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ESHRE Privacy Policy

Date of last revision: October 2026

We understand that your trust is our most important asset. As such, your privacy is essential for us.

This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) applies to all processing activities for which ESHRE® (as defined below) acts as data controller, including (i) our website https://www.eshre.eu and its related web links and mobile apps (“Website and Mobile Apps”); and (ii) all relations between ESHRE® and its members, event participants, applicants for ESHRE® accreditations or certifications, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and partners. 
The Privacy Policy for the ESHRE® eCampus online learning platform (“eCampus Platform”) and the ESHRE® Focus on Reproduction (“FoR”) online news platform are available directly on the respective platforms. Those platform-specific policies supplement this Privacy Policy and take precedence for processing activities specific to the relevant platform.

Please read this Privacy Policy together with our other supporting and legal documents (as identified in Article 14).

ESHRE® may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on the ESHRE® Website and will state the date of the most recent revision (see also Article 10).

1     ABOUT THIS PRIVACY POLICY 

Because of, for example, your commercial relationship or recent contact with ESHRE® (as a member, certification applicant, event attendee, exhibitor, sponsor, author, speaker or otherwise), or your use of the Website and Mobile Apps, the eCampus Platform or the FoR Platform, we may collect, store and otherwise process Personal Data relating to you or, if you represent an organisation, its employees and representatives (“your Personal Data”) as a data controller. 

This Privacy Policy describes (i) how we collect, treat and store your Personal Data; (ii) the rights you can exercise in relation to your Personal Data; and (iii) the measures we take to protect it and to secure your Personal Data. 

ESHRE® always strives to act in accordance with the applicable privacy legislation, such as (non-exhaustive): (i) the European General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”); (ii) the Belgian Privacy Act of 30 July 2018; (iii) the European ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC (including all future legislative changes and amendments/revisions thereof); (iv) (future) national legislation regarding the implementation of the GDPR; and (v) other applicable rules concerning the processing of Personal Data (“Privacy Legislation”).

 

2     ESHRE® IS THE DATA CONTROLLER

We are ESHRE® IVZW, an international non-profit organisation (‘internationale vereniging zonder winstoogmerk’) incorporated and existing under the laws of Belgium, with registered office at BE-1853 Strombeek-Bever, Nijverheidslaan 3, Belgium with VAT/company number BE-0430.069.888 ("ESHRE®", "we" or "us"). 

ESHRE® is the provider of the Mobile Apps, and is the owner of the Website and the eCampus Platform. 

In light of the Privacy Legislation, ESHRE® will act as the CONTROLLER of your Personal Data for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. This means, we are in control of (and thus, responsible for) processing your Personal Data.

 

3     ESHRE’S® PROCESSING ACTIVITIES

Which Personal Data we collect, store and otherwise process and the purpose for which we process this data may differ depending on your relation with ESHRE®. In particular, we identify eight (8) different scenarios:

3.1. You are browsing our website;
3.2. You have created an ESHRE® account;
3.3. You are a (candidate) ESHRE® member;
3.4. You are a participant in or attendee at our Annual Meeting / ESHRE® events;
3.5. You have applied for an ESHRE® Research Grant (or are affiliated with a host institution that has submitted an application);
3.6. You are a participant in or involved with ESHRE®’s certification & accreditation programmes;
3.7. You are affiliated with one of our partner centers for data collection (PGT/IEM);
3.8. You are browsing our eCampus Platform or the Focus on Reproduction (FoR) online news platform.

3.1     You are browsing our website

Contacting ESHRE® via the contact form / email
Purpose To answer any questions, you may have and/or to initiate a conversation
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Company name
  • Content message / nature of enquiry
  • Voluntarily provided information
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period Up until two (2) years after your last contact with ESHRE®
Creation of an ESHRE® account
Purpose To create your account on the Website for free, account administration
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Date of birth
  • Nationality
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period Until ten (10) years following the last activity on your account
Cookies
Purpose When you browse our Website and Mobile Apps, we may collect Personal Data through cookies stored on your device to optimise their operation. Please read this Privacy Policy together with ESHRE®’s Cookie Policy.


3.2     You have created an ESHRE’s® account

Newsletter and updates
Purpose To provide ESHRE® members with updates and relevant information via email
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Affiliation/Company name
Legal ground Legitimate interest
Retention Period Ten (10) years after the last activity on the user account.
Information about/Invitations to ESHRE® events and activities
Purpose To send out invitations via email on upcoming ESHRE® events and activities, or to inform on ESHRE® activities
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • (Job) title/function
  • (Company) address
Legal ground Legitimate interest
Retention Period Ten (10) years after the last activity on the user account.


