European Life After Stroke Forum Website Privacy Policy
Last updated: 6 October 2026
1. Scope of this policy
This policy explains how SAFE collects and uses personal data when you visit the ELASF website, register for or attend an ELASF conference, submit or review an abstract, communicate with the event team, or subscribe to ELASF news. A third-party service may also provide its own privacy notice for processing it carries out as an independent controller.
This policy governs the way European Life After Stroke Forum obtains, uses, maintains, and discloses information collected from you. It is your responsibility to review and understand this Privacy Policy prior to providing your personal data to us. If you do not accept and agree to the Privacy Policy, please refrain from providing your personal data to us.
2. Who we are and who controls your data
The European Life After Stroke Forum (ELASF) is organised by Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE), a Belgian-registered organisation. For personal data collected through the ELASF website, conference registration, abstract submission and ELASF newsletter sign-up, SAFE is the data controller because it determines why the data is collected and the essential ways in which it is used.
Data Controller: Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE)
Registered address: Rue Washington 40, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
ASBL No: 0661.651.450
Privacy contact: info@safestroke.eu
Data Protection Officer, if appointed: Not required under GDPR Article 37, as SAFE’s core activities do not involve large-scale monitoring or large-scale processing of special-category data. Data protection queries can be directed to the privacy contact above.
Seren Events manages the website and event data services on SAFE’s behalf and is acting as SAFE’s processor when following SAFE’s documented instructions. Cvent and Oxford Abstracts act as Seren Events’ sub-processors for ELASF. Stripe processes payment-card transactions under a direct agreement with SAFE.
3. Personal data we collect
- Identity and contact information, such as your name, title, organisation, role, postal address, email address and telephone number.
- Conference information, such as registration type, attendance choices and badge details.
- Abstract and programme information, such as submissions, author and co-author details, affiliations, biographies, reviewer comments, decisions and correspondence.
- Transaction information, such as payment status, invoice details and limited billing information. Payment-card details are processed by Stripe, our payment provider, and not stored by SAFE unless expressly stated.
- Communications and preferences, including enquiries, feedback survey and newsletter consent or opt-out records.
- Technical and usage information, such as IP address, browser and device data, log data, cookie identifiers and website interactions.
- Accessibility, dietary or health-related information that you choose to provide where needed to support your participation.
- Photographs, audio or video recordings where the event is recorded or photographed.
4. How and why we use personal data
| Purpose | Typical Data | Lawful Basis |
| Manage registration, payment, access and attendance | Identity, contact, booking and transaction data | Performance of a contract or steps requested before entering a contract; legitimate interests where no contract applies |
| Receive, review and administer abstracts and the scientific programme | Identity, affiliation, submission and review data | Performance of a contract; legitimate interests in organising and delivering the conference |
| Communicate essential event information and respond to enquiries | Contact, booking and communication data | Performance of a contract; legitimate interests |
| Provide accessibility or dietary arrangements | Accessibility, dietary and relevant health information | Contract or legitimate interests, plus an applicable Article 9 condition where special-category data is involved, normally explicit consent unless another condition is more appropriate |
| Send ELASF newsletters and promotional communications | Name, email address and preferences | Consent, or another lawful basis permitted by applicable electronic-marketing law; you may opt out at any time |
| Operate, secure and improve the website and services | Technical, log and usage data | Legitimate interests; consent for non-essential cookies or similar technologies where required |
| Meet accounting, regulatory, legal and safeguarding obligations | Relevant registration, transaction and communication data | Compliance with legal obligations; legitimate interests; vital interests where applicable |
| Publish the programme, speaker or author information, abstracts, photographs or recordings | Name, affiliation, biography, contribution and media | Contract, legitimate interests or consent, depending on the context and reasonable expectations |
Where SAFE relies on legitimate interests, it considers the necessity and proportionality of the processing and balances those interests against your rights and reasonable expectations. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting processing already carried out.
5. Special-category data
Information about health, disability, accessibility needs or some dietary requirements may be special-category personal data. Please provide only what is necessary. SAFE will restrict access, use the information only for the stated purpose and apply both an Article 6 lawful basis and an Article 9 condition under the GDPR. SAFE does not use this information for marketing.
6. If you do not provide information
Some information is required to register, submit an abstract, receive event services or comply with legal obligations. If you do not provide it, SAFE may be unable to process your registration or submission, provide a requested adjustment, or deliver the relevant service. Optional fields will be identified where practicable.
7. Sharing your personal data
SAFE may share personal data only as necessary with:
- Seren Events for website, registration, conference administration and data-management services.
- Cvent for event registration and related services.
- Oxford Abstracts for abstract submission, reviewing and programme administration.
- Stripe for payment card processing.
- GoDaddy for website hosting and domain services.
- Mailchimp for newsletter distribution.
- Other IT, security, printing, badge, venue and other event-service providers.
- Reviewers, programme committees, chairs and co-organisers where needed to assess submissions or deliver the programme.
- Professional advisers, insurers, auditors, regulators, courts, law-enforcement bodies or public authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
- Another organisation in connection with a merger, restructuring or transfer of activities, subject to appropriate safeguards.
SAFE does not sell personal data. SAFE requires processors to act only on documented instructions, keep data secure, assist with data-protection duties and impose equivalent obligations on authorised sub-processors.
8. International transfers
SAFE is established in Belgium and some service providers are established in the United Kingdom or may use suppliers in other countries. Access from another country can constitute an international transfer. Before transferring personal data outside the European Economic Area, SAFE will use a lawful transfer mechanism, such as an applicable adequacy decision or approved contractual safeguards, and will add supplementary measures where required. Details of the relevant safeguard may be requested using the privacy contact above, subject to permitted redactions.
