The protection of your privacy is a matter of great importance to the International Association of Ear Piercing Market Specialists (EPM) – Internationaler Verband der Ohrlochstech-Spezialisten e.V. (hereinafter referred to as “EPM”). For this reason, we inform you here about our data protection policy.

In general, the use of this EPM website is possible without any indication of personal data. However, processing of personal data may become necessary if a data subject wishes to make use of certain services on this website. If such processing is necessary and there is no legal basis, we will first obtain consent from the data subject.

The processing of personal data (e.g. name, address, email address or telephone number) is carried out in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR) and the applicable national data protection regulations. This privacy policy informs you about the type, scope and purpose of the personal data we collect, use and process. In addition, we inform data subjects about their rights.

Note on Data Transmission on the Internet

Although EPM uses extensive technical and organizational measures to protect personal data as effectively as possible, we expressly point out that data transmission over the Internet (e.g. communication by email) can have security vulnerabilities and cannot be completely protected from access by third parties. Therefore, a data subject may also transmit personal data to us by alternative means, e.g. by telephone.

Note on Commercial Use of Contact Data

The use of contact data published on this website (e.g. in the legal notice or other sections) for commercial advertising is expressly not permitted unless EPM has given prior written consent or there is already a business relationship. EPM and all companies, associations and individuals named on this website hereby object to any commercial use or disclosure of their data.

Explanation of Terms

In this privacy policy, we use terms as defined by the EU-GDPR:

• Personal data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”).
• Data subject: any identified or identifiable natural person whose personal data is processed by the controller.
• Processing: any operation performed on personal data, such as collection, recording, organization, storage, modification, retrieval, use, disclosure, restriction, deletion, or destruction.
• Restriction of processing: the marking of stored personal data with the aim of limiting its future processing.
• Profiling: any automated processing of personal data used to evaluate personal aspects of a natural person.
• Pseudonymization: processing personal data in a way that it can no longer be attributed to a specific person without additional information kept separately and protected.
• Controller: the natural or legal person who determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.
• Processor: a natural or legal person who processes personal data on behalf of the controller.
• Recipient: a person or entity to whom personal data is disclosed, excluding authorities under specific legal mandates.
• Third party: a person or body other than the data subject, controller, processor, and those authorized under the controller’s responsibility.
• Consent: any informed and unambiguous indication by the data subject that they agree to the processing of their data.

Contact Information of the Controller

International Association of Ear Piercing Market Specialists (EPM) –
Internationaler Verband der Ohrlochstech-Spezialisten e.V.
Oberreutiner Weg 5
88131 Lindau
Germany

Web: epmeurope.org

Executive Board:

• 1st Chairperson: Éva Nagy
• 2nd Chairperson: Francesco Trevisan
• Treasurer: Ron Maguire
• Secretary: Esther Lenssen

For questions about data protection, please contact us via the contact details above.

Contact via Website

If a data subject contacts us via email or the contact form on this website, the transmitted personal data will be processed by EPM for handling the request or contacting the individual. By providing contact details, the data subject consents to being contacted via that channel.

Cookies

This website uses cookies—small text files sent by a web server to the user’s browser and stored on the device. Session cookies are deleted when the browser is closed. Persistent cookies remain and enable recognition of the user’s browser through a unique ID.

Cookies help make the site more user-friendly and optimize its content. You can manage or disable cookies via browser settings, though this may limit functionality.

Collection of General Data and Information

Each time this website is accessed, general data and information are collected and stored in server log files:

• Browser types and versions
• Operating system used
• Referrer URL
• Accessed subpages
• Date and time of access
• IP address
• Internet service provider
• Other data to prevent IT system attacks

This data is stored separately from any personal data and used for technical maintenance, optimization, legal compliance, and statistical analysis.