3.3     You are a candidate ESHRE® member

Application for ESHRE® membership
Purpose To process your application to become an ESHRE® member, or to renew your membership
Personal data

ESHRE® membership

  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • (Job) title/function
  • Gender
  • Member ID
  • Date of birth
  • Type of membership
  • Address
  • Affiliation (primary/secondary)
  • Phone number
  • Payment details
  • Username & password
  • Professional information (occupation, institute, department) 

Data requested only for Allied professionals and students members

  • Proof of status 

Data requested only for “Residents of Low Income Countries” members

  • Proof of residence
Legal ground Necessary for the performance of a contract (ESHRE® membership)
Retention Period Ten (10) years after the last activity on the user account.
ESHRE® membership admin
Purpose To update and maintain a database of our (former) ESHRE® members in order to contact them and to authorise member benefits (e.g. access to journals, special fees ESHRE® events, etc.)
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Proof of status
  • Membership ID
Legal ground ESHRE®’s Legitimate interest
Retention Period Until five (5) years following the inactivity on your account


3.4     You are a participant in or attendee at our Annual Meeting / ESHRE® events

Registration and on-site clearance
Purpose To process your (individual & group registration) via the ESHRE® registration form (including payment), to authorise your registration on site and grant (security) clearance to attend the event
Personal data

Registration

  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Username & password
  • Member ID
  • Proof of status
  • Phone number
  • Address
  • (Job) title/function
  • Journalists: Copy of press card

Payment

  • Billing information
  • Fee due

On-site clearance

  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • (Job) title/function
Legal ground Necessary for the performance or execution of a contract
Retention Period Ten (10) years after the last activity on the user account.
Exhibitor / Sponsor booking
Purpose To process/approve your booking/application as an exhibitor or sponsor at the ESHRE® event
Personal data

Exhibitors / Sponsors

  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Username & password
  • Phone number
  • Fee due
Legal ground Necessary for the performance or execution of a contract
Retention Period Until seven (7) years after the end of the ESHRE® event
Testimonials & video coverage
Purpose To process (live) video coverage of participants of the ESHRE® event for promotional and educational (e.g. eCampus) purposes. This may include the recording of testimonials to publish on the Website and/or our social media.
Personal data

Video footage & testimonials

  • First & last name
  • Images
  • Signature (on consent form)

Accessing the content / or livestream

  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Member ID
  • Username & password
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period Until ten (10) years after the end of the ESHRE® event
Networking and social activities
Purpose To facilitate and organise networking opportunities for participants and attendees through networking event apps and social activities
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • (Job) title/function
  • Proof of status
  • Resumé
  • Images
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period Until one (1) year after the end of the ESHRE® event
*Please note that ESHRE® is not responsible for the processing and storage of your Personal Data on third-party event applications. Please consult their respective privacy policies for more information on how they process your Personal Data.
Certificate of attendance
Purpose To provide a certificate of attendance
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • (Job) title/function
  • Proof of status
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period Until provision of your certificate of attendance and in each case until ten (10) years following the inactivity on your account


3.5     You have applied for an ESHRE® Research Grant (or are affiliated with a host institution that has submitted an application)

ESHRE® research grant procedure
Purpose To organise the ESHRE® Research Grant procedure, including the application of ESHRE® members through the Electronic Grant Proposal Submission Portal, assessment of the applications and supporting documenting (two rounds) and awarding the ESHRE® Research grant.
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Member ID
  • Period ESHRE® member
  • Declaration of interest
  • Nationality
  • Address
  • Country of residence
  • (Job) title/function
  • Prior projects
  • Publications (5 years)
  • Letter of support
  • Patents / utility models (10 years)
  • Curriculum/educational background
  • Other Job information / professional status

Awarding Research Grant (additional information)

  • Signature
  • Certifications
Legal ground Necessary for the performance or execution of a contract
Retention Period

Up until two (2) years after the completion of the application process
In case the Research grant is awarded, ten (10) years after termination of the Research grant agreement


3.6     You participate in or are involved with ESHRE®’s certification and accreditation programmes

Application for certification
Purpose To register and process your application to participate in ESHRE®’s certification programme
Personal data

Following information may be processed (this may differ depending on the type of certification):

