This Privacy Policy applies to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information (i.e. personal data under applicable data privacy laws) relating to potential and existing customers of PCM Scientific. PCM Scientific is an operating division of PCM Healthcare Ltd (140 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5DN, United Kingdom). PCM Healthcare Ltd is a subsidiary of Cogora Group Limited
The data controller (or “controller” as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation) is Cogora Group Limited, 140 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5DN, United Kingdom. Recipients of your data will in the first instance be Cogora Group Limited, our employees, agents and subcontractors. Other recipients of your data are as set out in this Privacy Policy.
PCM Scientific is a member of the good CME practice group and as such is voluntarily firewalled from the wider Cogora Group Ltd. This means that PCM Scientific will not share your information with other divisions within Cogora Group Ltd.
PCM Scientific is committed to abiding by this Privacy Policy, as well as the requirements of applicable laws, in the operation of its business.
This version of the privacy policy is effective as of the 3rd May 2018.
If you have queries on this Privacy Policy or how we process your personal information please contact us by:
Please read this policy carefully as it explains the kinds of personal information we collect about you and how it is handled. Click here to download a PDF version of our privacy policy
We require personal data from you in order to be able to provide goods, content and/or services to you. If you fail to provide any personal data requested we may not be able to provide our goods, content and/or services to you as intended. We may also not be able to contract with you and/or be unable to charge you and therefore be unable to provide our goods, content and/or services to you.
There are a number of ways you may provide us with your personal information, such as:
With regard to each of your visits to our website we will automatically collect the following information:
This is information we may receive about you if you use any of the other websites we operate or the other services we provide or where third parties provide is with this information or where we collect it from a third party (including publicly available sources).
We work closely with third parties (including, for example, business partners, sub-contractors in technical, payment and delivery services, advertising networks, analytics providers, search information providers, credit reference agencies). These may provide us with personal information about you.
As a reflection of the diverse products and services we provide to our customers, we process personal data in a number of different ways.
The reasons we may need to process this personal information include to
Legal basis for processing: where you have entered into an agreement with us, we may process your information in order to fulfil our contractual obligations or to take relevant pre-contractual steps. Otherwise we will process the information where the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific.
Legal basis for processing: the processing is necessary for PCM Scientific to comply with the law.
Legal basis for processing: We will process the information where the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific except that where we are required by law to obtain your consent for the processing in question we will do so.
Legal basis for processing: the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific or a third party
We will combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We will use this information and the combined information for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive).
Legal basis for processing: we will process the information where the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific or a third party.
We may use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, or to administer our websites. We may conduct analyses of user traffic to measure the use of our sites and improve the content of our websites and our services. These analyses will be performed through the use of IP addresses and cookies.
We may use additional software to collect website usage information for each of our registered users. This information will be used to personalise your repeat visits to our website and to help us get to know our users in order to provide a more relevant and improved service.
We may disclose your information to third parties as set out below. The legal basis for this processing is as already noted above.
We may disclose personal information about you to third parties for processing purposes associated with payment processing, the supply of goods and services to you, for website supply and administration, or for other purposes where we appoint a processor.
In addition, we may disclose your personal information:
The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”). It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our suppliers as well as by our service providers where they are outside the EEA. This includes staff engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of your order, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services.
Where we transfer your personal data outside of the EEA we will only do so where permitted to do so by law e.g. the country in question is subject to an adequacy decision or where there are appropriate safeguards required by law (typically these will be standard data protection clauses adopted by the European Commission). Please contact us if you require further details of the countries to whom we may transfer your data and safeguards we use by contacting us at [email protected]
Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use appropriate procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes or for our other legitimate interests.
You can also exercise the right at any time by contacting us by:
You also have the right to:
as such rights are further provided in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the GDPR (as applicable from time to time).
You can lodge a complaint regarding processing of your personal data by us with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
We reserve the right to add to or amend this privacy policy at our sole discretion, without prior notice to you. Please review our privacy policy on a regular basis to make sure you have read the latest version and you understand what we do with your personal information.
