This policy was last updated on October 25, 2023.

This website is operated by the secretariat (hereafter referred to as ‘SECRETARIAT’ or ‘We’) of the HBP Surgery Week 2025 (hereafter referred to as ‘MEETING’), and this privacy policy applies to this website only.
At www.hbpsurgery.org (hereafter referred to as ‘WEBSITE’), the SECRETARIAT respects its participants and understands that you are concerned about privacy. We are posting this privacy policy to let you know what kind of information we collect, how it is handled, with whom it may be shared, what choices you have regarding the SECRETARIAT’s use of your information, and how you may access some of the data you provide to the SECRETARIAT.
As the SECRETARIAT continues to develop the WEBSITE and take advantage of technologies to improve the services we offer, the privacy policy may change. We therefore encourage you to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand the SECRETARIAT’s current privacy policy.
If you have any questions about this policy, please contact our Privacy Protection Manager at hbps@hbpsurgery.org
What Information Do We Collect? The SECRETARIAT collects various types of information depending upon how you use the WEBSITE:

• When you create account and register for the MEETING, we collect your name, residential address, email address, affiliation as well as the position and some other contact information. All the information collected in this procedure will automatically be saved in “Registration Status” for ease of reference and to help you to go on to the next step (registration, abstract submission, etc.) as quickly as possible.
• Our primary goal in collecting personal information including your first name, last name, phone number(s), valid email, residential address, and credit card data is to provide you with a smooth, efficient, customized registration experience.
• When you submit a question to the administrator by e-mail, we need your email address to respond; you may also provide us with additional information to help the person in charge at the SECRETARIAT answer your question.

What Are Cookies and Do We Use Them?

A cookie is a small piece of information sent by a website, which is saved on your hard disk by your computer's browser. It holds information a site may need to interact with you and personalize your experience. At the WEBSITE, we use two kinds of cookies: session cookies and persistent cookies. Session cookies exist only for as long as your browser remains open. Once you exit your browser, they go away. The SECRETARIAT uses session cookies to maintain information we need to have in order for you to register for the MEETING. For example, the Session ID cookie that we ask your browser to hold retains the ID for My Page. Without the Session ID cookie, you cannot add and modify any information that you input at the time of your sign-up.
Persistent cookies, in contrast, last from visit to visit; they do not go away when you exit your browser. At the WEBSITE, we use persistent cookies to give you a more personalized browse and to help you navigate the WEBSITE more efficiently. The SECRETARIAT will use your information to enhance your site experience. However, you can use the WEBSITE without accepting a persistent cookie. To do so, you should set your browser options to reject persistent cookies. Alternatively, you can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, which gives you the opportunity to decide whether you want to accept it or not. In many instances, the Help button on your browser toolbar will tell you how you can take these steps.
Cookies can be used by a website to recognize you. But that does not necessarily mean any personal information is stored in the cookies. At the WEBSITE, we store no personal information about you in the cookies. Anything you choose to tell us about yourself (such as your address and email address) is stored safely and separately on our secured servers, and you need to provide a password to access it.
The SECRETARIAT also uses cookies to look at how groups, rather than individuals, use the WEBSITE. In our administration page, we can observe which aisles and departments are most heavily trafficked and determine the best method to improve the experience for visitors. On the web, cookies help us develop a similar understanding so that we can continue to improve the arrangement, product offerings, registration and abstract submission at the WEBSITE.

How Do We Use Your Information?

The SECRETARIAT may use your information in a number of ways, including the following:

• To prepare the name tag, meals (for example welcome dinner), and other materials related to the MEETING. In some specific cases, some parts of your information may be shared with the SECRETARIAT’s partner companies, which have been carefully selected and approved by us for the preparation of the MEETING.
• To process any administrative or financial (related to the payment of your registration fee) matters that may arise in preparing for the MEETING
• To communicate with you on any matters related to the preparation of the MEETING or to process your request regarding the MEETING.
• To report on the result of the MEETING to any supporting organizations such as the local convention bureau, some parts of your information may be used (for example, your name, affiliation, e-mail address, etc.).
• To improve the content on the official website: www. hbpsurgery.org (hereafter referred to as ‘WEBSITE’), for example, we may use cookies to find out which parts of the WEBSITE are visited the most often.
• For marketing and promotional purposes, for example, the SECRETARIAT may send emails and direct mail to our registrants and prospective newsletter recipients who have signed-up for the MEETING about MEETINGs that we think may be of interest to them. We also may send you offer for discounts or free services (e.g. early-bird registration) on the WEBSITE.