Personal information

  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Date of birth
  • Declaration of interest
  • Nationality
  • Address
  • Copy passport/ID
  • Signature
  • Country of residence
  • Gender
  • Name change (if necessary)

Educational and background information

  • Country of work
  • Curriculum/educational background (incl. transcripts)
  • (Job) title/function
  • Other Job information / professional status
  • Prior projects
  • Publications (5 years)
  • Letter of support
  • Patents / utility models (10 years)
  • Patient Logs
  • Certificate (level)
  • Status of Applicant
  • Supervisor(s)
  • Type of consult/intervention
  • Logbook
  • Attempts of participation
  • References
  • Licence to practise
  • Proof of training from an ESHRE® programme
  • Publications
  • CPD clinical activity record of lab activities

Account information

  • Member ID
  • Period ESHRE® member
  • Username & password
Legal ground Necessary for the performance or execution of a contract
Retention Period

Up until one (1) year after the completion of the application process

In case of admission, ten (10) years after receiving the certification
Examination and certification
Purpose To organise and process (theoretical and/or practical) exams required for acquiring certification, via webinars or on site (incl. monitoring / fraud detection). ESHRE® members that have passed the required exams will receive the ESHRE® certification
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Username & password
  • Grade of the exam
  • Passed exam (Y/N)
  • Images via webcam of laptop and screenshot of laptop screen
Legal ground

Necessary for the performance or execution of a contract

(Fraud detection: ESHRE®’s legitimate interest)
Retention Period

As long as you are certified by ESHRE® and in each case 10 years after receiving the certification
Recording and video coverage of your ESHRE® virtual examination, as well as any detected suspicious behaviour and/or patterns, will be stored by ESHRE® for sixty (60) days.
Publication of certification
Purpose In some cases, ESHRE® publishes an overview of certified practitioners on its website
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Certificate (level)
  • Profession
  • Nationality
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period Until retirement / termination of professional activity or loss of ESHRE® certification


Accreditation procedure
Purpose To organise and perform the assessment in order to establish whether the centre is eligible for ESHRE® accreditation (including the application)
Personal data

Following information may be processed (this may differ depending on the type of accreditation):

Personal information

  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Address
  • Signature
  • Declaration of interest

Educational and background information

  • (Job) title/function
  • Proof of status
  • Tutor(s)
  • Data of fellows
  • Employer
  • Contact person
  • Training / education staff
  • CV key staff members
  • Result checklist review

Account information

  • Member ID
  • Period ESHRE® member
  • Username & password
  • Final report
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period

Up until the completion of the assessment process (information of key individuals’ / contact persons may be stored for the duration of the accreditation for follow-up & admin purposes).
In case of re-accreditation up until five (5) years after re-accreditation.


3.7     You are affiliated with one of our partner centres for data collection (PGT/EIM)

PGT/EIM
Purpose To provide centres with access to clinical data and good practice recommendations
Personal data
  • First & last name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
Legal ground Consent
Retention Period As long as you are affiliated with one of our partner centres and no longer than two (2) years after termination of the contractual relationship


3.8     You are browsing our eCampus Platform or the Focus on Reproduction (FoR) online news platform

The purposes, categories of Personal Data, legal grounds and retention periods for processing activities specific to the eCampus Platform and the FoR platform are described in the separate privacy policy for the relevant platform. Those platform-specific policies supplement this Privacy Policy and take precedence for processing activities specific to the relevant platform.

 

4.     LEGAL BASES

You can find more information on the applicable legal basis for each of the identified processing activities in ‘ESHRE®’S processing activities' above. 

Where the legal basis for processing is legitimate interests, ESHRE® will always (i) assess whether the processing is proportionate to the purpose for which your Personal Data was collected and used; and (ii) take your reasonable expectations into account and balance its interests against your fundamental rights and freedoms. If we cannot ensure this balance, we will stop storing or using your Personal Data or identify another legal basis.

 

5     RETENTION PERIOD

You can find more information on the retention period of your Personal Data for each of the identified processing activities ESHRE®’S processing activities above.

Unless a longer storage period is required or justified (i) by law or (ii) through compliance with another legal obligation, ESHRE® shall only store your Personal Data for the period necessary to achieve and fulfil the purpose for which your Personal Data have been collected. In this context, ESHRE® has formalised the retention periods for the different Personal Data that it processes in a(n) (internal) data retention policy.

