Who we are

ECA takes your personal data very seriously. This page describes what we do with any personal data you provide to us, what your rights are in relation to them and how you can exercise those rights. You can contact us by visiting our Contact page.

Your rights

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights:

  • Right to be informed:the right to know what is happening with your personal data. You can find this information on this page, as well as in notices when you give us your personal details, for example when you join as a member.
  • The right to access your personal data:you can request a copy of the data we hold about you.
  • The right to rectification:you have the right to correct personal data that we hold about you, either by contacting us or by logging in to your member profile on our website.
  • The right to erasure:you have the right to request that we delete the personal data we hold about you.
  • The right to the restriction of processing:this right entitles you to request a pause on our processing of your data while we resolve a query relating to one of your other rights. We will apply this automatically if you request this whilst exercising one of your other rights.
  • The right to data portability:this right grants you the ability to request a portable version of your personal data, i.e. data in an electronic format that you can then use with other service providers. We do not fit the criteria for this right, as we do not carry out automatic processing.
  • The right to object:you have the right to object to the ways in which we process your data as set out in the table below.
  • Rights related to automatic decision making:these rights relate to automated profiling, which we do not use.

In addition, where we rely on Consent as our legal basis, you have the right to unconditionally withdraw consent. At this point we will stop processing your data, and delete any personal data that we do not need to hold for other reasons. You can exercise this right by unsubscribing directly from communications, or by contacting us.

Finally you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory body in Europe. You should normally do this in the country where you are habitually resident. Of course we would much prefer that you write to us directly if you have concerns about the way we have handled your personal data.

What data does ECA process and why?

Please refer to the sections below that are relevant to you.

If you join us as a member

How we obtain your data

We collect your personal details from you when you join ECA, and we store them in a secure database.

What we will do with your data

By paying a membership fee, you enter into a contract with ECA to be provided with the benefits of membership as set out on our website and marketing materials.

We use your contact details to send information relevant to membership, including information about renewal. All mass communications include the option to opt-out of future contact.

How long we will retain your data

Member data is stored while you are a member and for two years after your membership lapses. After two years as a lapsed (suspended) member, your records will be deleted.

Lawful basis for us processing this data

Contract

If you sign up for our newsletter

How we obtain your data

Anyone can sign up via our website to receive our newsletter, which we usually send every three month.

What we will do with your data

We will send you our newsletter, and occasional other updates from ECA, using the our newsletter mailing tool. We won’t pass your details on to anyone else.

Every email includes the option to see and update your details and opt-out of future contact.

How long we will retain your data

We will retain your details as long as you are opted-in to receive our emails.

Lawful basis for us processing this data

Consent

If you contact us by email

How we obtain your data

When you contact us by email, your email address, as well as the contents of your email, will be stored on our server.

What we will do with your data

We keep emails we receive so that we can provide a well-functioning service to our members and other interested parties. We will use your details to follow up on your enquiry and any future enquiries.

How long we will retain your data

Your email address and email will be preserved indefinitely, unless you request that it be deleted.

Lawful basis for us processing this data

Legitimate interests

If you use our website

How we obtain your data

We use cookies to enhance the online experience of our visitors and to better understand how our sites are used. Cookies may tell us, for example, whether you have visited our site before or whether you are a new visitor.

Cookies are small text files that web sites often store on the computer hard drives of visitors to their sites. They are widely used in order to make web sites work, or work better, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site. A cookie often contains a unique number, which can be used to recognise your computer when a user of your computer returns to a website that it visited previously.

How does ECA use cookies?

Using the website

If you use this website then we store any details that we need to on our server. To link your “session” data on our server with your browser session a small cookie is placed in your browser – containing an anonymised link to the session. As soon as you close your browser this session cookie is deleted. We determine that this type of cookie is essential to the running of the website.

Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics to collect information about how people use this site. We do this to make sure it’s meeting its users’ needs and to understand how we could do it better.
Google Analytics stores information about what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you click on. We do not collect or store your personal information (e.g. your name or address) so this information cannot be used to identify who you are. We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data with third parties.

Lawful basis for us processing this data

Legitimate interests

If you are a representative of a member, a company or other organisation with whom we conduct business:

Existing member or business customers

How we obtain your data

If we have an existing business relationship, we store your details (such as name, email address, company and a history of our correspondence) in a database.

What we will do with your data

Previous members or customers can be assumed to have an interest in ECA activities. ECA will legitimately contact you about future opportunities such as advertising, sponsorship and exhibition at our meetings.

All mass communications include the option to opt-out of future contact.

How long we will retain your data

Your details will be retained indefinitely if you do not opt out of future contact.

If you opt out, your details will be retained so that we have a record that you opted out, but we will not contact you.

Lawful basis for us processing this data

Legitimate interests

Prospective member or business customers

How we obtain your data

If you indicate an interest in working with ECA (for example by giving us your business card after talking at a conference, or by emailing us to enquire about opportunities), we store your details (such as name, email address, company and a history of our correspondence) in a database.

We may find companies we think may be interested in working with us, and find contact details for them online. In this instance we will not store their information.

What we will do with your data

When we meet representatives of a company at conferences, we know that they have an interest receivables management and debt purchase or closely related fields. We inform them of ECA and they express an interest in hearing from us by providing business cards/contact details. ECA will legitimately contact them about future opportunities. All communications will have opportunity to opt out of future contact.

When we have not already had contact with a company we have less certainty that they want to hear from us. We will make one contact and will not record your details unless you opt in to hear from us again in the future.

How long we will retain your data

Your details will be retained indefinitely if you do not opt out of future contact.

If you opt out, your details will be retained so that we have a record that you opted out, but we will not contact you.

When we have not already had contact with a company, after our initial contact we will not store your details unless you indicate an interest in working together, or opt in to hear from us again.

Lawful basis for us processing this data

Legitimate interests

Suppliers

How we obtain your data

If you are a supplier to ECA, for example of goods or services, we will retain your contact details, bank account details and invoices.

What we will do with your data

A contract exists between ECA and its suppliers, and this data is need to fulfil the contract.

Data may be shared with the ECA’s auditors and accountants.

How long we will retain your data

We will retain supplier contact details indefinitely, unless you request to be removed from our records.

We will retain supplier invoices for 7 years.

Lawful basis for us processing this data

Contract

For invoices: Legal obligation

Policy Changes

Any changes to this policy made by the ECA will be posted here and will take effect immediately. This policy was last updated on 10 October 2020.