A. Privacy Policy Statement

Telehealth Association for the Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine International (the "TASTCMI" or "we") respects the privacy of personal data and is committed to complying with the requirements of the applicable laws including the Personal Data Privacy Ordinance (the "PDPO") and the Data Protection Principles contained in it.

B. Statement of Practices

1. Information We Collect

We may collect various types of personal information ("personal information" or "personal data", such as email address, name, and address) from you in connection with our provision of services, activities, and facilities, including but not limited to conference registration, e-newsletter subscription, event registration, membership, payment, following up on enquiries, conducting customer surveys, advertising, etc.

We do not actively collect personal data of minors under the age of 18 but we may collect their personal data while they use our services or register for our activities and events. Minors must have obtained consent from their parents or guardians before providing personal data to us.

2. Main Purpose of Collecting Personal Data

1. for processing your service requests (i.e. conference registration, e-newsletter subscription, event registration, membership, payment, etc.) with us and providing you with our services;
2. for facilitating communications between you and us;
3. for notifying you of changes to our services that may affect you;
4. for responding to and following up on your enquiries;
5. for administering, maintaining and improving our platforms;
6. for executing the service contracts between you and us;
7. for other purposes directly relating to any of the above.

3. Implementation of Practices

TASTCMI will implement the practices at (a) to (f) below in accordance with the data protection principles in the Ordinance.

(a). Collection of personal data




When collecting personal data, TASTCMI will satisfy itself that:

1. the purposes for which the data is collected are lawful and directly related to a function or activity of TASTCMI;
2. the manner of collection is lawful and fair in the circumstances;
3. the personal data collected is necessary but not excessive for the purpose(s) for which it is collected.



When TASTCMI collects personal data from you, you will be provided with a Personal Information Collection Statement ("PICS") on or before the collection in an appropriate format and manner. Practicable steps will be taken to ensure that:

1. you are informed of whether it is obligatory or voluntary to supply the data and, if obligatory, the consequences in failing to do so;
2. you are explicitly informed of the purpose(s) for which the personal data is to be used, the classes of persons to whom the data may be transferred or disclosed, your right to request access to and correction of the data, and the contact details of the officer to whom any such request may be made.



If TASTCMI intends to use the personal data collected for a new purpose, other than the purpose of first collection as stated in the PICS, TASTCMI will obtain prior consent from the data subject before the usage. If the data subject is under the age of 18, we will only use the personal data for a new purpose after we obtained prior consent from the parent or guardian of the data subject.

(b) Accuracy and retention of personal data




Personal data collected and maintained by TASTCMI will be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purpose(s) for which it is to be used.




TASTCMI maintains a personal data inventory, which contains the kinds of personal data that TASTCMI holds, the purposes for which the personal data is collected, used and disclosed, and how the personal data is stored. The personal data inventory will be reviewed periodically to ensure that it is accurate and up-to-date.




TASTCMI will only retain your personal data for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we will consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. Should there be a need to retain personal data for statistical purposes, such personal data will be anonymised so that the individuals concerned can no longer be identified.

(c) Use of personal data




All personal data collected will be used by TASTCMI for purposes which are directly related to the discharge of TASTCMI's activities or functions. We will never sell or rent your information with any other organisation outside the TASTCMI. We may transfer your personal information to our service providers such as IT contractors, cloud service providers, event agents and confidential documents disposal service agents, etc., in order for them to perform services on our behalf. We may also share your personal data with partners or service providers that are involved in co-organising events with us or providing goods and services to you or fulfilling your requests. We will ask for your consent before sharing personal information with any third party partners for direct marketing purposes such as external online platforms and social media platforms, etc. Personal data may also be disclosed to other entities which are authorised to receive such information for law enforcement, prosecution or review of decisions purposes, or otherwise as required or permitted by law. We may also need to transfer your personal data outside of Hong Kong for necessary handling, processing or storage.




You will be informed of the transferees of personal data when your personal data is collected. We require all transferees to respect the security of your personal data and comply with the Ordinance and other applicable personal data laws. We do not allow our transferees to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.




If personal data is to be used for a purpose other than the purposes for which the data is collected, prior consent will be sought from you where practicable. In seeking the consent, all practicable steps will be taken to ensure that:

1. information provided to you is clearly understandable and readable;
2. you are informed that you are entitled to withhold your consent or withdraw your consent subsequently by giving notice in writing.

