The International Molinological Society (TIMS) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. TIMS is an international organisation and as such respects the various regulations for privacy and data protection such as the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for the European Union. The Data Controller, in terms of the GDPR, is TIMS.
This Policy covers TIMS in relation to the collection and use of the personal information you give us, and the rights you have over the way your information is used.
We may change this Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on the website or contact you directly with the information. Please check this page occasionally to make sure you are happy with any changes.
If you have any questions about this Policy or about your personal information held by the Society, please contact TIMS via
What type of personal information we collect
The type and amount of information we collect depends on why you are providing it.
If you are joining us as a member, we will ask for your name and contact details (your full address, email address, and your phone number). And we will ask you to indicate the type of membership (normal or partner membership) and your year of birth to be able to determine whether you are entitled to a junior membership. We may also ask you for reasons for your interest in our society, and how you got to know about us.
When you are paying by credit card for your subscription or a purchase, your card information is not held by us, it is collected by our third party payment processor who specialises in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions. In case you paying via bank transfer or cheque your bank account data is collected by the bank you have chosen for your payment.
NOTE: the TIMS Symposia, TIMS Midterm Excursions and privately organised tours (by TIMS members) are organised by independent organisers. The personal data collection associated with these events is done solely by these independent organisers, which, as such are responsible for the protection of your privacy and personal data.
When we collect information
We may collect information from you whenever you contact us or have any involvement with us for example when you:
• join as a TIMS member
• visit our website (see our Cookies policy below)
• subscribe to our free email newsletter TIMS E-News
• attend the TIMS General Meeting and enter your name in the attendance list
• contact us in any way including online, email, phone, SMS, social media or post
We collect information:
1. From you when you give it to us directly: You may provide your details when you ask us for information, or contact us for any other reason.
2. When you use our website, cookies are used. See the information about the use of cookies under that heading below.
3. When you use our Digital Library on our website, information about your downloads is recorded and stored.
4. When it is available on social media: depending on your settings or the privacy policies applying for social media and messaging services you use, such as Facebook, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.
How we use your information
We will use your personal information in a number of ways. These may include:
• sending you communications related to being a member of our society, with your consent, including information about our activities. You can opt out at any time.
• maintaining our organisational records and ensuring we know how you prefer to be contacted
• seeking your views on the activities we carry out so that we can make improvements
• providing you with the information you have asked for
Our reason for processing your information
The use of your information for the purposes set out above is because one or more of the following applies:
• It is necessary for us to hold and use your information so that we can carry out our obligations resulting of you being a member of TIMS.
• It is necessary for us to hold and use your information so that we can send our TIMS E-News newsletter to you.
If you have registered an online account (to be able to access the member-only pages, such as the TIMS Digital Library), you can unregister by sending an email to
You can also unsubscribe from our email newsletters by clicking ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of the email or fill out the unsubscribe form under https://www.molinology.org/index.php/publications/tims-e-news/unsubscribe-e-news
How we keep your information safe
We understand the importance of security of your personal information and take appropriate steps to safeguard it. Carefully considered security measures are in place to protect the TIMS computer server from attack and to ensure banking information, such as direct debit forms, is stored securely. We ensure that only TIMS officers and country representatives manage your information. No data transmission over the internet can however be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While we strive to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you provide online and you do this at your own risk.
Who has access to your information?
• TIMS officers and country representatives
• Analytics and search engine providers
When you are using our secure online payment pages, your payment is processed by a third party payment processor, who specialises in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions. If you have any questions regarding secure transactions, please contact the involved third party.
We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so under any legal obligation and may use external data for the purposes of fraud prevention and credit risk reduction, or where doing so would not infringe your rights, but is necessary and in the public interest.
Other than this, we will not share your information with other organisations without your consent.
Keeping your information up to date
We appreciate it if you can let us know should your contact details change. You can do this by contacting us at
Our use of cookies
Cookies are small pieces of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enable the server to collect information from the browser. They are stored on your hard drive to allow our website to recognise you when you visit.
Our website uses cookies only for tracking purposes. These enable us to recognise repeat visitors to the site. By matching an anonymous, randomly generated identifier, we're able to record specific browsing information such as how you arrive at the site, the pages you view, options you select, and the path you take through the site. By monitoring this information we’re able to make improvements to our sites to better serve visitors.
You can block any cookies from any website through your browser settings. For more information about how to disable cookies in your browser please visit www.aboutcookies.org
Flash cookies make it quicker and easier for you to access sites on subsequent visits that use Flash technology. Deleting them means you may have to re-enter information each time you visit the same site. But just like any cookie, you can delete Flash cookies by going to the Settings Manager for your Adobe Flash Player. You will be taken to the Adobe website, which lists the websites with the cookies in your browser. Just click Delete opposite the relevant website.
If you share the use of a computer, accepting or rejecting the use of cookies will affect all users of that computer.
You can find out more detailed information about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org, which gives details on how to delete cookies from your computer. For information on how to do this on your mobile phone browser, please see your handset manual.
How long we keep your information for
We will hold your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the relevant activity.
If you cease to be involved with TIMS we will archive your information as part of the Society’s historic record. If you lapse or resign as a member we may contact you for up to 2 years afterwards about rejoining.
Credit and debit card details are not stored by the Society.
Your rights
You have the right to request details of the processing activities that we carry out with your personal information through making a Subject Access Request. Such a request can be made by sending an email with as subject “Subject Access Request” and as contents a description of the requested details, to
Subject to certain safeguard or limitations and exemptions you also have the following rights:
• the right to request rectification of information that is inaccurate or out of date;
• the right to erasure of your information (known as the “right to be forgotten”);
• the right to restrict the way in which we are dealing with and using your information; and
• the right to request that your information be provided to you in a format that is secure and suitable for re-use (known as the “right to portability”);
• rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling including profiling for marketing purposes.
To exercise any of these rights, you should contact
If you are not happy with the way in which we have processed or dealt with your information, please let us know by contacting
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Policy may be changed from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on our website or contact you directly with the information. You are advised to check this Policy when you consider giving your personal information to us.
This Policy was last updated in December 2021.