 

6     SHARING OF PERSONAL DATA TO THIRD PARTIES

ESHRE® shall not disclose your Personal Data to other third parties, unless it is necessary to achieve the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. In this respect, (some of) your Personal Data may be disclosed to software (cloud) providers, cloud partners, payment partners and business partners such as accommodation partners, venue partners, related non-profit organisations, diploma validation organisations, inspectors-assessors and examination organisers.

Processing by the third party shall be governed by a contract or other legal act under Union or Member State law that obligates the third party to handle or process your Personal Data at least as restrictive as ESHRE® itself and that sets out and in accordance with Privacy Legislation.

In addition, ESHRE® may disclose your Personal Data:

  • To the competent authorities (i) if ESHRE® is obliged to do so under the law or under legal or future legal proceedings, and (ii) to safeguard and defend our rights;
  • In M&A context: meaning, if ESHRE® or the majority of its assets, is taken over by a third party, in which case your Personal Data – which ESHRE® has collected – may be one of the transferred assets.

ESHRE® shall not transfer, sell, hire out or pass on your Personal Data to third parties for purposes outside the purposes listed in this Privacy Policy, such as, but not limited to marketing purposes, except when it (i) has obtained your permission to this end and (ii) has completed a data processing agreement with the third party in question, which contains the necessary guarantees regarding confidentiality and privacy compliance of your Personal Data.

 

7     TRANSFERS OF PERSONAL DATA TO THIRD COUNTRIES

Any transfer of Personal Data to a third country or international organisation outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) shall be subject to (i) an adequacy decision by the Commission or (ii) one of the following EU-approved safeguards:

  • A data transfer agreement, which shall contain (i) the standard contractual clauses (“SCC”), for the transfer of Personal Data to third countries adopted by the European Commission on June 4, 2021. or (ii) any other mechanism pursuant to Privacy Legislation, or any other regulations pertaining to the processing of Personal Data. Before the transfer takes place, the recipient of Personal Data/processor of ESHRE® in the third country (“Data Importer”) must guarantee ESHRE® that an adequate level of privacy compliance is ensured in this third-party country; and/or
  • Binding corporate rules. As it is the case for standard contractual clauses, the recipient of Personal Data/processor of ESHRE® in the third country has to guarantee ESHRE® that an adequate level of privacy compliance is ensured in the third-party country; and/ or
  • The recipient is certified under a certification mechanism approved by the EU commission.

 

Every transfer to a third country or international organisation, not recognised by an adequacy decision, is subject to an assessment by ESHRE® to determine if there is anything in the law and/or practices in force of said third country that may infringe on the effectiveness of the appropriate safeguards in place (as identified above).

Where required on the basis of aforementioned assessment, ESHRE® shall identify and implement appropriate supplementary measures to govern any data transfer to such international organisation or a third country without an adequacy decision to ensure the level of data protection as required by EU law.

Furthermore, ESHRE® shall take all reasonable efforts to oblige the Data Importer to implement sufficient guarantees and measures to protect the Personal Data and ensure the effectiveness of the protection of the SCC’s, binding corporate rules and/or certification mechanisms.

In case of non-compliance by a Data Importer or where protections in the third country are not adequate, ESHRE® shall – at its sole discretion – either:

  • Suspend the transfer of Personal Data to the Data Importer / such third country until the issue has been solved; or,
  • Terminate the transfer of Personal Data to the Data Importer / such third country and request the Data Importer to delete the Personal Data in its possession.


8     YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

In light of the processing of your Personal Data, you enjoy the following privacy rights:

Access: you can ask for confirmation of whether or not Personal Data that relates to you is being processed. If so, you can ask us to give you copies of your Personal Data. We may charge you a small fee for this service;
Rectification: you can ask us to correct or complete any information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete;
Erasure: you can ask us to erase your Personal Data, under certain conditions. Please be aware that in this context certain services will no longer be accessible and/or can no longer be provided;
Objection: You can object to us processing your Personal Data, under certain conditions;
Restriction of processing: you can ask us to restrict the processing of your Personal Data, unless we have legitimate interests for the processing of your Personal Data that prevail over your interests;
Data portability: you can ask us to transfer your Personal Data to another organisation, or directly to you in a commonly used structured format readable by automatic device, under certain conditions;
Lodge a complaint you have the right to lodge a complaint with the applicable EEA data protection authority (see Article 13).


Exercising your rights: At any time, you can exercise your privacy rights towards ESHRE® by contacting us via email (privacy@eshre.eu) or post.

