Privacy and Data Protection Statement

General Statement

RBSS is committed to protecting your privacy in line with the EU-GDPR Directive 2016/679/EC of April 27th 2016 and the Belgian law of July 30, 2018 on the Protection of the Privacy in relation to the Processing of Personal Data. This Privacy Statement explains what information we obtain and process through your usage of our website and how we use this data to optimise our online content for you.

The RBSS is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites which may be accessed through the RBSS website. It is RBSS policy to clearly identify links to external websites and it is your responsibility to satisfy yourself as to the adequacy of the practices of linked sites.

Information collected

RBSS collects information about all visitors to our website for the purpose of producing statistical reports of online traffic to identify how we can optimise our website. Every data file contains the following information -

• The referring website from which you came when visiting us
• The IP address
• Time and date of website access
• User agent (Browser)
• HTTP code (secure channel or standard channel)
• Bytes served
• Information on browser and operating system that you used at time of accessing the site

When you are registereing for a profile on the website, paying for subscriptions or memberships, in order to facilitate recurring payments we also collect other information like:

• name
• institution
• address
• payment gateway

Paying transactions are dealth with by a third authority, so no credit card information is stored within the RBSS website.

Information on internet traffic is collected routinely by RBSS and by its service providers (eg, ovh). This information is used to ensure the smooth operation of the RBSS website and for statistical or administrative purposes. It is not used to gather identifiable personal information on individual website visitors, except in so far as this is permitted by law and may be necessary in order to prevent or detect problems or offences in relation to the operation of the website. It is stored and used in the aggregate only and is not used to identify individuals or to contact you personally.

Any information (e.g. name, email address etc.), which you voluntarily provide (e.g. request for information, event registration) will only be processed for the purpose or purposes they were collected for. Some of the processing may be carried out by third party service providers who only receive the information necessary to carry out specific data processing on behalf of RBSS.

Adequate organisational and technical security measures, which are reviewed on a regular basis, are taken to ensure the security of your personal information.

 

Registration and accounts

To be eligible for an individual account on our website under this Section, you must be affiliated with the Belgian surgical community, either being a (trainee) MD, supportive personnel to MD's or attending a meeting organised by a section or affiliated society of the RBSS. 

You may register for an account with our website by completing and submitting the account registration form on our website, and clicking on the verification link in the email that the website will send to you.

You must not allow any other person to use your account to access the website. You must notify us in writing or emailing immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account.

You must not use any other person's account to access the website given the fact that user profiles are bound to your identity and RIZIV/INAMI number.

User IDs and passwords

If you register for an account with our website, you will be asked to choose a user ID. An initial password will be sent upon confiormation of your email address. It is advised to change it afterwards.

Your user ID must not be liable to mislead and must comply with the content rules set out in the website Disclaimer; you must not use your account or user ID for or in connection with the impersonation of any person.

You must keep your password confidential. You must notify us in writing immediately if you become aware of any disclosure of your password.

You are responsible for any activity on our website arising out of any failure to keep your password confidential, and may be held liable for any losses arising out of such a failure.

Cancellation and suspension of account

We may edit your account details, at any time in our sole discretion without notice or explanation in order to maintain our database of member sbscriptions up to date. We also may suspend or cancel your account if we are aware of misabuse and/or being not compliant with the above mentioned regulations.        

You may always cancel your account on our website using your account control panel on the website. For archive purposes, transactions of the past will however maintain stored in the backend of the website.

Access rights

Under Data Protection abd Privacy legislation you have the right to access your personal data which is held by RBSS. To access this data, please contact us at the contact details given below on the website. For further details on your data privacy rights, please refer to https://www.privacycommission.be.

Cookie Policy

Cookies are small files which typically consist of letters and numbers which are placed on your end device when you visit our website. Some cookies are necessary for the website to function, others are used by RBSS to track usage of the website to further optimise the website. This table will give further information as to the types of cookies used on this website.

Types of Cookies

Session cookies

Session cookies are stored temporarily during a browsing session and are deleted from the user’s device when the browser is closed.

Persistent cookies

This type of cookie is saved on your computer for a fixed period and is not deleted when the browser is closed.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics for the purposes of analysing web traffic. The following links will give you further information on how this is done and how you can opt out of such tracking.

• Google's Privacy Policy
• Google Analytics Cookie Usage on Websites
• How to opt-out of Google Analytics

By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google and RBSS in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

How do I change my cookie settings?

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

This statement should not be construed as a contractual undertaking. The RBSS reserves the right to review and amend this statement at any time without notice and you should therefore re-visit this webpage from time to time.

Questions/concerns

Any queries or concerns you may have about the processing of personal information on this website should be addressed to the Data Protection Office at

Membership Committee

Royal Belgian Society for Surgery (RBSS) npa

Avenue W. Churchill-laan 11 b. 30

1180 Brussels

Belgium

dpo@rbss.be