Our Privacy Policy Statement

Effective since May 25, 2018

This privacy policy statement tells you how we collect, store, use and disclose your personal data when you interact with us.  We may need to amend this policy, so please have a look on our website periodically to ensure you get the latest updates. We will inform you if there are any important update to comply with any changes in existing applicable legislation or recommendations issued by the European Data Protection Board.

What does this Privacy Policy cover?

This Privacy Policy covers our processing of your personal data that we gather when you contact us. We store data that may identify you as an individual (“Personal Data”), as explained in more detail below.  We explain the way we use it and the rights you have regarding the processing of such data.

Who is responsible for processing your data

The European Regional Science Association, an international non for profit association (AISBL), with registered address at Voie du Roman Pays, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium and registered with the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number 0479. 442. 591 (hereinafter “ERSA” or “we” or “us”) is the data controller of the personal data it collected from you. We are responsible for your personal data.

If you have any concerns, questions or comments about this privacy policy or your personal data you can contact us by e-mail at privacy@ersa.org .

What personal data do we collect?

We will only use your personal data on relevant lawful grounds as permitted by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (from 25 May 2018).

Personal data provided to us will be used for the purpose or purposes outlined in any fair processing notice in operation at the time of collection or registration where appropriate, and in accordance with any preferences you express.

We might collect miscellaneous personal data from you depending on the reasons or the purposes you interact with us:

  • General identifiable Information you provide directly to us such as surname, first name, position, Affiliation, email address or similar;
  • Other personal data Information (e.g. date of birth, dietary requirements) you provide to us but only to the extent that this would be strictly necessary to achieve the purpose for which we have collected them.
  • Regarding bank information: We do not collect bank or credit card details.
  • All credit card payments are made via our the third-party Payment Service Provider: Worldline. Worldline only shares limited details with us (confirmation that the card payment has gone through, the ID number of the customer, and the order).
  • Where payment would be required, we may also collect bank account information (IBAN and BIC/SWIFT), and invoicing details;

Why do we collect your data?

We collect your data for different reasons

  • For any reason related to our statutory goal and our core activity as explained on our website ersa.org ; to keep you informed about ERSA activities, ERSA events and ERSA Sections’ Events, any other news or relevant information related to our research field (regional science) and; to duly perform the services that you require from us; to improve the quality of our services where possible;  to answer to your reasonable expectations and more in general to facilitate communication with you where and when this necessary or deemed useful.
  • We may also use your data to carry out analysis like Event Participants or Members profiling.
  • We can also collect your personal data for pure administrative, organisational or operational purposes, e.g. to identify you as a contact person, lawful representative of a corporation or similar legal entity.
  • We might also collect personal data to meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request and/or where this would be necessary for the prevention of fraud.

How do we collect your data?

 Information  we have directly obtained from you

  • Most of the personal data that we will obtain from you will be through your active intervention. We might collect your personal data via e-mail or any other electronic means, via our website?, via telephone, via postal services, via your business card you have handed over to one of our employees or representatives.
  • We may store Personal Data that you choose to send to us or provide to us, for example, on our “Contact Us” and “Sign up for our enews” form, and if you register to participate in our events.
  • Where required by law we will seek your prior consent before processing your personal data.
  • We will not collect personal data directly from minors under 16 years old unless we have obtained the consent of an adult who has the legal custody over the minor.

Information we have indirectly obtained via other sources

  • We can collect your data via our ERSA Sections representatives providing us, on a yearly basis with the list of their respective members.
  • We also might collect personal data via platforms or databases where you have made your personal data available to the public (e.g. LinkedIn, etc).
  • Should we have obtained your personal data through another source than yourself, we will seek sufficient guarantees from that source that your personal data have been collected by that third party in compliance with privacy legislation and that where necessary your consent has been obtained to share your personal data with us and allow us to use it for the purposes that we envisage.

Information we automatically collect – Use of cookies

We use cookies and other technologies to ensure everyone who uses our website has the best possible experience.

A cookie is a small data file that is placed on your computer or other device to allow a platform to recognise you as a user when you return using the same device and web browser, either for the duration of your visit (using a ‘session cookie’) or for repeated visits (a ‘persistent cookie’).

When you visit Ersa.org, we collect certain data related to your device, such as your device’s IP address, referring website, what pages your device visited, and the time that your device visited our website.

We won’t use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you. However, if you want to restrict or block the cookies which are set by this platform you can do it through your browser settings, or you may also choose to install Google Analytics’ opt-out browser add-on but remember that restricting cookies may mean that you will not be able to take full advantage of all the features available on our page.

Is Personal Data about you secure?

We use appropriate IT infrastructure (we have invested in state-of-the-art Softwares), organizational and administrative security measures that allows us to protect any information we hold in our records from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.

How long do we store your data?

We will delete or anonymize your personal data completely and irreversibly:

  • as soon as the goal for which your personal data have been collected and processed is fully achieved and/or
  • Upon your specific request (see below the section “Your rights”).
  • Unless we are required to keep your personal data longer to:
    meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request; detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; protect against harm to the legal rights and interests of ERSA or its members and stakeholders as required or permitted by law.

Do we share and disclose data to third parties?

We do not sell your Personal Data to anyone nor do we disclose or share it with other organisations.

However, there may be circumstances under which we may have to share your information with third party organisations or individuals when it is necessary, as described below.

We reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any data as necessary to comply with law or court order; enforce or apply our agreements with you and other agreements, or protect the rights, property, or safety of ERSA, our employees, our users, or others.

Disclosures for National Security or Law Enforcement: under certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose your Personal Data in response to valid requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

Your Privacy Rights

You can always opt not to disclose information to us, but keep in mind some data may be needed to register with us or to take advantage of some of our services.

Where appropriate, you can opt-out of receiving communications from us at any time, by using the unsubscribe link in the emails communications we send, or by contacting us at privacy@ersa.org.

How can you access and update your information?

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that your personal data are kept accurate and up-to date for the purposes for which they were collected

We provide individuals with the opportunity to access, review, update, and delete any Personal Data we hold on them. You can send an email to privacy@ersa.org for this purpose.

If you ask us to delete your data, we will do so. Please note that we may be required to retain and use your information if necessary to comply with legal obligations or to resolve disputes.

You have the right to be at all times and free of charge, be informed about your personal data.

You can at any time require access to your personal data, have them corrected and/or updated.

We will provide you with the ability to object to the processing of your personal data if such processing is not reasonably required for a legitimate business purpose as described in this policy or our compliance with law.

Requests to restrict the use of your personal data and/or to delete your personal data will be subject to any applicable legal and ethical reporting or document filing or retention obligations imposed on us.

If you have questions about this policy

If you have any questions regarding this privacy policy statement, please contact us at privacy@ersa.org or in writing by sending a letter to ERSA, Voie du Roman Pays, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.