Data Protection and Privacy

This privacy policy outlines how personal data is handled on this website. It is essential that you read and accept these terms before continuing to browse the site.

www.med-amin.org is a project of CIHEAM Montpellier—officially known as the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier)—registered under SIRET number 33194267200022.

Transparency is one of our core values. For this reason, we want to emphasize that we take the privacy of your personal data very seriously; it is of great importance to us. In this privacy statement, we explain what personal data we collect from our users and how we use it. We invite you to read these terms carefully before providing any personal data on this website.

Children aged thirteen or older may register as users on www.montpellier.ciheam.org without needing prior consent from their parents or legal guardians. For children under the age of thirteen, consent from a parent or legal guardian is required for the processing of the child’s personal data.

Under no circumstances will the site request information from children under the age of thirteen regarding their professional or economic situation, or their family relationships, without the consent of a parent or legal guardian.

If you are under the age of thirteen and have accessed this website without informing your parents, you must not register as a user.

On this website, we are committed to protecting and respecting the personal data of our users. Please be assured that your rights as a user are guaranteed. We have strived to create a secure and reliable space; in this spirit, we would like to share our principles regarding your privacy:

We will never ask for personal information unless it is absolutely necessary to provide the service you have requested.
We will never share our users’ personal information with third parties, except when required by law or with your clear and explicit authorization.
We will never use your personal information for any purpose other than those stated in this Privacy Policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect legislative requirements or self-regulatory principles. We therefore recommend that you check this website regularly for any such updates. This policy applies whenever users choose to complete a contact form that collects personal data.

CIHEAM Montpellier has aligned this Privacy Policy with the principles for the protection of personal data established by CIHEAM in its Information Security and Personal Data Protection Policy—adopted by the Governing Board on July 5, 2019, and based on international standards for information security and personal data protection.

In accordance with the aforementioned General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), any personal information you provide via forms on this website will be processed under the category of “Website Users and Subscribers.”

To protect our users’ personal data, we will take all reasonable administrative, technical, personnel, and physical security measures as required by applicable law.

Principles applied to your personal information

When using your data, we will apply the following principles, in accordance with the new European data protection regulation:

Principles of lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: We will always seek your consent for the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes, about which you will be informed in advance and with full transparency.
Principle of data minimization: We will only request data that is strictly necessary for the purposes for which it is being processed.
Principle of storage limitation: Data will be kept only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed, and we will inform you of the corresponding retention period. In the case of subscriptions, we will regularly review our lists and remove any records that have remained inactive for a long period.
Principle of integrity and confidentiality: Your data will be processed in a manner that ensures its security and confidentiality. Please be assured that we take all necessary precautions to prevent unauthorized access or misuse by third parties.

How is your personal data obtained?

The personal data we process is collected via:

Contact forms
Newsletter subscription forms
Admission application forms.

What are your rights when you provide your personal information?

Every individual has the right to know whether or not CIHEAM Montpellier is processing personal data concerning them.

Data subjects have the right to:

Request access to their personal data
Request the rectification or deletion of their data
Request the restriction of the processing of their data
Object to the processing of their data
Request data portability.

Data subjects may access their personal data and request its rectification if it is inaccurate, or, where applicable, request its deletion—for instance, if the data is no longer required for the purposes for which it was originally collected. In certain circumstances, individuals may request that the processing of their data be restricted; in such cases, the data will be retained solely for the purpose of exercising or defending legal claims.

In certain circumstances, and for reasons relating to their specific situation, data subjects may object to the processing of their data. CIHEAM Montpellier will cease processing such data, unless there are compelling legitimate grounds to continue, or if the data is required for the exercise or defense of legal claims. Data subjects have the right to receive the personal data concerning them—which they have provided—in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and have the right to transmit such data to another data controller when:

The processing is based on consent;
The data has been provided by the data subject;
The processing is carried out by automated means.

In exercising your right to data portability, you have the right to request that your personal data be transmitted directly from one data controller to another, where technically feasible.

What is the purpose of personal data processing?

When a user connects to our website—for example, to send a message to the owner, subscribe, or register online—they provide personal information for which CIHEAM Montpellier is the data controller. This information may include personal data such as an IP address, name, postal address, email address, telephone number, and other details. By providing this information, the user consents to it being compiled, used, managed, and stored by www.med-amin.org, strictly in accordance with the terms described in the Legal Notice and this Privacy Policy.

CIHEAM Montpellier employs various systems for collecting personal information and processing data provided by data subjects. The purposes for each collection system are as follows:

Contact form: The following personal data is requested—name and email—in order to respond to inquiries from users of www.med-amin.org. For example, we may use this data to respond to your requests and help address any questions, complaints, comments, or concerns you may have regarding information on the website, services offered on the website, the processing of personal data, matters related to the legal texts provided on this site, or any other inquiry you may wish to make that is not subject to contractual terms. Please be aware that the data you provide will be stored on CIHEAM Montpellier’s servers within the EU.
Newsletter subscription form: In this case, the following personal data is requested: email address, which is used to manage the subscription list and to send out newsletters, as well as information regarding courses and activities. This data is provided by the user at the time of subscription. There are several forms on the website that can be used to sign up. The electronic newsletters are managed by CIHEAM Montpellier. Please be aware that the data you provide will be stored on CIHEAM Montpellier’s servers within the EU.
Admission Application Form: The following personal data is requested in order to apply for courses or activities offered by CIHEAM Montpellier: full name, home address, email, telephone number, photograph, gender, marital status, nationality, date of birth, contact person, academic degrees, educational background, professional experience, and languages. The information collected will be used to process the corresponding service request, which may subsequently be managed offline. Responses to requests will be provided via email or regular mail. The website does not support direct payment processing. Please be advised that the data you provide will be stored on CIHEAM Montpellier’s servers located within the EU.

