1. Introduction

Research Union ("we," "our," or "us") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal data of our website visitors, conference participants, authors, members, and collaborators.

2. Information We Collect

A. Information You Provide Directly

• Personal & Contact Identification: Full name, family name, academic title, institutional or professional affiliation, postal address, city, country, postal code, email address, and phone number.
  
  
• Academic & Professional Data: Author biographies (up to 1,000 characters), profile descriptions, curriculum vitae (CV), professional interests, and academic credentials.
  
  
• Submission Data: Article/paper titles, abstracts (100–300 words), keywords, co-author details, full paper drafts, slides, and presentation materials.
  
  
• Account Credentials: Usernames, passwords, and security answers created when establishing a membership or user profile.
  
  
• Payment & Transaction Details: Payment receipts, transaction IDs, billing addresses, and payment method details (processed securely via third-party payment gateways such as PayPal or direct bank wire transfers). Note: We do not store raw credit/debit card numbers on our servers.
  
  
• Media & Visual Content: Profile photos uploaded during membership registration, as well as event photos and videos taken during onsite or online conferences.
  
  

B. Information Collected Automatically

• Log & Device Data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, hardware specifications, referring URLs, access times, and pages viewed.
  
  
• Analytics Data: Information regarding how you navigate and interact with our Website, collected via standard web analytics tools.
  
  

3. How We Use Your Information

1. Conference Administration: Processing paper/abstract submissions, managing registration, scheduling presentations, sending venue/schedule updates, issuing certificates, and facilitating onsite or virtual attendance.
   
   
2. Membership Services: Managing your user account, verifying professional credentials, and enabling networking with other academic community members.
   
   
3. Publication & Scholarly Dissemination: Publishing accepted abstracts, paper titles, co-author names, and institutional affiliations on our Website, conference proceedings, or affiliated academic journals (e.g., Docens Series).
   
   
4. Payment Processing: Processing registration fees, managing invoice records, and handling refunds or fee adjustments according to our Refund Policy.
   
   
5. Media & Outreach: Sharing event highlights and group photos on our official public channels, such as our Facebook page ([https://www.facebook.com/researchunion.org](https://www.facebook.com/researchunion.org)).
   
   
6. Communication: Sending essential transactional emails, conference notifications, responses to inquiries, and administrative updates.
   
   
7. Legal Compliance & Security: Detecting and preventing fraudulent activities, enforcing our Terms and Conditions, and complying with applicable legal obligations.
   
   

4. Media & Event Photography

• Event Photography: Photographs and recordings of presentations, speakers, and participants may be taken for promotional and archiving purposes. These materials may be uploaded to our official media platforms (e.g., our Facebook page or Website).
  
  
• Opt-Out Request: If you do not wish to have your photo clicked or published online, you must explicitly inform our conference coordinators at the venue prior to the event and refrain from participating in group photographs.
  
  

5. Third-Party Sharing and Disclosure

• Academic Dissemination: Author names, affiliations, article titles, and abstracts are publicly displayed as part of standard academic proceedings and journal publishing.
  
  
• Third-Party Service Providers: We share necessary data with trusted service providers who assist us in operating our Website and conducting our activities, including:
  
  
  • Payment Processors (e.g., PayPal, banking institutions for wire transfers).
    
    
  • Web hosting and database maintenance providers.
    
    
  • Virtual conference platforms (for online participants).
    
    
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority, or to protect the safety, rights, or property of Research Union, our users, or the public.
  
  

6. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include secure server protocols, encrypted network transmissions (HTTPS), access controls, and administrative protections.

7. Data Retention

8. Your Data Protection Rights

• Access & Portability: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  
  
• Correction: Request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data (e.g., updating author names, titles, or affiliations prior to conference deadlines).
  
  
• Deletion: Request the erasure of your personal data, subject to our legal and academic record-keeping obligations.
  
  
• Opt-Out: Opt-out of non-essential communications or withdraw consent for photography as outlined in Section 4.
  
  

9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

10. Third-Party Links

11. International Data Transfers

12. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy