information regarding your personal data and, if you wish, a copy of said data
  • You have the right to rectify your data if it’s inaccurate or to complete your data if it’s incomplete
  • When the processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at anytime
  • You may have the right to obtain the erasure or the restriction of processing of your personal data or object to its processing in certain circumstances.
  • When the processing is carried out by automated means and based on either your consent or a contract, you have the right to data portability which means you shall receive your personal data or have it transferred to another controller in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

For information about how to get access to Personal Data and for exercising your rights, please contact us in writing at:

UEMS
Rue de l’Industrie 24
1040 Brussels
info@uems.eu

UEMS wishes to bring to your attention its obligation to use all reasonable measures to verify the identity of a data subject who requests to exercise his or her rights. UEMS will not collect more data to verify your identity than what is already in its possession. However, please beware of the e-mail address you provide us and make sure you are the only person able to access it and that it is secure. UEMS reserves the right to take further reasonable measures to verify your identity if it seems necessary.

10. Use of Cookies

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 use of cookies is an industry standard, and many websites use them to provide useful features. Cookies in and of themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a computer. Most browsers are set initially to accept cookies. You can set your computer to reject cookies. However, if you do choose to disable cookies, you will not be able to use the online services.

11. External Links

The UEMS WebSites contain links to other websites. Please be aware that the UEMS 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 UEMS as controller.

12. Complaints

If there should be a problem regarding the processing of your data, please don’t hesitate contacting us at the address info@uems.eu. You may also lodge a complaint with the Belgian national supervisory authority : https://www.privacycommission.be/