EABS Data Protection and Privacy Policy

The European Association of Biblical Studies e.V. (EABS) is committed to protecting the privacy of those who use our website, social media outlets, (future) mobile App, and other services. EABS does not use illegal or misleading methods to mine public data. All data is obtained through normal business practices including, but not limited to, donations, membership applications, online registrations, and online purchases. Users are informed when their personal information is requested and it is their choice to submit this information.

By using the EABS website, our database/Online Store, our (future) mobile App, our abstract management system, and any of our services, you consent to the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy. You “opt-in” when you submit your personal information to any of EABS’s databases, or request that EABS staff enters information on your behalf. If you do not agree with this policy, or any part of the policy, you should not use any of EABS’s services including, but not limited to, the website, mobile Apps, our Online Database/Store (powered by ASI), and our abstract management system.

Your Personal Information

EABS collects full names, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, and other information, such as academic affiliation, when you become a member, pay your annual dues, register for a meeting, submit a paper proposal, make a donation, or use any of the features provided in our Online Database/Store (hosted by ASI). There might be other instances in which your data would be collected, but when this is the case, you will always be notified and asked to opt-in before submitting information.

Use of Your Information

EABS uses the information we collect to contact members, conduct business, promote meetings and opportunities, and to enhance the services we provide. This information helps us to track membership, meeting attendance, as well as to fulfill contractual obligations and respond to your concerns. We recognize that the information you provide is private and limit the use of your personal data to provide services such as:

  • Membership – to maintain your membership benefits and to provide membership renewal reminders and ensure accurate billing information

  • Registration – to contact you regarding meetings and events that you are currently registered for or that you may be interested in attending

  • Publications – to send you journals or publications to which you have subscribed or requested

  • Outreach – to enhance and promote EABS’s services including membership, meetings, donations, and publications

Sharing and Storing Your Information

Third-Party Providers: EABS stores personal information in servers hosted by third-parties. These providers are GDPR compliant, however, EABS is not responsible for third-party compliance and security.

Credit Card Information: When purchasing a product or service online, users are asked to provide a credit card number to complete their transaction. EABS does not store credit card information after the transaction is complete, however, it does maintain a reference number provided by its credit card gateway, PayPal. EABS follows Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards for all online and paper sales, and this practice is accepted by PCI.

External Sites and Links: Any information you elect to make publicly available on our sites, including social media, will be available to others. Even if that information is removed, cached or archived pages may retain that information, as well as any person who has copied and saved the information. As a service to our users, our website includes links to other sites of interest. EABS is not responsible for the content or use of information of non-EABS sites and disclaims all liability for damages arising out of their use or for their privacy policies.

Cookies: When a user visits our website, a temporary cookie (or file) may be used to aid navigation on our website, but the cookie is not used to collect information. EABS does not use tracking cookies or third party cookies. Third-party sites that you may be linked to (such as FaceBook, YouTube, Google, etc.) may install cookies depending on the way you have configured your settings for the site. You are not required to accept any cookies to use our sites. If cookies are used by the EABS website, you can disable them on your browser to prevent from being recognized on return visits.

Retaining Your Information

EABS will retain the personal data you supplied for membership, meeting registration, donations, publications, or other services for as long as the event, product, or contractual agreement is active, and for a period of time after that in order to contact you regarding EABS’s services. In addition, EABS retains member records for the history of the EABS. When you create a profile in EABS’s database (hosted by ASI), you will choose which information you share with EABS and have the opportunity to opt out of making this information public in the EABS member database. If you correspond with EABS via e-mail, the postal service, social media, web-forms, and other forms of communication, we may retain the correspondence and the information it contains. EABS will store your personal data as long as necessary according to the German Vereinsrecht.

Protecting Your Information

EABS is committed to making reasonable efforts to secure the information that you choose to provide. The company that we use to process credit card payments has implemented security technologies and procedures to protect against unauthorized access to your information. They do not retain, share, store or use personal information for any other purposes. Unfortunately no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. As a result, EABS cannot guarantee that your information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by a breach of any of our methods of safeguarding data. EABS has no responsibility or liability for the security of information transmitted via the Internet. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or concerns regarding security on our sites you can contact EABS’s Data Protection officer at [email protected].

Accessing and Updating Your Information

EABS acknowledges that you have the right to access your personal data. Upon request, EABS will provide you with information about the personal data we hold and if it has been shared in any way. Our website and future mobile App allow you to access, correct, amend, or delete inaccurate data. When you create a profile in any of our online servers, you should carefully consider the personal information you submit and the information you make public. Current EABS members may access an EABS membership directory containing the names and addresses of EABS members who have not opted out of the membership directory.

To manage your personal data, login to your account or email [email protected] to submit a request. Any changes you make, or that EABS staff makes on your behalf, will be reflected in the database instantly or within a reasonable period of time. We may retain all information you submit for backups, archiving, prevention of fraud and abuse, analytics, satisfaction of legal obligations, or where we otherwise reasonably believe that there is a legitimate reason to do so.

Opting Out and Erasing Your Information

EABS uses email addresses to correspond with individuals regarding a variety of issues, including invitations to write for EABS, scholarship announcements, membership information, meeting information and publications. You may opt out of these emails by clicking the optout option in your personal profile/preferences or by contacting [email protected].

In accordance with the EU’s GDPR legislation, individuals have “the right to be forgotten.” You may request to have your personal information deleted from our records, and we will comply if it is no longer needed to conduct necessary business. We may not delete your data when legitimate interests outweigh your right to erasure, such as outstanding invoices, legal proceedings, security, and conducting business essential to our organization such as keeping records according to the German Vereinsrecht. If we have shared your data with others, we will tell them about the erasure where possible. You have the right to file a complaint if you have a concern about the way we have handled your personal data and/or request for erasure.

Privacy Policy Changes

EABS may update this Privacy Policy as our services and products change, or as necessary to improve data protection. We reserve the right to amend the Privacy Policy at any time, for any reason, and may do so by posting a new version online. Your continued use of the website and other services, as well as providing personal data to us, will be subject to the terms of the then-current Privacy Policy. If we make any material changes or if otherwise required by the applicable law, we will notify you by email (sent to the email address specified in your account) or post a notice on this website prior to the change becoming active. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. Whatever change we may make to the EABS Privacy Policy, the latter will always be GDPR compliant and follow any other law or regulation on these matters in effect in Germany.

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding EABS’s Privacy Policy, GDPR compliance, or general concerns about your personal data, please send an email to EABS’s Data Protection Officer. Please note that if you opt out from receiving EABS e-mails or if you delete your e-mail from the EABS database, this will end all communication from EABS, including Annual Meeting updates, membership information, scholarship and award announcements, and other reminders.

EABS e.V.

z.Hd. Thomas Wagner
Gaußstr. 20
42119 Wuppertal
Germany

                                                                        

Last updated on September, 2021