ICOCS Privacy and Data Security Policy

ICOCS complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other regulation regarding the processing of personal data and privacy. ICOCS respects your privacy and is committed to safeguarding the confidentiality of your personal information. This policy explains how and why ICOCS collects and uses the personal information of its members, users and website visitors, and how ICOCS protects your privacy.

When disclosing your personal information to us by registering on our website https://www.icocs.org/ in order to complete our online forms, you consent to the collection, storage and processing of your personal information as stated in this policy. You can withdraw this consent at any time, by canceling your registration.

The personal information that we collect from you shall be obtained, processed and transmitted in compliance with applicable data protection legislation including the GDPR and, as our offices are located in the UK, the Briitish Data Protection Act (DPA), 2018.

We may change this policy by updating this page. We advise you to check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes (latest version: May 2018).

The ICOCS Office is responsible for the processing of your personal data. The registered name of the ICOCS Office is International College Of Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders, having its registered seat at Devonshire House, Manor Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 1QQ, United Kingdom. ICOCS is a Registered UK Charity 1111115.

The ICOCS Office is responsible for the processing of personal data processed by or through the ICOCS organization web site which is a legal entity and has access to personal data of its registered members. This is necessary for the activities of the ICOCS administration as the organization of the ICOCS meetings, the administration of members and the possibility to send registered users e-mailings and invitations to meetings. Access to personal data is restricted to people for whom it is necessary to access the data.

Processing of Personal Data

Personal Data:
ICOCS collects your personal data when you register to complete ICOCSs online form.

ICOCS processes information obtained from yourself on the basis of your consent for the processing necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests of ICOCS.

These legitimate interests are that the processing of the personal data is necessary for ICOCS to be able to identify members, participants of meetings and persons involved in other activities organized by ICOCS.

The mandatory personal data ICOCS collects are:

Nominative Information - Title, first name(s), surname(s): 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 work and/or private address: The postal address is needed when items will be sent to you by post (e.g. paper journals). The full postal address is always requested, even when not needed to send you items, to save asking for it specifically when needed for a particular transaction and because it helps to correctly verify your identity (where other persons have the same or a similar name).

Date of birth, nationality and country: Your date of birth is used to help us correctly identify you and avoid duplicate records. Your date of birth and country are used where specific rules, fees or charges apply which depend on country, to determine eligibility for these activities and fees.

E-mail address: Electronic communication is for most purposes ICOCS’s preferred method of communication because it is generally convenient, rapid, effective, environmental friendly and efficient. In order to be able to communicate with you directly, electronically, ICOCS needs your e-mail address. You are therefore required to supply your e-mail address when you apply for membership on the website. Additionally, because we only permit a particular e-mail to be used once in our system, it reduces the possibility of duplicates. Finally, it permits “Forgot Password” to be handled in an automated secure way.

Additional information: In some cases, we ask you for additional information if this is needed for the services provided by ICOCS. For example, ICOCS processes payment information provided by you, if such information is necessary to pay your membership fee or registration for a meeting. We will also ask for your Curriculum Vitae.

The data is collected and stored only for the execution of our services; giving access to the service through the use of an account, to enable a proper functioning and management of the website and platform, to enable member registration, to enable the organization of a meeting or professional activity, the distribution of professional articles or materials, such as newsletters.

The e-mail address submitted when signing up for membership will be used by ICOCS for the purpose of sending digital information you might find interesting. ICOCS respects the privacy of personal e-mail addresses and complies with the current European legislation on e-mail communication. The objective is not to send you unwanted messages, and your e-mail details will not be passed on to any other individual or organization without your permission.

ICOCS uses the following e-mailing profiles:

Members only e-mails: renewal reminders, payment confirmations, etc.

Meetings e-alerts: Important information about meetings and upcoming deadlines (as necessary).

General e-alerts: Relevant information about ICOCS activities, opportunities and upcoming deadlines (occasional).

Research: Scientific updates on the latest research developments (occasional).

EU-projects: Updates and findings from the frontiers of European research (occasional).

Opinions: Views, insights and commentary on issues of interest (occasional).
E-news bulletin: news and updates about the field (occasional).

Members cannot unsubscribe for the ‘members only’ e-mails if they want to remain an ICOCS member. These e-mails only contain information that is necessary to execute the membership agreement with ICOCS and do not contain any direct marketing messages.


Storage
If you are an ICOCS member, your information will be kept in the ICOCS system while you continue to be a member, even if you do not use the ICOCS website or services during that time, unless you end your membership.


Processors / Third Parties
Personal data is only shared with processors and/or third parties if this is necessary to carry out services. We share personal data with:

ICOCS Chair Person / Secretary to review applications for ICOCS activities, abstracts, symposia proposals, etc.

Our IT provider in order to be able to store and access the data.

ICOCS Administrator for the purpose of administrative activities.

Other third parties have no access to personal data.


Security
All personal data is stored on a secure server, and appropriate technical and organizational measures are implemented to ensure an appropriate level of security.

Your Rights
In accordance with the GDPR, you have the right to request access to and rectification or erasure of your personal data and/or restriction of processing of your data and/or to object to the processing of your data on the basis of article 6 (1)(f) GDPR, as well as the right to data portability.

If you feel ICOCS is violating your rights, please contact the secretariat. You also have the right to file a complaint with the British Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Analytic Cookies
ICOCS also uses Google Analytics. This is a so-called ‘analytics’ service that collects statistics regarding the use of the website and platform. Analytics cookies are placed through the ICOCS website. Through Google Analytics, all data is anonymized. Cookies in and of themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a computer. The anonymised information is passed to Google and stored on servers in the United States. The collected data will not be made available to third parties, except if Google or ICOCS are legally obligated to do so.

Contact
If you have any questions or requests, please contact the ICOCS Office by e-mail (office@ICOCS.org).
‘My ICOCS’ – Managing your contact with ICOCS.
You do not need to create an account to access the ICOCS website.

The details you supply to ICOCS will allow you to get more out of ICOCS by keeping you up to date about ICOCS activities, scientific developments and services by e-mail.

If you are a member of ICOCS, an account will already exist for you which you can potentially access by logging in with your existing login details (username and password);

The ‘forgot password’ feature which, if your e-mail address is recognized, will send an e-mail to the address given which will guide you through a process to (re)set a password