We also process your data for the following purposes:

To ensure compliance with the Terms of Use and applicable law. This may include the development of tools and algorithms designed to safeguard the confidentiality of the personal data obtained through this website.
To support and improve the services offered by this website.
Additional, non-identifying data is collected via cookies—stored on the user’s computer while browsing this website—as detailed in our Cookie Policy.
To manage social media presence. CIHEAM Montpellier maintains a presence on social media platforms. The processing of data belonging to individuals who follow our official social media pages is governed by the relevant section of this policy, as well as by the Terms of Use, privacy policies, and access requirements of the specific social media platform—all of which must be accepted by the user. Data is processed for the purpose of effectively managing our social media presence and providing information regarding the activities, products, or services of CIHEAM Montpellier. This also applies to any other purpose permitted under the rules of the respective social media platforms. We will never use the profiles of social media followers to send individual advertisements.

CIHEAM Montpellier commits to not selling, renting, lending, or transferring personal data that could identify a user to third parties—now or in the future—without prior consent. In certain instances, however, we may collaborate with other professionals. In such cases, user consent will be required, and users will be informed of the collaborator’s identity and the purpose of the collaboration. All such activities will be conducted in accordance with the strictest security standards.

Legal basis for processing your data

The legal basis for processing your personal data is consent.

Consent to this privacy policy is required in order to contact us or leave a comment on this website.

Offers regarding products and services are based on your consent; withdrawing this consent will not, under any circumstances, affect the fulfillment of any subscription agreement.

Categories of personal data

The personal data processed consists of identifying information.

We do not process any specially protected categories of data.

How long do we retain your personal data?

Personal data provided will be retained:

For as long as the educational or administrative relationship exists.
Until the data subject requests its removal.
For a period of one year following the last confirmed expression of interest.

To whom will your personal data be disclosed?

Many of the tools we use to manage your personal data are provided through contracts with third parties. For the provision of services strictly necessary for the development of its activities, www.med-amin.org shares personal data with the following service providers, subject to their respective confidentiality policies:

Google Analytics: A website analytics service provided by Google, Inc., a Delaware company with its principal place of business at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”—text files stored on your computer—to help www.montpellier.ciheam.org analyze how visitors use the website. The information generated by the cookie regarding your use of www.montpellier.ciheam.org (including your IP address) will be transmitted directly to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.

Hosting Provider: CIHEAM Montpellier, which hosts your data within the EU.

Web Platform: Hosting and servers are located at CIHEAM Montpellier, within the EU.

Email Marketing: CIHEAM Montpellier processes data internally for the purpose of sending emails (announcements regarding activities and newsletters).

Browsing

When you browse www.med-amin.org, non-identifying data may be collected, including your IP address, (approximate) geographic location, records of how services and the website are used, and other data that does not allow for the identification of the user. Non-identifying data also includes information related to your browsing habits, collected via third-party services. This website engages third parties to perform the following analytical operations: Google Analytics.

The information collected is used to analyze trends, administer the website, track user navigation within the site, and gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.

Data Confidentiality and Security

In the course of handling and processing users’ personal data, CIHEAM Montpellier commits to maintaining its confidentiality and using it solely for the stated purpose. Furthermore, CIHEAM Montpellier pledges to fulfill its obligation to safeguard such data by implementing measures designed to prevent alteration, loss, unauthorized processing, or unauthorized access, in accordance with applicable data protection regulations.

www.med-amin.org cannot provide an absolute guarantee that the Internet network is invulnerable, nor can it ensure complete protection against potential data breaches resulting from malicious third-party access.

Regarding the confidentiality of personal data, CIHEAM Montpellier will ensure that any individual authorized to process user data on its behalf—including staff, collaborators, and service providers—is bound by an appropriate confidentiality obligation (whether contractual or legal in nature). In the event of a cybersecurity incident, CIHEAM Montpellier shall notify the client as soon as it becomes aware of the incident. It shall provide relevant information regarding the security incident in question—either as it becomes known to CIHEAM Montpellier or upon the client’s reasonable request.

Accuracy and Veracity of Data

As a user, you are solely responsible for the veracity and accuracy of the data you provide to www.med-amin.org; CIHEAM Montpellier disclaims any liability in this regard.

Users guarantee and are, in all cases, accountable for the accuracy, currency, and authenticity of the personal data provided, and they undertake to keep such data duly updated. The user agrees to provide complete and truthful information in the contact or registration form.

Acceptance and Consent

The user declares that they have been informed of the conditions regarding the protection of personal data, and accepts and consents to the processing of such data by CIHEAM Montpellier in the manner and for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy.

Revocation

Consent granted—whether for the processing or the transfer of the data subjects’ information—may be revoked at any time by notifying CIHEAM Montpellier, in accordance with the terms stipulated in this Privacy Policy.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

CIHEAM Montpellier reserves the right to amend this Privacy Policy to align it with the principles for the protection of personal data established by CIHEAM in its Information Security and Personal Data Protection Policy—adopted by the Governing Board on July 5, 2019—while ensuring that the same level of protection and management of the personal information provided and stored is maintained. Any changes implemented will be promptly announced to users of this page. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you check this page regularly, taking note of the date of the last update, which appears at the bottom of the page.