This document describes the privacy policy of the European Marine Board (EMB). It affects all data gathered and processed by EMB. This policy is a derivative of the GDPR, and is to be applied to EMB activities.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
The GDPR is EU 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. It repeals Directive 95/46/EC. The GDPR came into force on 25 May 2018. More information can be found on the EC GDPR site.
EMB as data owner and processor
EMB gathers personal data (name, email address, phone number, affiliation) through subscriptions on our newsletter, registrations for EMB activities and events, and from our members. EMB is the owner and processor of this data and does not pass this data on to third parties. All data gathered and processed by EMB is subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which aims to protect the privacy of all EU inhabitants. Note that EMB makes use of the IT system of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) to support its website and IT services. For all information regarding the data processing from the EMB website, we refer to the VLIZ privacy policy.
Your rights as a data subject
A data subject is the natural person for whom personal data is processed. Each person has the right to be informed on what personal data is being processed and to have access to their personal data.
As a data subject, you can request:
- corrections or updates to your personal data
- to restriction or stop the processing of your data;
- to erase your data from our database
Note that not all rights are absolute: EMB can have compelling legitimate grounds that outweigh the interests and rights of the objector (accountancy, juridical reasons...). When a request is made, EMB may demand extra information to confirm your identity. All requests made by data subjects will be logged.
Legal grounds for data processing
There are several legal grounds for data processing. The most common is prior consent, which can be withdrawn at any time, or it can stem from an agreement with our member institutes. EMB further has the legal obligation to process personal data for accountancy purposes, and has to keep this data according to the legal obligations. EMB also processes personal data for common interest as EMB scans and describes the European marine scientific landscape, and gathers professional data on scientists and institutes for this purpose.
Services requiring personal data
For some of the EMB services and activities processing of personal data is necessary. By entering your personal data, you agree to the data processing. This data is kept for as long as the agreement lasts, and at least as long as is required for legal purposes (e.g. accountancy). For purposes concerning proof in juridical disputes, EMB may store personal data up to 10 years after the occurrence, which is the maximum legal term for placing personal claims. EMB requires personal data for the following:
1. EMB membership
EMB collects data of its member organisations. This includes the contact details (name, e-mail, address, phone number) of the delegates and alternates and any other persons from the organisations that have been nominated to participate in EMB Working Groups, events and publications. EMB uses this data to inform members on EMB activities and for membership administration (legal obligation). The institutional affiliation is saved for institutional members. More information on EMB membership can be found on http://www.marineboard.eu/members-0.
2. Visitor tracking on websites and cookies
EMB makes use of the IT support and system of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) to support its website and IT services. VLIZ keeps logs of website visits - which contain: an IP address, time information, and the url visited - for bug tracking and to monitor for malicious visits. Along with the web-server logging, an anonymous visitor-tracking system is in place, to track which pages on the websites hosted by VLIZ are accessed. We also use cookies to enhance the surfing experience (e.g. so visitors only have to log in or choose the language setting once). It is indicated on each by VLIZ supported website that cookies are used and you can find a link to the VLIZ privacy policy.
3. Conference and other event participation
In order to participate in events organised by EMB, registration is required for organisational purposes (venue size, catering services, inform participants on programme updates, etc.). Registration forms will contain a section to allow participants to subscribe to further communications by EMB, or to remove their data once the event has taken place (this is the default option). For each event, several e-mails may be sent as part of the communication agreement: save-the-date, posting of the tentative programme, abstract submission calls, closing of the early bird or final programme, and the closing e-mail with links to pictures taken and download links for presentations.
During our events, pictures/film can be taken which can be communicated to the participant, used in the EMB annual report and other EMB publications, or posted on our website. If you do not want your pictures to be published, you can send a request for the removal of photographs or films to the e-mail address used for event administration or to info@marineboard.eu. Photos in which the requester are shown will be removed from our web sites and servers; for films, the film segment will be cut out or the film deleted out if the requester is clearly visible.
4. Mailing lists organised or serviced by EMB
EMB manages mailing lists which were created to send out EMB newsletters, to facilitate events, to allow for working-group communication, for partners in a project, etc. Each e-mail sent to these mailing lists contains an unsubscribe link and a contact address. For several communications, EMB can make use of the services of mailchimp for this purpose. Mailchimp functions in this instance as the data processor. You can find the Mailchimp privacy policy here.
5. Personal data offered for job applications
Personal data offered in the context of job applications will be used solely for processing the application, unless consent was given for alerts on future job offers. The data will only be available to EMB personnel handling the job offer and to the members the jury (EMB and/or external experts).
The emails and personal data received will be stored for 10 years for evidence purposes in case of juridical claims by the applicant. In case of hiring, the personal data will be shared with SDWorx, the social secretariat for EMB.
Drupal, our content management system (CMS)
The EMB website is created in Drupal. For content management several editors are appointed, and these need an account to be able to log in to and change a site. All session information and changes made by the editors are stored in Drupal. Each editor can list their actions for each of the sites via a Drupal module.
Questions and Complaints
If you have any questions regarding personal data stored by EMB, you can contact us by e-mail at info@marineboard.eu; by phone: +32 (0) 59 33 69 24 or on the following address: Jacobsenstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium.
Complaints concerning the EMB privacy policy, or concerning unlawful data processing can be addressed to the Belgian Privacy Commission (www.privacycommission.be), the National Data Protection Authority (DPA) for Belgium. If there is a data breach, EMB is bound to inform the Privacy Commission within 72 hours, and affected users - if identifiable - will also be notified.