Last Updated: 28th April, 2022
Effective date: 5th May, 2022
Thank you for your trust on the STOC COMMUNITY (URL: www.sto-consortium.org, hereinafter referred to as "this Website", "STOC" or “We”). As a website providing research results communication and sharing services to users all over the world, STOC respects your privacy and protects your personal information (“PI”) in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. We will explain to you how we will process your PI and how you exercise your rights in the process of using this Website, so as to better protect your rights as the subject of PI in this STOC Website Privacy Policy (hereinafter referred to as "this Policy").
Please read and understand this Policy carefully before you use this Website and submit your PI. In particular, please pay attention to the terms marked in bold to ensure that you fully understand and agree to the rules for processing your PI before using this Website. Unless otherwise provided by laws and regulations, if you continue to use this Website after we update this Policy, you are bound by the terms and conditions of this Policy (including the updated version).
Content
I. Who Controls Your PI and How to Contact Us
II. How We Collect and Process PI
III. How We Share, Transfer and Disclose PI
IV. Exceptions for Processing PI with Prior Consent
V. Cookies
VI. How We Store PI
VII. How We Ensure the Safety of PI
VIII. How We Protect Your Rights
IX. Application of This Policy
X. Update
I. Who Controls Your PI and How to contact Us
The STOC COMMUNITY, an unincorporated research community without separate legal personality, is operated by the Shenzhen BGI Research Institute on behalf of STOC.
For the Shenzhen BGI Research Institute, the address details are: Building 11, Beishan Industrial Zone, Beishan Road, Yantian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, PRC.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this Policy, you may send a written request to the email stoc@sto-consortium.org. Generally, we will reply within a month.
II. How We Collect and Process PI
1. Membership
III. How We Share, Transfer and Disclose PI
If you want to join the STOC COMMUNITY, you need to provide us with your First Name, Last Name, Country, Email, Primary participation role, Organization and other information at the “JOIN THE STOC COMMUNITY” interface of this Website. If you provide STOC with the above information and check the boxes at this interface, STOC may send you the STOC Newsletter or/and the information related to STOC via email (Please note that information about you may appear on the STOC website).
At the same time, you can also contact us by email (email address: stoc@sto-consortium.org) to provide your information for applying to join the STOC community.
1. Third-party sharing
IV. Exceptions for Processing PI with Prior Consent
We will not share your PI with any company, organization or individual, except in the following cases:
1) We have obtained your prior consent or authorization.
2) We may share your PI with third parties such as partners (suppliers, service providers, etc.). However, we will only share your PI for legal, legitimate, necessary, specific, and clear purposes, and only share the PI necessary to provide services. Our partners are not authorized to use the shared PI for any other purpose.
3) Sharing PI belongs to "the circumstances specified in [IV. Exceptions for Processing PI with Prior Consent]".
We will sign strict confidentiality agreements/terms with the aforementioned third parties to require them to process PI in accordance with our instructions, this Policy and take any other relevant confidentiality and security measures. In the use of sensitive PI, we require third parties to adopt data desensitization and encryption technology to better protect your PI.
2. Transfer
We will not transfer your PI to any company, organization or individual, except for the following circumstances:
1) We have obtained your prior consent or authorization.
2) If we need to transfer PI due to merger, division, dissolution, or bankruptcy, we will inform you of the name or contact information of the recipient. We will require the receiving party to continue to comply with this Policy and other legal obligations. If the receiving party changes the original processing purpose and processing method, it will obtain your consent again.
3) The transfer of PI belongs to "the circumstances specified in [IV. Exceptions for Processing PI with Prior Consent].
3. Disclosure
We will only publicly disclose your PI under the following circumstances and adopting industry-standard safeguard measures:
1) We have obtained your separate consent or authorization in advance.
2) If your PI must be provided according to the requirements of applicable laws, mandatory administrative law enforcement or judicial requirements, we may publicly disclose your PI according to the type and disclosure method of PI required.
3) The public disclosure of PI belongs to "the circumstances specified in [IV. Exceptions for Processing PI with Prior Consent]".
The processing of PI includes the collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision, disclosure, and deletion. Please be aware that in the following scenarios, we do not need your consent to process PI:
1. Necessary for the conclusion and performance of a contract to which an individual is a party;
2. Necessary for the performance of legal duties or legal obligations;
3. Necessary for responding to public health emergencies or protecting the life, health and property safety of natural persons in emergencies;
4. Processing PI that is disclosed by yourself or other legally disclosed PI within reasonable purpose;
5. Other circumstances stipulated by applicable laws.
V. Cookies
This website does not use Cookies or similar technologies.
VI. How We Store PI
1. Location
VII. How We Ensure the Safety of PI
If you are located in the People's Republic of China (“China”), we will store your PI in the private cloud server of the national gene bank located in China in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws, and strictly keep your information confidential according to laws. If it is necessary to provide PI outside China due to business necessity, we shall strictly abide by the relevant provisions of applicable laws and regulations.