Should we plan a fundamental change to the nature of how we process your information or which may impact upon you, we will alert you to this change in advance by emailing you and/or advertising the change on our websites.
We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us or as otherwise set out in the Retention schedule below.
Please read this policy carefully as it explains the kinds of personal information we collect about you and how it is handled. Click here to download a PDF version of our privacy policy
We require personal data from you in order to be able to provide goods, content and/or services to you. If you fail to provide any personal data requested we may not be able to provide our goods, content and/or services to you as intended. We may also not be able to contract with you and/or be unable to charge you and therefore be unable to provide our goods, content and/or services to you.
Information you give us:
Should you choose to visit our websites or interact with our services there are a number of ways you may provide us with your personal information, such as
We collect information about you when you register with us, which may include personal details such as your full name, GMC number or other professional registration numbers, email address and payment processing information, as well as other personal information.
If you chose to register for an educational programme, we may also collect pre- and post- assessment results and track your progress through a module.
We also collect information when you voluntarily complete surveys, provide feedback for one of our products or services, or participate in competitions or interact with one of our websites.
Information we collect about you:
With regard to each of your visits to our site we will automatically collect the following information:
Information we receive from other sources
This is information we may receive about you if you use any of the other websites we operate or the other services we provide or where third parties provide is with this information or where we collect it from a third party (including publicly available sources). We work closely with third parties (including, for example, business partners, sub-contractors in technical, payment and delivery services, advertising networks, analytics providers, search information providers, credit reference agencies). These may provide us with personal information about you.
As a reflection of the diverse products and services we provide to our expert community of healthcare professionals and influencers, we process personal data in a number of different ways.
(a) In relation to personal information you give us:
The reasons we may need to process this personal information include to
Legal basis for processing: where you have registered with one or more of our websites, or otherwise entered into an agreement with us, we may process your information in order to fulfil our contractual obligations or to take relevant pre-contractual steps. Otherwise we will process the information where the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific or a third party.
Legal basis for processing: the processing is necessary for PCM Scientific to comply with the law.
Legal basis for processing: We will process the information where the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific or a third party except that where we are required by law to obtain your consent for the processing in question we will do so.
(b) Information we collect about you:
Legal basis for processing: the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific or a third party
(c) Information we receive from other sources:
We will combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We will use this information and the combined information for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive).
Legal basis for processing: where you have registered with one or more of our websites, or otherwise entered into an agreement with us, we may process your information in order to fulfil our contractual obligations or to take relevant pre-contractual steps. Otherwise we will process the information where the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of PCM Scientific or a third party.
We may use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, or to administer our websites. We may conduct analyses of user traffic to measure the use of our sites and improve the content of our websites and our services. These analyses will be performed through the use of IP addresses and cookies.
We may use additional software to collect website usage information for each of our registered users. This information will be used to personalise your repeat visits to our website and to help us get to know our users in order to provide a more relevant and improved service.
We may disclose your information to third parties as set out below. The legal basis for this processing is as already noted above.
Third party marketing opt-in
Where you have given your consent to do so, we may share your personal data with a named third-party organisation in order for them to supply you with marketing information. We will not share your personal data for marketing purposes unless you have opted in to receiving such communications from the third party. Whenever possible, we will provide you with a link to the third-party privacy policy otherwise you can obtain further information about third-party privacy policies by visiting their websites.
Events
Should you choose to attend an event, you may encounter exhibitions or stands that are sponsored and/or provided by third parties. Should you choose to interact with a third-party sponsor the information you provided to us may be shared with one or more third parties.
Generally, your information will not be shared unless you, as the user, consent to having your badge scanned by the sponsor or third-party representative. We will let you know at the time of registration if an event is sponsored and when your details will be shared.
Service providers
We may disclose personal information about you to third parties for processing purposes associated with payment processing, the supply of goods and services to you, for website supply and administration, or for other purposes where we appoint a processor.
Other recipients
In addition, we may disclose your personal information:
The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”). It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our suppliers as well as by our service providers where they are outside the EEA. This includes staff engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of your order, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services.
Where we transfer your personal data outside of the EEA we will only do so where permitted to do so by law e.g. the country in question is subject to an adequacy decision or where there are appropriate safeguards required by law (typically these will be standard data protection clauses adopted by the European Commission). Please contact us if you require further details of the countries to whom we may transfer your data and safeguards we use by contacting us at [email protected].
Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use appropriate procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your data. You can also exercise the right at any time by contacting us by:
You also have the right to:
as such rights are further provided in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the GDPR (as applicable from time to time).
If you wish to exercise these rights or to opt out of receiving marketing communications please email [email protected] with the words EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBE, POST UNSUBSCRIBE or PHONE UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject box.
You can lodge a complaint regarding processing of your personal data by us with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
We reserve the right to add to or amend this privacy policy at our sole discretion, without prior notice to you. Please review our privacy policy on a regular basis to make sure you have read the latest version and you understand what we do with your personal information.
Should we plan a fundamental change to the nature of how we process your information or which may impact upon you, we will alert you to this change in advance by emailing you and/or advertising the change on our websites.
We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us or as otherwise set out in the Retention Schedule below.
Retention schedule
Data type | Retention period (unless otherwise stated, from the point of data collection) | Justification(s) |
Event registration | Five years from closure of the event | PCM Scientific will retain personal information provided to register for an event for a period of five years from the last day of the event. Revalidation happens every five years and therefore it is possible a healthcare practitioner might only attend an event once every five years when they require additional CPD points. Where PCM Scientific offers annual events and a healthcare practitioner has not attended for one-two years, PCM Scientific may email the data subject to remind them of the upcoming event where they have consented to receiving marketing information. PCM Scientific analyses its data to measure the relative popularity of successive events and the characteristics of attendees to inform their event planning. |
Webinar registration | Two years | PCM Scientific will retain personal information provided to register for a webinar for a period of two years following a live webinar. |
Event logistics | Immediately following the event, or, where applicable, following attendee reimbursement | The purpose for processing the data is fulfilled once the event has passed |
Honoraria / expenses payment details | For the length of the contract or agreement and six years afterwards | PCM Scientific will retain contractual agreements for a period of six years, as recommended by Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 |
Delegate event contracts e.g. roundtable agreements | For the length of the contract or agreement and six years afterwards | PCM Scientific will retain contractual agreements for a period of six years, as recommended by Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 |
Post event surveys – survey monkey | Two years, and then to be anonymised | Where the event attendee has given their consent, PCM Scientific may use direct and identifiable quotes for promotional purposes. In the development of promotional materials, PCM Scientific may mine quotes for two years following the event completion |
Market research surveys | One year, and then to be anonymised | Unless otherwise stated in a contractual agreement, research findings containing respondent personal data will be held for a period of one year following project completion, during which time it may be necessary to revisit the raw data if the reported findings are challenged |
Sponsored market research discussion transcripts (inc. roundtables, telephone discussions etc.) | Three years, and then to be anonymised | Unless otherwise stated in a contractual agreement, research findings containing respondent personal data will be held for a period of one year following project completion, during which time it may be necessary to revisit the raw data if the reported findings are challenged |
Other market research data | One year, and then to be anonymised | Unless otherwise stated in a contractual agreement, research findings containing respondent personal data will be held for a period of one year following project completion, during which time it may be necessary to revisit the raw data if the reported findings are challenged |
PCM Scientific marketing email communications | Five years, where the data subject is given the opportunity to unsubscribe or amend preferences in every communication | PCM Scientific will retain mailing list subscriptions for a period of five years from the point at which the subscriber last updated their preferences |
Speaker contracts | For the length of the contract or agreement and six years afterwards | PCM Scientific will retain contractual agreements for a period of six years, as recommended by Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 |
Third-party data | As designated in third-party provider contract | PCM Scientific will retain data purchased or rented from third-party providers for the time period designated in the third-party contractual agreement |
Online registration | Following five years of non-activity | PCM Scientific will retain online registration information required to access an online account while an account is active, and for a further five years of inactivity |