(d) Security of personal data




TASTCMI observes strictly the relevant security standards and regulations. Security arrangements will be reviewed regularly to ensure that personal data is protected against loss and unauthorised or accidental access, use, disclosure, modification and erasure. The security arrangements include, without limitation, the following:



1. restriction of access to personal data on a 'need-to-know' basis;
2. regular review and enhancement of security measures for protection of personal data in the servers, user computers, or transmission of electronic messages;
3. regular change of passwords for IT facilities, or accounting and personnel systems;
4. encryption of all backup tapes that are to be transported to offsite storage;
5. limited staff access rights to office areas storing confidential information;
6. provision of clear guidelines to staff as to the types of data that may or may not be disclosed to an enquirer and implementation of appropriate identity verification procedures to confirm the enquirer's identity.

(e) Transparency of the personal data policy and practices




TASTCMI's privacy policy and practices can be found on TASTCMI's website: https://tastcmi.org/2nd-conference/dynamics/privacy_statement.html, as may be updated from time to time.

(f) Access to and correction of personal data




If you need to make enquiries or make changes to your personal information, you can send an email to tastcmi.org@gmail.com




When handling a data access or correction request, TASTCMI will check the identity of the requester to ensure that the requester is the person legally entitled to make the data access or correction request.

4. Use of Cookies

When you browse our platforms, cookies will be stored in the browser of your computer or device. Cookies do not collect any personally identifiable information. The purposes of using cookies are to:

1. remember your browsing preferences (e.g. language, browsing font size) you have chosen on our platforms to customise your experience;
2. personalise your user experience and/or maintain your identity across multiple webpages and/or internet sessions;
3. analyse how our platforms are used and compile anonymised data and aggregate statistics;
4. improve the use and the functionality of our platforms.

5. Incident Reporting and Breach Handling

A mechanism is set up for incident reporting and breach handling in case there is a loss or leakage of personal data, or there is a reason to believe that the personal data held by TASTCMI or the Group has been compromised.

6. Ongoing Monitoring and Review

TASTCMI will keep this Privacy Policy Statement and relevant policies under regular review. Officers responsible for handling personal data will attend relevant training courses to keep themselves updated of the latest personal data policies.

7. Enquiries

Any enquiries regarding personal data privacy policy and practice may be addressed via email at tastcmi.org@gmail.com

8. Interpretation

Words used herein which import the singular only also include the plural and vice versa where the context so admits.

Words used herein which import one gender (whether masculine, feminine or neuter) shall be taken to include any other gender where the context so admits.

C. Personal Information Collection Statement (PICS)

1. Collection of your personal data

Telehealth Association for the Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine International ("TASTCMI" or "we") collects your personal data to provide our services to you and to improve customer experience. Please note that it is mandatory for you to provide personal data marked with asterisks. In the event that you do not provide such personal data, we may not be able to provide you with certain information, materials and/or your requested services.

2. Purposes of personal data collection and usage

1. for processing your service requests (i.e. conference registration, e-newsletter subscription, event registration, membership, payment, etc.) with us and providing you with our services;
2. for facilitating communications between you and us;
3. for notifying you of changes to our services that may affect you;
4. for responding to and following up on your enquiries;
5. for administering, maintaining and improving our platforms;
6. for executing the service contracts between you and us;
7. for other purposes directly relating to any of the above.

3. Use of personal data

All personal data collected will be used by TASTCMI for purposes which are directly related to the discharge of TASTCMI's activities or functions. We will never sell or rent your information with any other organisation outside the TASTCMI. We may transfer your personal information to our service providers such as IT contractors, cloud service providers, event agents and confidential documents disposal service agents, etc., in order for them to perform services on our behalf. We may also share your personal data with partners or service providers that are involved in co-organising events with us or providing goods and services to you or fulfilling your requests. We will ask for your consent before sharing personal information with any third party partners for direct marketing purposes such as external online platforms and social media platforms, etc. Personal data may also be disclosed to other entities which are authorised to receive such information for law enforcement, prosecution or review of decisions purposes, or otherwise as required or permitted by law. We may also need to transfer your personal data outside of Hong Kong for necessary handling, processing or storage. You will be informed of the transferees of personal data when your personal data is collected. We require all transferees to respect the security of your personal data and comply with the Ordinance and other applicable personal data laws. We do not allow our transferees to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

4. Data access and correction requests

If you need to make enquiries or make changes to your personal information, you can send an email to tastcmi.org@gmail.com When handling a data access or correction request, TASTCMI will check the identity of the requester to ensure that the requester is the person legally entitled to make the data access or correction request.