Privacy Policy changes coming from SPIE: Opt-IN!

You may have heard about GDPR, and certainly global marketing and IT teams have. So what exactly is GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation designed to give individuals, particularly European Union residents and citizens, greater control of their consumer data.

Given the current scandals revolving around data breaches and unauthorized use of personal data, this seems like a reasonable and timely undertaking. The regulation went into effect 25 May 2018 and has the following eight major elements:

    1. Consent - customers must opt-in to messaging rather than opt-out

    2. Right to Be Forgotten - customers may request to have their information erased

    3. Right to Access - customers may request and receive their information

    4. Data Portability - customers may request their data be sent to another party

    5. The Right to Prevent Direct Marketing

    6. The Right to Have Inaccuracies Corrected - customers may request changes to their data

    7. The Right to Be Notified of Data Breaches - customers and the EU must be made aware of data breaches and their scale

    8. The Right to Object to Profiling - customers may request to have a human make decisions regarding their eligibility for products and services

In our efforts to be 100% GDPR compliant and transparent about data collection policies for all of our constituents, SPIE has updated our Privacy Policy and is asking everyone to update their communication preferences and confirm how they would like to receive communications from SPIE. These communication options include conference call for papers, general news, marketing messages, technology updates, and publication alerts, among others. To update your communication preferences, please visit spie.org/opt-in.

We have been busy over the past several months updating many of our data collection, security, and retention policies, and you may notice changes to the messaging you receive from us, including web forms used for registration, abstract submission, and exhibitor contracts. It is important to note that SPIE does not sell or provide your information to outside vendors and takes your privacy and data protection seriously. If you are ever offered an attendee list to an SPIE event, know that it is fraudulent and unauthorized. To learn more about the updated SPIE privacy policy, please visit https://spie.org/communication/updates-and-newsletters