Australian Physiological Society

Privacy Policy

Overview

AuPS understands that when you access our website or interact with us online, the privacy and confidentiality of personal information is important to you. There are two classes of use: casual browsing of the publically accessible information and documents, particularly abstracts and papers; and access to our membership system, be it to apply for membership, update your membership record, consult the list of members, or register for a meeting and submit an abstract. These two classes of interaction involve different privacy issues.

Casual browsing

Every time a page is accessed on the publically accessible portion of our website, we record:

• The page accessed
• The date and time of access
• The page that referred you to the page accessed (if any)
• The IP address from which the request for the page came

This information is used to assess the usefulness of our resources, particularly the published abstracts and papers. IP addresses are only used in the case of errors being logged concerning the way pages are created and delivered. We do not analyse the overall pattern of use of individuals. We do not provide any of these data to third parties.

Access to our membership system and related interactive activities

Once you request a page from our website that relates to membership in AuPS, you will be transferred to our "secure server". Information passed to and from this server is encrypted, which protects the data from interception by a third party with access to the internet path in use. The use of a digital certificate allows your browser to verify that it is connected to the CYCT secure website.
All access to this server is limited to those who can provide a valid username and password. For access to membership data, only members have acceptable usernames. Some parts of the secure server are accessible to non-members, e.g. the membership application forms, registration for meetings, and submission of abstracts, but those parts are also protected by a username and password issued to the user in a way that we are certain we know their email address.

Cookies

We use cookies only to identify users who have logged in with their username and password to our secure server, so they can subsequently access pages for which they have authorisation. We only use "session cookies", i.e. ones which expire once the logged in session is terminated. We do not provide cookie information to third parties.

How we use your information

When you apply for membership we require basic contact information about you: name, postal address, phone and fax numbers, and email address. We also ask you to name an existing member who can attest to your professional qualifications. We prefer that you provide institutional contact information rather than private.

Your information will be made available to members by way of our secure web site, where a list of members is always available and the database can be searched. It will not be made available to third parties.

Certain information is added to your membership record over time, such as when you last paid your subscription, and how that payment was made. This information is available only to authorised officers of the Society, such as the Treasurer and IT Manager. This information is used only to ensure you remain a financial member.

Information provided for public access

When you submit an abstract related to a communication to the Society at one of its meetings, that abstract will be handled through the secure web site while it is under consideration by the Editor, and may be made available to another member if a question related to the content is raised. Once the abstract has been accepted for inclusion in the programme of the meeting it will be made publically available on the Society's normal website.

Financial transactions

On-line payments from you to the Society are made through the website of the Society's Bank. AuPS does not collect credit card data and so no such details are held by the Society.

Permission to contact you

The email address of every member will be placed on a members email list. In the case of student members, the address is also added to a special purpose student email list. Notices to members from the Society will be posted to these lists from time-to-time, and it is possible for a member to send a message to all other members as well. The messages sent out from this list do not contain the email addresses of all recipients. You can opt out of these email lists at any time. The lists are not made available to third parties.

Contacting us

For any matters concerning our privacy policy or how it is implemented, you can always contact the National Secretary or any of the Society's executive or Council.

Gender Equity Policy

The AuPS strives to achieve gender equity in all aspects of the Society's activities. The Society endeavours to achieve this equity through female and male representation on Council, conference organising committees, session chairs at scientific meetings as well as through invitations to high quality speakers of both sexes in line with the gender balance in our Society.