In principle, you can exercise these rights free of charge via the above-mentioned form. In addition, you can always – via your personal account – update, modify and/or verify your Personal Data, which you were required to submit when creating and/or accessing your ESHRE® account, the eCampus Platform and/or Mobile App for the first time.

Updates and Newsletters: Where and as permitted under applicable law, ESHRE® may process your contact information for direct marketing purposes (e.g. information about the services of ESHRE® (such as ESHRE® Workshops and Events)). If you no longer wish to receive our general newsletters or service updates, you can object to these mailings (‘Right to object’) by clicking the “unsubscribe” button underneath each e-mail containing the newsletter of ESHRE®.

 

9     SECURITY OF PERSONAL DATA

The security and safety of your Personal Data is ESHRE®’s top priority. ESHRE® implements technical, administrative and physical security measures designed to protect your Personal Data from (i) unauthorised access or disclosure and (ii) loss, abuse or alteration.

In concrete terms, ESHRE® has taken the following security measures (non-exhaustive list):

  • All persons who have access to your Personal Data on behalf of ESHRE® are bound by confidentiality obligations;
  • If ESHRE® calls on processors of Personal Data, the necessary data processing agreement has been concluded, which contains the necessary guarantees regarding confidentiality and privacy-compliance of the processing activities of the processor with regard to your Personal Data;
  • ESHRE® employees have strong passwords for access to all ESHRE®’s IT-systems;
  • Access to ESHRE®’s IT-system has been differentiated so access to certain Personal Data is restricted to employees who need to have access to said data for the execution of their job (access on a ‘need to know’ basis);
  • We make back-ups of the Personal Data in order to be able to recover these data in case of an incident (e.g. data breach);
  • We regularly test and evaluate our security measures;
  • Our employees are aware of the importance of the protection of Personal Data;
  • We have implemented state-of-the art technical security measures to protect our IT-systems against viruses or malware;
  • There is a “clean desk”-policy.

 

Finally, the security of your personal account will also partly depend on the confidentiality and complexity of your password. ESHRE® will never ask for your password, meaning that you will never be required to communicate it personally. If you have nonetheless communicated your password to a third party – for example because this third party has indicated that it wishes to offer additional services – this third party shall have access to your account and your Personal Data via your password. In such cases, you are liable for the transactions which occur because of the use made of your account. ESHRE® therefore strongly advises you, if you observe that someone has accessed your account, to immediately change your password and contact us.

 

10     UPDATE PRIVACY POLICY

ESHRE® is entitled to update this Privacy Policy in the future by posting a new version on the Website and Mobile Apps, Focus on Reproduction and the eCampus Platform whereby ESHRE® will indicate the revision date at the top of the first page of this Privacy Policy. As such, it is strongly recommended to regularly consult the eCampus Platform, the Website, and Mobile Apps for the latest version and more specifically the page explaining the Privacy Policy, to make sure that you are aware of any changes. You can find our previous privacy policy here.

 

11     OTHER WEBSITES

The ESHRE® eCampus Platform, the Website and the Mobile App may contain links to other websites or Mobile Apps. When you click on one of these links, you may be redirected to another website or internet source of a third party that could collect information about you through cookies or other tracking technologies. ESHRE® does not bear any responsibility, liability or control authority over these other websites or internet resources, nor about their collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Data. You must check the privacy statements of these other websites and internet sources in order to be able to judge whether they act in accordance with the Privacy Legislation.

 

12     CONTACT ESHRE®

If you have any questions about this Privacy Declaration or the manner in which ESHRE® collects, uses or processes your personal data, please write:

  • By email to: privacy@eshre.eu; or
  • By post to: IVZW ESHRE®, Nijverheidslaan 3 (BXL 7 – Building 1 – first floor), 1853 Strombeek-Bever (Belgium).


13     COMPLAINTS

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the authorised supervisory authority (either the Belgian Data Protection Authority or the data protection authority of (i) your residence or (ii) your workplace) should you consider that the processing of your Personal Data infringes the Privacy Legislation. You can send an email to the Belgian Data Protection Authority at contact@apd-gba.be or any other email address provided by the Belgian Data Protection Authority (https://www.dataprotectionauthority.be/contact-us). 

 

14     RELATED DOCUMENTS

Please read this Privacy Policy together with (i) the ESHRE® terms and conditions for registration, (ii) the ESHRE® specific terms and conditions for speakers, (iii) the ESHRE® terms and conditions for accreditation and certification, and (iv) the ESHRE® cookie policy.