Do We Share Your Information?

The information gathered may be shared with the HBP Surgery Week 2025 Organizing Committee and our family associations. We also share the information with third parties, including responsible committees with which we have a relationship. For example:

• When you make a purchase, the SECRETARIAT may share information about you and your transaction with other companies for the purpose of processing your transaction, including fraud prevention and credit card authorization.
• You also may make a purchase from the WEBSITE through a link from another website or search engine and may use their express checkout tool to do so. When you do, please be aware that both the WEBSITE and the other website or search engine will receive your information.
• In some cases, MEETING may enter into a co-branding relationship with another website that offers you services that supplement MEETING‘s assortment (e.g. tours). In those cases, you may link from the WEBSITE to another site to apply for the program. In that case, both the WEBISTE and the other website may receive your information.
• The WEBISTE may team up with another website to conduct a sweepstakes or other event. In those cases, each of the participating websites may collect or receive personal information from you.
• For some of our events, the WEBSITE may provide you with a link to the supplier of that product so that you may get further information. If you link to the supplier's site, the supplier may collect or receive information about you.
• Like other committees, the WEBSITE may use third party advertising companies to serve ads (e.g. banners or links) on its behalf. These companies may employ cookies and action tags (also known as single pixel gifs or web beacons) to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information that these third parties collect via cookies and action tags is anonymous.

In most of the above situations, these third parties will receive your information because you will be visiting their websites or using their links and, in doing so, you may provide information directly to them. You therefore should refer to their privacy policies to understand how they handle your information and what kinds of choices you have.
The SECRETARIAT also may share your personal information with outside companies that perform services for the MEETING. For example, we may retain an outside company to manage a database containing certain participants’ information or to create and distribute an email offering. In those situations, the outside party is performing work for the WEBSITE, and the SECRETARIAT includes language in its contracts stating that your information is to be used only to provide the services requested by the SECRETARIAT.
Additionally, the SECRETARIAT may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law or to protect the SECRETARIAT’s interests or property. This may include sharing information with other companies, committees, lawyers, credit bureaus, agents or government agencies in connection with issues related to fraud, credit or debt collection.
In the event that some or all of the business assets of the MEETING are sold or transferred, we generally would transfer the corresponding information about the participants of the MEETING.
Finally, the SECRETARIAT may share your personal information with unrelated outside companies so that they can directly promote the services to you if we feel that the companies offer services that we believe may be of interest. We also may provide you with the opportunity to create account on our website to receive email offers from other companies.
What Choices Do You Have Regarding the Use of Your Information? The SECRETARIAT provides you with a number of choices regarding our handling of your personal information.
If you wish to change your email preferences, please click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any SECRETARIAT’s e-mail and describe the request such as “Please do not send me email," or “Keep my email address private."
Note: Once you have submitted your email opt-out request, you should assume that it has been successfully received and your request is being processed. Please allow us 10 business days from when the request is received to complete the removal, as some of our promotions may already have been in process before you submitted your request.

Third Party Sharing

You also may use the address and phone number above to request that we not reveal your personal information to unrelated third parties for marketing purposes. If you choose to write to the SECRETAIAT, please include your name, address, and credit card account number to be used for settlement and state "NO THIRD PARTY SHARING" in your request.

Can I Access My Information?

If you are a user who has already signed up for the MEETING, you can update your information in “My Page,” and if you have questions about your status, you may also check them online in “My Page.”
If you would like, you may also an email to the SECRETARIAT.
Questions regarding your charge account may be forwarded to our Credit Customer Service Department.

Is My Information Secure?

The SECRETARIAT has put in place various physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to try to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. For example, private account and customer information is located on a secured server behind a firewall; it is not directly connected to the Internet. Encryption is a process by which a message or information is scrambled while it is in transit to the SECRETARIAT. It is based on a key that has two different parts, public and private. The public part of the key is distributed to those with whom you want to communicate. The private part is for the recipient's use only. So long as you use a browser that allows for encryption, when you send personal information to the SECRETARIAT, you use a public key to encrypt your personal information. If your information is intercepted during the transmission, it is scrambled and very difficult to decrypt. Once we receive your encrypted personal information, we use the private part of our key to decode it.
Please note however that while we implement many security measures on this site, 100% security cannot be guaranteed.
Thank you for your visit to the WEBSITE. If you have any questions or comments about this policy, please email the SECRETARIAT.