If you are located in other countries/regions outside China, your PI will be stored on AWS cloud server in Hong Kong. In this case, when we transfer your PI to other countries/regions, we will take reasonable measures to ensure strict compliance with applicable laws.
2. Period
For the information you provide during user application, joining STOC Community, we will only store such PI within the necessary period to provide you with services on this Website.
We will retain your PI based on the shortest time required to provide you with relevant services, except those that need to be retained in accordance with applicable laws. After the expiration of the retention period, we will delete or anonymize your PI, unless it needs to be retained according to applicable laws.
If we terminate the service or operation, we will notify you in advance and delete or anonymize your PI after the termination of the service or operation, unless otherwise required by applicable laws or required to retain your PI in order to fulfill our compliance oblilgations.
This Website uses security protection measures in line with industry standards to protect your PI, avoid unauthorized or illegal access, utilization, processing, or modification of the PI you provide, and avoid infringement or disclosure of the above PI.
In the case of PI security incidents, we will promptly inform you by e-mail in accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations: the basic situation and possible impact of security incidents, the disposal measures we have taken or will take, the suggestions you can independently prevent and reduce risks, and the remedial measures for you. When it is difficult to inform personally, we will take a reasonable and effective way to publish the announcement and report the disposal of users' PI security events according to the requirements of the regulatory authorities.
VIII. How We Protect Your Rights
In accordance with applicable laws, scientific research norms and ethical principles, we guarantee you to exercise the following rights related to your PI. In addition, if applicable laws provide that you have other rights to your PI, we will also strictly abide by the provisions of applicable laws.
1. Access, correct and supplement
Unless otherwise stipulated by laws and regulations, you have the right to access, correct and supplement your PI.
2. Delete
You can request us to delete your PI in the following cases:
IX. Application of this Policy
1) If you withdraw your consent;
2) If our processing purpose has been achieved, cannot be achieved or is no longer necessary to be achieved;
3) If we stop providing our services, stop operating the website, or the storage period has expired;
4) If we deal with your PI in violation of laws, administrative regulations or agreements;
5) Other circumstances stipulated by applicable laws.
3. Withdrawal
You may withdraw your consent. When you withdraw your consent, we will no longer process the corresponding PI. However, your decision to withdraw your consent will not affect the previous PI processing based on your consent.
4. Responses
You can contact stoc@sto-consortium.org to exercise your rights. For security, you may need to provide a written request or otherwise prove your identity. We may need to ask you to verify your identity before processing your request. We usually reply within a month.
We may not be able to respond to your request if the request is:
1) Related to our performance of our obligations under laws and regulations;
2) Directly related to national security and national defense security;
3) Directly related to public safety, public health and major public interests;
4) Directly related to criminal investigation, prosecution, trial and execution of judgment;
5) We have sufficient evidence to show that users have subjective malice or abuse of rights;
6) For the purpose of safeguarding the life, property and other major legitimate rights and interests of users or other individuals, but it is difficult to obtain their own consent;
7) Responding to the user's request will cause serious damage to the legitimate rights and interests of the user or other individuals and organizations;
8) Involving trade secrets.
1. This Policy is only applicable to the services provided on this Website. If you jump to this Website through a third party or visit a third party's website through this Website and use the services provided by it, the commitment made by the third party's privacy policy has nothing to do with this Website. Please note that STOC have no control over the products, services or PI processed by third parties.
2. The protection of your PI in the process of using third-party products or services does not apply to this Policy. This Policy also does not apply to any information you choose to provide to third parties. It is recommended that you consult or contact such third parties to obtain details about their privacy policies. If you find that these web pages created by third parties or applications developed by third parties are at risk, it is recommended that you terminate relevant operations to protect your legitimate rights and interests.
X. Update
1. In order to provide you with better service and with the development of our business, this Policy will be updated. Without your consent, we will not reduce your rights under this Policy. We will issue an updated version through this Website and remind you of any updates to this Policy through website announcements or other appropriate ways.
2. For material changes, we will also provide more significant policies (we may explain the specific changes of this policy by including but not limited to email, SMS or special polices on the website page).
3. Material changes referred to in this Policy include but are not limited to:
1) Significant changes have taken place in our service model. Such as the purpose of processing PI, the type of PI processed, the processing method of PI, etc.;
2) We have undergone significant changes in ownership structure, organizational structure, etc. Such as owner change caused by business adjustment, bankruptcy, M & A, etc.;
3) The main objects of PI sharing, transfer or public disclosure have changed;
4) Significant changes have taken place in your right to participate in PI processing and the way in which you exercise it;
5) When the responsible department, contact information and complaint channels responsible for ensuring PI security change;
6) When the PI protection impact assessment report indicates that there is a high risk;
We will also archive the historical version of this Policy for your reference.