Privacy Statement
Who we are
The International Association of Scientific Technical and Medical Publishers (hereinafter: ‘STM’ or ‘we’) is committed to ensure the great discoveries of our time. We champion innovation across academic research, stimulating the development of new technologies and guidance on universal standards. As part of the services we offer, also through our website https://www.stm-assoc.org/, we process personal data. This privacy statement tells you what personal data we process from you and what we do with your personal data.
The purpose of this Privacy Statement and how you should respond to it
This privacy statement, sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. The purpose of this privacy statement is to assure you that we recognize and respect the privacy and personal data of visitors to this website and to explain what personal information we collect, how we use it and how we ensure its protection.
Our privacy statement at a glance
Your privacy is of great importance to us. We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This means that we:
- Record our purposes before we process your personal data, as set out in this privacy statement.
- Limit our collection of personal data to only the personal data needed for our purposes.
- Ask for explicit consent for the processing of your personal data, should consent be required.
- Take the necessary security measures to protect your personal data. We also impose these obligations on parties who process personal data on our behalf.
- Respect your rights, such as the right of access, rectification or erasure of your personal data processed by us.
For what purposes do we collect personal data about you
We obtain various personal data from you. We specify for each purpose what data we obtain from you, for what purpose we process these data and for how long they are stored. If you have any questions or would like to know exactly what information we store about you, please contact us. Our contact details are mentioned at the bottom of this privacy statement.
Contact and complaint handling
When you send us an email, contact us by telephone, or contact us in any other way, you agree to our terms and conditions of contact (performance of the contract).
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Business information (if you contact us from a business perspective)
- Contact details (email address and telephone number)
- Any information you provide as part of the content of a message
We store these contact details with the personal data you provide for the purpose of carrying out the contact and handling your complaint if necessary. We keep this information for as long as necessary for this contact or up to 2 years after we last had contact with you, because we want to make sure we have handled your question or complaint properly.
Becoming a member
We strive to advance trusted research worldwide together with our members based on a whole organization so that all employees can take advantage of the many benefits STM provides. To stay in touch with our members and to communicate about STM meetings, projects and other activities, we need some information from our member and of its officer’s representative. We use these data because of the legitimate interest we have in fulfilling the agreement - to a membership - we enter into with your organization and in maintaining the resulting relationships.
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name representative
- Function
- Organization
- Revenue information
- Contact details(email address and telephone number)
We store this information until you no longer are a member of us. Payment details may be stored up to 7 years due to tax retention requirements.
Account
Members of STM receive access credentials for the members-only section of this website, consisting of a login and password, to retain for the benefit of their officers and employees (performance of the contract).
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Login details
- Company name (from a business perspective)
We store this data until you are no longer a member of STM. Your access credentials will be deleted, after you inform us that the company no longer wishes to be a member.
Newsletter
On our website you can subscribe to our bimonthly digital newsletter (consent). We only send out the newsletter with your consent. The newsletter contains information on STM events, news and opportunities, global policy news and policy updates of STM.
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Email address
- Organization
Your personal data is stored until you unsubscribe from our newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time. There is an unsubscribe link in every newsletter.
Surveys
You have the opportunity to complete a survey on topics relevant to scholarly publishing. This enables us to provide you with relevant content across various areas. We process your personal data on a legitimate interest basis. We have interest in advancing trusted research. Our interest takes precedence over your privacy interest, given that you decide for yourself whether you want to complete a survey, and what information you provide.
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Email address
- Phone number
- IP address
- Content of the survey/review
We store your personal data for a maximum of 2 years after you have completed the survey, after which we anonymize the results, or until you have withdrawn your consent.
Registration for events, webinars and trainings
STM is committed by assisting publishers to conduct and publish scientific research. We provide expert and vigorous representation and information on issues crucial to our members, helping them adapt and thrive in the changing global environment. We also like to share knowledge through events, workshops and trainings for both members and non-members. In order to process your participation, we need some personal data from you (performance of the contract).
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Email address
- Function
- Organization
- Country
- Payment details
- Dietary requirements
- Information relevant to your membership
We store this information until 6 months after the event, webinar or training took place. Payment details may be stored up to 7 years due to tax retention requirements.
Becoming a mentor or mentee
STM provides a unique development opportunity for individuals by facilitating a mentor programme. In order to process your application as a mentor or mentee and to conclude a mentorship agreement, we need some personal data.
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Contact details (email address and telephone number)
- Membership information (function, organization)
- Country
- Gender (optional)
- Ethnicity (optional)
- Any other information you provide with your application
Your application details are stored until the position has been filled. Personal data of mentees and mentors are stored until the programme ends. In the case of mentors, we may store your name and contact details until 2 years after you last participated in the programme, in order to contact you for future mentoring announcements (such as applying for the programme in the future).
Visual material
Visual material is displayed on our website. This visual material may be produced by us or by our various members. We process these data based on your consent that you have given to us.