Some of the technologies used on the ELASF website and for newsletter management are provided by US-based companies, which may involve a transfer of data to the US, including Google Analytics, Google reCAPTCHA, embedded YouTube video, X (Twitter) advertising pixels, and Mailchimp. For these, SAFE relies on the relevant provider’s Standard Contractual Clauses or certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, as applicable.
9. Retention
SAFE keeps personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose collected, including event delivery, follow-up, dispute handling, accounting and legal obligations.
| Record | Period |
| Registration and attendance records | Retained until the next occurrence of the relevant ELASF conference, so delegates can be told about the upcoming event, unless earlier deletion is requested. |
| Financial and invoice records | Payment-card details are processed and retained by Stripe under its own retention practices, as described in Stripe’s Privacy Policy here. |
| Unsuccessful abstracts and review records | Held in Oxford Abstracts, our abstract management platform. Oxford Abstracts keeps conference data for at least one year after the conference start date and deletes it six years after that date, as set out in its Data Retention Policy. SAFE may delete the data earlier. |
| Accepted abstracts and published programme records | Published on the ELASF website for as long as the programme and abstracts remain available online. You can ask us to remove your name or abstract at any time using the privacy contact in section two, and we will consider your request in line with your data-protection rights. Copies held in Oxford Abstracts are kept as described above. |
| Accessibility, dietary and health-related information | Deleted promptly after the event unless needed for a claim or legal duty. Where this information is shared with a venue, for example, a dietary requirement, only the minimum necessary detail is shared, without other identifying information. |
| Newsletter records | Until consent is withdrawn or the contact is inactive under SAFE’s confirmed suppression policy; an opt-out record may be retained to respect the request. Newsletter data is held in Mailchimp. |
| Website and security logs | Server and security logs, such as IP address, browser and device details and pages requested, are generated by our website host, GoDaddy, on SAFE’s behalf. They are kept only for as long as needed to keep the site secure and to diagnose faults, in line with GoDaddy’s Privacy Policy. |
SAFE may anonymise information so that it no longer identifies anyone and use the anonymised information for statistics, reporting and service improvement.
10. Your data-protection rights
Subject to applicable law and any exemptions, you may ask SAFE to:
- confirm whether your personal data is being processed and provide access to it;
- correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
- erase personal data;
- restrict processing;
- provide data you supplied in a portable format where the right applies;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests and object at any time to direct marketing;
- withdraw consent at any time; and
- obtain information about safeguards used for international transfers.
To exercise a right, contact SAFE using the details in section two. SAFE may request information needed to verify your identity. There is usually no fee, but a reasonable fee may be charged or a request refused where permitted by law. SAFE will respond within the period required by applicable law.
11. Complaints
Please contact SAFE first so that we can try to resolve your concern.
Please email us at info@safestroke.eu with ‘Data Protection Complaint’ in the subject line. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, investigate the matter, and provide you with an outcome without undue delay.
You also have the right to complain to the Belgian Data Protection Authority:
(Autorité de protection des données / Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit, Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels, Belgium – www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be / www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be, contact@apd-gba.be) or, where applicable, another competent supervisory authority.
12. Cookies and similar technologies
The ELASF website uses cookies or similar technologies for essential functions, security, preferences, analytics or other purposes. Non-essential technologies will not be used until valid consent has been obtained where required. Users must be able to refuse non-essential cookies as easily as they accept them and change their choices later. The cookies currently used on the ELASF.org website are:
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Category | Duration |
| cookie_notice_accepted | Cookie notice plugin | Remembers that the cookie banner has been dismissed | Strictly necessary | Not specified |
| _ga, _ga_KEXYY76QZE | Google Analytics | Distinguishes visitors and records session activity | Analytics | ~13 months |
| _twsid, _typed | X (Twitter) advertising pixel | Ad conversion tracking | Advertising | ~13 months |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, YSC, CONSENT and others | YouTube (embedded video) | Playback preferences, bot detection, ad personalisation | Functional / Advertising | Varies |
| _GRECAPTCHA | Google reCAPTCHA | Bot detection on the newsletter form | Functional / Security | ~6 months |
| WordPress session cookies | Website (admin only) | Keeps logged-in administrators signed in | Strictly necessary | Session |
13. Security and personal-data breaches
SAFE and its service providers use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. Measures should include proportionate access controls, authentication, encryption where appropriate, backups, staff confidentiality and training, supplier due diligence, incident response and periodic review. No internet service is completely secure.
Seren Events is registered with the ICO and holds Cyber Essentials certification; its measures include mandatory multi-factor authentication, encrypted devices, need-to-know access controls, and a documented incident-response process backed by active cyber insurance. Cvent publishes its own security information at trust.cvent.com. Where a breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you without undue delay.
14. Automated decision-making
SAFE does not intend to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects solely by automated means through the ELASF website. If this changes, SAFE will provide the information and safeguards required by law.
15. Children
The ELASF website and conference services are not directed to children unless expressly stated. If participation by a minor is permitted, SAFE will provide an appropriate notice and obtain any parental authorisation required by applicable law. Please contact SAFE before submitting a minor’s personal data.
16. Applicable legal framework
SAFE’s processing as a Belgian-established controller is principally governed by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation), the Belgian Act of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons regarding the processing of personal data, and applicable Belgian laws on electronic communications, direct marketing and cookies. UK service providers may also be subject to the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK electronic-communications rules for processing within their own territorial scope. The law applicable to each activity depends on the parties’ actual roles, establishments, target audience and data flows.
17. Changes to this policy
SAFE may update this policy to reflect changes in the event, website, suppliers, law or guidance. The current version is published on the ELASF website with its effective date. SAFE will provide additional notice where a change materially affects how personal data is used.