Privacy
Effective date: Oct 23, 2026
Who We Are
The International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) is a public health non-profit organization headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA. This Privacy Policy explains how ISTM collects, uses, shares and protects personal information, and the choices and rights you may have.
This policy applies to personal information we handle through our website, membership, conferences and events, education and certification programs, publications, surveys, and our other communications and activities. Some ISTM projects may have their own privacy notice. Where they do, that notice explains the project’s specific practices, and this policy applies to everything else.
Privacy rights, safeguards and request procedures vary by jurisdiction and may change over time. We will evaluate each request under the laws and procedures that apply when and where the request is made.
What Personal Information We Collect
Information you give us. When you join ISTM, register for an event or course, take an exam, submit an abstract, subscribe, donate, apply for a grant or award, answer a survey, or contact us, we may collect:
- your name and contact details, such as email address, mailing address and phone number;
- professional details, such as job title, credentials, specialty, institution, country and years of practice;
- membership, registration, course, exam and certification records;
- payment and billing information (card payments are processed by our payment provider, and ISTM does not store full card numbers);
- dietary or accessibility needs you share for an event;
- your communication preferences; and
- anything else you choose to send us.
Information collected automatically. When you visit our website, open our emails or use our online platforms, we may collect your IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, and email open and click activity, using cookies and similar technologies. [Confirm which analytics and cookie tools ISTM’s website uses.]
Information from others. We may receive personal information from event and education partners, professional organizations, publicly available professional sources, and business contact data providers. When we use purchased professional contact data for a specific project, that project’s privacy notice will say so.
How We Use Personal Information
| Purpose | Examples | Legal basis (EU/UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Providing what you asked for | Membership, event and course registration, exams and certificates, publications | Contract |
| Running ISTM | Billing, record-keeping, IT, security, fraud prevention, audits | Legitimate interests; legal obligation |
| Communicating with you | Service messages, member news, newsletters, event and education announcements | Legitimate interests; consent where required |
| Public health research and education | Surveys and needs assessments, reported in aggregated or pseudonymized form | Legitimate interests; consent where required |
| Improving our services | Website analytics, program evaluation, feedback | Legitimate interests; consent for non-essential cookies where required |
| Meeting legal obligations | Tax, accounting, responding to lawful requests | Legal obligation |
We will not use your information for marketing or promotional messages unless the law allows it or you have opted in. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time with the link in the email.
Conferences and events
- Event mobile app: Registrants appear in the event app’s attendee list only if they opt in. You can change this choice in the app.
- Sponsors and exhibitors: We share registrants’ names and city and country with event sponsors and exhibitors. We do not share email addresses.
- Lead retrieval: Exhibitors may scan attendee badges at their booths. A scan happens only when you agree to it, and it gives that exhibitor your contact details. The exhibitor then uses your information under its own privacy policy, not ISTM’s.
- Co-sponsored events: When ISTM holds an event with a partner organization that handles registration, the partner’s privacy policy applies to the information you give the partner.
Who We Share It With
ISTM does not sell personal information. We share personal information only as described in this policy:
- Service providers that work on our behalf, such as email hosting and email delivery, cloud storage, website hosting, IT security, payment processing, event registration, learning and exam platforms, and survey tools. They are under contract, act only on ISTM’s instructions, and may not use the information for their own purposes.
- Event, education and publishing partners, when needed to deliver something you signed up for, such as a co-hosted conference or course. Event sponsors and exhibitors receive limited attendee information, as described under Conferences and events.
- Grant funders, who receive only aggregated or pseudonymized results, never your contact details or individual responses, unless you agree otherwise.
- Other ISTM members, if you choose to join a community or clinical directory.
- Legal and safety reasons, when required by law, to protect rights and safety, or in connection with a merger or reorganization of ISTM.
How Long We Keep It
We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purpose we collected it, and to meet legal, accounting and reporting requirements.
If you unsubscribe or opt out, we keep only your email address on a do-not-contact list so we do not email you again.
How We Protect It
We maintain administrative, technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, and we review them from time to time. No security measure is perfect, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
International Transfers
ISTM is based in the United States, and our members and participants are located around the world. Your personal information will be stored and processed in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for these transfers, such as standard contractual clauses.
Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the rights below. These rights are not absolute. They may apply only in certain circumstances, may require us to verify your identity, and we may decline a request as permitted by law.
- Access / know: ask for access to the personal information we hold about you and how we use and share it.
- Delete: ask us to delete personal information we hold about you.
- Correct: ask us to correct inaccurate personal information.
- Portability: receive a copy of your personal information, or ask us to transfer it to a third party.
- Opt out of sale or sharing: direct us not to “sell” or “share” your personal information, as those terms are defined in applicable law.
- Restrict or object: ask us to stop or limit how we use your personal information, including for direct marketing.
- Withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent, withdraw it at any time.
- Appeal: appeal our decision if we decline your request. Instructions will be included in our response.
To make a request, email istm@istm.org. We aim to respond within the time required by the law that applies to you. If we need more time, we will tell you in writing why and how long.
Survey responses that ISTM collects in pseudonymized or aggregated form cannot be linked to you, so we cannot find, change or delete them after submission.
Children
ISTM’s services are intended for health professionals and other adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe we have, please contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new version on this page with a new “Last updated” date, and notify members of significant changes.
Contact us
International Society of Travel Medicine
1055 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
- General email: istm@istm.org
- Phone: +1 404 373 8282
- Data protection contact: Missy Zagroba, privacy@istm.org
If you have concerns we have not resolved, you may also contact the data protection authority where you live, such as your state, provincial or national privacy authority.
Last updated: 23 October 2026