The Asian Thoracic Academy (“ATA”) is committed to protecting the privacy rights of individuals with whom we interact, including our members and others who utilize our websites, attend our meetings, attend our educational offerings, purchase our products, serve as volunteer leaders within our governance bodies, participate in the ATA National Database, or submit articles for publication in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. This Privacy Policy has been established by ATA, (https://asianthoracicacademy.org/). It sets forth the information we collect about you as you interact with us, how we use that information, and the rights you have regarding how we use it. Our Privacy Policy also describes the measures we take to protect your data, and how to contact us should you wish to update or remove your data from our records. This Privacy Policy was created on November 4, 2024, to coincide with the effective date of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) adopted by the European Union, which applies to some of the individuals who interact with us. We may revise it occasionally as the law and interpretations about the GDPR develop, so please remember to revisit this page regularly for any policy updates. In case of any substantial change to this Privacy Policy, we will post a notice on the home page of https://www.asianthoracicacademy.org, and the change will be effective beginning only on the date stated in the notice.
Summary
The data controller related to this privacy policy is ATA. We only use your data, such as your name and contact details, qualifications, funding or conflict-of-interest disclosures, areas of practice/interest, references and any payment details, and, when required, your age, in our legitimate business activities, including administering membership and membership-related benefits, educational and other programs, Society governance, and the ATA future database. We do not sell your data to any third parties except to the extent that we offer it temporarily for mailing or emailing promotional materials to members and Annual Meeting attendees, as described further below. To provide our services to you (such as administration of our Annual Meeting, standalone educational courses, and membership benefits, we may be required to send your relevant personal data to our trusted third-party processors and affiliated organizations, a summary of which is listed in the section “Use By Third-Party Processors at Our Request.”
Please read this full Privacy Policy carefully. By accessing any of our websites, you consent to the collection and use of any information you provide by this policy.
Who we are and what we do
We are a not-for-profit organization representing thousands of surgeons, researchers, and allied healthcare professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lungs, and oesophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. Our vision is “improving the lives of patients with cardiothoracic diseases;” our mission is to “enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research, and advocacy.” In pursuing our vision and mission, we must collect relevant personal data from a wide variety of individuals, including our members, applicants, visitors to our websites, authors, candidates, speakers and attendees of our meetings and educational programs, and database participants.
We operate websites at, among other URLs, https://www.asianthoracicacademy.org. We also develop and present our Annual Workshop and other standalone educational programs, many of which offer Continuing Medical Education and other forms of professional credit. Some of the benefits of membership include eligibility to receive various weekly, monthly, and quarterly newsletters, as well as email updates.
Right to lodge a complaint about the way we manage your data with the applicable European Union Data Protection Authority (“DPA”). We would, however, appreciate the chance to hear your concerns and resolve any problems before you approach the DPA, so please contact us in the first instance as set out above.
Consent to this Privacy Policy
Your use of any of our websites or conduct of other interactions with us as described above constitute your unconditional acceptance of the practices described in this Privacy Policy and the other terms and conditions of the terms of use. If you disagree with and accept the practices described in this Privacy Policy, do not use our websites or conduct any other interactions with us described above, and refrain from voluntarily submitting any personal data to us.