Privacy Policy

FEMAS will safeguard the privacy of visitors to our website and members using our services.

This policy sets out how we will treat your personal information, in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, including the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This policy explains what information we collect, what we use it for, how you can instruct us if you prefer to limit the use of that information, and the procedures that we have in place to safeguard your privacy.

Please ensure that you read this policy carefully and any other similar notice we may provide to you from time to time when we collect or process personal information about you. Furthermore, please note that our website and other digital platforms may contain links to third party websites/digital platforms which are provided for your convenience. We are only responsible for the privacy practices and security of our own digital platforms and therefore we recommend that you check the privacy and security policies of each and every other website/digital platform that you visit.

Data protection and the GDPR

The Federation of European Maritime Associations of Surveyors and Consultants (FEMAS) operates under the current data protection legislation, including the GDPR, which came into effect on the 25th May 2018. In processing your personal data, FEMAS will adhere to the GDPR principles, lawfulness and conditions for consent, your legitimate interests, and the Federation's legitimate interests.

FEMAS takes the security of personal information seriously and has appropriate measures, safeguards and protocols in place to ensure that data is kept secure, is only accessed by those individuals authorised to do so and where there is a legitimate need to access the data. Appropriate and reasonable steps are in place to reduce the risk of unauthorised access to personal data held by the Federation (either through accidental disclosure or deliberate act) and in line with the Federation's obligations under applicable data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation.

The types of data we collect

The Federation collects and maintains personal information relating to members in order to carry out its functions as a Federation, provide membership benefits and services and comply with certain statutory obligations. The types of information we hold include: the information you provide when you join, such as your name, address, date of birth, and bank details; information you provide us with when seeking specific advice, assistance or other services, such as that relating to survey issues. We do not process special categories of personal data for marketing purposes.

What we use your data for

All personal information is treated with the utmost confidentiality and with appropriate levels of security. By joining the Federation as an Association or Isolated Member and remaining in membership you agree to us processing your personal information for the purposes set out below. Your data may be held in electronic and/or manual format.

The personal data will be used for a range of Federation-based activities relating to the running of the Federation including the maintenance of your membership records, compliance with laws and regulations, assisting with surveying issues, ballots, insurance etc and the provision of other services and benefits, including sending you notification of availability or a copy of the FEMAS Newsletter. 

Data will be available to the members of the secretariat who need access to it (in connection with the above reasons) and, where necessary for providing you with any of the above services, forwarded to lawyers, and service providers associated with FEMAS. Where the Federation uses the services of other such organisations, they are contractually obliged to process your data on behalf of the Federation as data processor and in a secure and confidential manner under our strict instructions, in accordance with data protection legislation. The Federation does not sell any personal information to third party organisations.

We may share your data with third parties where (a) if we are under a legal or regulatory duty to do so, (b) if it is necessary to do so to enforce our contractual rights, (c) to lawfully assist the police or security services with the prevention and detection of crime or terrorist activity, (d) where such disclosure is necessary to protect the safety or security of any persons and/or, (e) otherwise as permitted under applicable law.

If you respond to any of the requests for information in our feedback service, you may as a result submit to us your email address. It is our policy not to pass this information to any third parties without first obtaining your consent. We may use aggregate information and statistics for the purposes of monitoring in order to help us develop our services and may provide such aggregate information to third parties. These statistics will not include information that can be used to identify any individual.

Please note that the FEMAS does not transfer data outside of the EEA for marketing purposes. In the event there is a requirement to transfer data outside of the EEA from time to time, the Federation will take all necessary steps to ensure the data is afforded the same safeguards and controls as those applied within the EEA.

FEMAS Members may add their own surveyors details to the listings on the FEMAS website, the Members are responsible for obtaining permission from their surveyors for this purpose.

FEMAS does not carry out any automated processing with your data.

How long do we keep your data for?

FEMAS will keep your information (updated as appropriate) throughout your entire membership, and for a reasonable period of time thereafter, for the purposes of: responding to any post membership queries; keeping it available for any relevant legal claims or issues. It will be kept for a minimum period of six years or longer where necessary for legal reasons or the legitimate interests of you and the Federation.

The right to object to further processing

Members have the right to object to and stop direct marketing to them in any form by the Federation or organisations contacting them on its behalf. If they wish to opt out of receiving direct marketing materials they should write to sec@femas.info requesting that such mailings be stopped, or alternatively, write directly to the organisation in question. Please, however, understand that this may preclude you from receiving details of any of these additional member benefits and offers in the future.

Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have a number of important rights regarding your personal information. In summary these rights are as follows and include the right to:

• request access to personal information;
• request inaccurate information to be reviewed and corrected;
• request a restriction to the processing of personal information;
• request personal information held by the Federation to be erased in certain circumstances;
• request a copy of the personal information that has been provided to us;
• object to the processing of personal information or the continued processing of personal information; and
• request not to be subject to automated decision making which produces legal effects that concern or affect you in a significantly similar way
• should you wish to make a request to exercise any of the above rights you should us at sec@femas.info or write to us at our mailing address.

When contacting us please ensure that you provide relevant information to allow us to identify you (this can include confirmation of any of the unique or personal identifiers we hold about you such as address) and state the right or rights that you wish to exercise. We may need to contact you to request further information to verify your identity. We will respond to you within one month from when we receive a valid request.

Cookies

What are cookies? Like many websites, FEMAS’s websites may make use of cookies. Cookies are small text files which may be downloaded on your computer or mobile device when you first visit a site or page so that the website can remember who you are when you next visit. Typically, the files contain two pieces of information: a site name and unique user ID. Cookies cannot be used by themselves to identify you although they may be used to identify your IP address.

The cookie will help the website, or another website, to recognise your device the next time you visit and may remember such details as your username and preferences, analyse how well our website is performing, or may allow us to recommend content we believe will be most relevant to you. We use the term "cookies" in this policy to refer to all files that collect information in this way. What type of cookies does FEMAS use?

The FEMAS website does not collect or use Cookies at this time.

Website security

The internet is not a secure medium. However, we have put in place various security procedures as set out in this policy. Firewalls are used to block unauthorised traffic to the servers and the actual servers are located in a secure location that can only be accessed by authorised persons. We also keep your information confidential. Our internal procedures cover the storage, access and disclosure of your information.

Your consent

By submitting any of your information, you consent to the use of that information as set out in this policy. If we change our Privacy Policy we will post the changes on this page, and may place notices on other pages of the website, so that you will be aware of the information we collect and how we use it at all times. Continued use of the service will signify that you agree to any such changes.

Contact FEMAS about privacy

We welcome your views about our website and our privacy policy. If you would like to contact us with any queries or comments please send an email to sec@femas.info.