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Contact details (e-mail address and telephone number)
- Visual material/images
- Any information you disclose about yourself in visual material (videos) or on our website
We store this information until you withdraw your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.
Handling job applications
If you apply for one of our job openings or submit an open application, we process your personal data for the purpose of handling your application and in preparation for a possible employment contract.
For this purpose, we process the following personal data:
- Name and address details
- Contact details (email address and telephone number)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Motivation letter
- Salary requirements
- References
- Any other information you provide with your application
Your application details are stored for a maximum of 6 weeks after the position has been filled. We store this information so that we can contact you should the position become vacant again within the probationary period. If we are unable to offer you a position at this time, we may – with your consent – keep the application data for one more year. You can revoke your consent at any time by sending us an email. We will store your application data in your personnel file should you decide to work for us. This file will be stored for as long as necessary, and the application data will be kept for a maximum of 2 years after entering into employment.
A social media and internet screening can be part of the application procedure. This is necessary for us to preserve our image when hiring new staff; we do this on a legitimate interest basis. We will do a search of your name on Google and any profile you may have on various social media. This applies, of course, insofar as these profiles are public. We will not ask you to grant us access to a private social media page or to accept a request from us. The results of the screening will be discussed with you. Should you have any objections to this, you can inform us by email at the time of your application.
To whom we pass on information
STM will only share your data with third parties to the extent permitted by current legislation. We may provide your personal data to third parties when:
- we have engaged them to process certain data;
- we have a legal basis to do so;
- we are legally obligated to do so (e.g., if the police demand this in case of a suspicion of a crime).
Third parties processing personal data on our behalf or yours:
- IT suppliers and service providers
- Hosting party
- Cookie service providers
- Payment service providers and collections agencies
- Mail order companies
- Partner companies
- External advisors and intermediaries
- Event venues
- Government agencies (e.g., tax authorities, municipalities)
STM may provide your personal data to parties located outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to provide those services. STM will only do so if there is an appropriate level of protection for the processing of personal data.
This privacy statement applies only to the services of STM. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites, which can be accessed through a link on our website.
Social media buttons
We use social media buttons on our website that redirect you to the relevant social media platforms. This gives you the option to follow us and share content. You will also see advertisements on your social media page. The buttons operate through bits of code provided by the social media networks. If you want to know what the social media platforms do with your personal data, please read the relevant privacy statement:
Steps we take to secure the information
Personal data security is of great importance to us. We therefore take appropriate technical and organisational security measures with regard to the processing of personal data to be carried out, against loss or against any form of unlawful processing (such as unauthorized access, corruption, alteration or disclosure of personal data). We constantly update security and pay close attention to what can go wrong.
Personal information is stored on secure servers in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Access to servers is restricted to personnel engaged by STM and authorized third parties solely for STM’s purposes. As we value your privacy deeply, we have done our best efforts to take suitable security measures to secure the transmission of information.
Your rights in relation to personal information we hold about you
- Right of access: you have the right to view the personal data that we process about you.
- Right to rectification: you have the right to correct or supplement the personal data we process about you if it is incorrect or incomplete.
- Right to object: you can object to the processing of your personal data.
- Right to erasure: you can request us to delete your personal data.
- Right to withdraw your consent: if you have consented to us processing personal data, you can withdraw your consent at any time.
- Right to data portability: if it is technically possible, you have the right to have your personal data that we process transferred to a third party.
- Right to restriction of processing: in some cases, you can request us to limit the processing of your personal data (temporarily or otherwise).
With your request, we may ask you to identify yourself. We request data for this to ensure that you are the right person to whom the personal data belongs.
We will generally comply with your request within 30 days. However, this period may be extended for reasons related to the specific privacy rights or the complexity of the request. If we extend this term, we will inform you in time.
If you wish to exercise one of your rights, you can make this known via [email protected].
Changes to this privacy statement
The internet and data privacy best practice are both developing. We therefore reserve the right to revise our privacy statement at any time. If this privacy statement changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if
any, we will share it with other parties.
Questions or filing a complaint
If you have a question, comment or complaint in respect of this privacy statement, please contact us at [email protected]. We handle every question and complaint internally and communicate this further with you. If you think that we are not helping you in the right way, you have the right to submit a complaint to the supervisory authority. This is called the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens)
Contact details
For questions about our privacy statement or your rights, you can always contact us using the following information:
International Association of Scientific Technical and Medical Publishers
Prins Willem Alexanderhof 5,
2595 BE Den Haag,
The Netherlands
Email address: [email protected]
Phone number: +44 (0) 1865 339323
Chamber of Commerce number: 41200219
STM also has a data protection officer (DPO). The DPO can be approached via [email protected].
If you have a question, comment or complaint in respect of this Privacy Statement, please contact us at [email protected].
(Version: 21 May 2024)