Privacy policy

Last Updated: February 2026

This policy governs the way AMEE obtains, uses, maintains, and discloses information collected from you.

It is your responsibility to review and understand this Privacy Policy prior to providing your personal data to us. If you do not accept and agree to the Privacy Policy, please refrain from providing your personal data to us.

Who we are

AMEE is an international community of health education professionals comprising of teachers, doctors, researchers, administrators, curriculum developers, assessors and students.

Some of our community become members of AMEE which entitles them to personal benefits and opportunities that help AMEE advance education in the health professions.

This Privacy Policy applies to all AMEE’s activities and initiatives, including:

• AMEE and ‘Ottawa’ Conferences
• Faculty Development Conferences
• AMEE Publications such as Medical Teacher, MedEdPublish and AMEE Education Guides
• ESME Courses
• Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) Collaboration
• ASPIRE to Excellence initiative

AMEE – The International Association for Health Professions Education Ltd, a Scottish registered charity with charity number SC053149 and a company number SC800900.

Our registered office is 11 Dudhope Terrace, Dundee DD3 6TS.

Purpose

This Privacy Policy explains when, why and how we collect personal information about users of AMEE’s services.

AMEE is a “data controller”. This means that AMEE is responsible for deciding how it holds and use personal information about you. 

We are required under applicable data protection legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy policy.

Our commitment

AMEE is fully committed to handling personal information in accordance with data protection legislation and information security best practices. This means that your personal information will be:

• Processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner
• Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes
• Only collected so far as required for our lawful purposes
• As accurate and up to date as possible
• Retained for a reasonable period of time in accordance with retention policies
• Processed in a manner which ensures an appropriate level of security

How we collect personal information

We collect information about you in a central database when you use any of our AMEE websites to enquire about membership, committees, conferences, courses, events or when you register to receive our newsletters.

We also collect information through:

• Email and written correspondence
• Telephone discussions
• Social media
• Application forms and other information requests
• Direct contact at our office, events and elsewhere

When you register with us or place an order for products or services, we collect the information necessary to administer this relationship, including processing orders, managing your membership, notifying you of board elections, subscription fee changes, or AMEE participation.

As part of membership registration, we also collect your date of birth to support identity verification, ensure accurate membership categorisation, prevent duplicate accounts, and enable anonymised demographic reporting in pursuit of AMEE’s charitable objectives.

Why we collect personal information

We may use your information to:

• Keep our lists of platform users and AMEE members up to date
• Carry out contractual obligations entered into with you
• Notify you of updates and changes to events, courses or services for which you are registered
• Maintain personal records of awards, certificates, course completions, and other AMEE participation
• Monitor and improve the products and services we provide
• Send you communications about AMEE events, conferences, courses or other initiatives relevant to our educational objectives

Marketing activity

We will contact you about future conferences, events, courses, and AMEE initiatives relevant to our educational objectives. 

We limit email marketing to what is reasonably necessary and provide an opportunity to opt out at any time.

We do not share your data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

The lawful basis for AMEE’s processing of personal data

We process personal data on the following bases:

• Legitimate interests (e.g. maintaining membership records, providing updates, delivering services aligned with our charitable aims).
• Performance of a contract (e.g. administering your membership, conference registration, or course participation).
• Legal obligations (e.g. compliance with statutory bodies such as HM Revenue & Customs).
• Public interest (e.g. obligations to regulators such as OSCR).

Processing of your date of birth is undertaken under AMEE’s legitimate interests in maintaining accurate membership records and demographic reporting, and where necessary for the performance of a contract such as verifying membership type or eligibility.

Third parties

We do not sell or rent your information to third parties.

Where we use third-party service providers, we only disclose the information necessary for them to perform their contracted services.

Third parties may include:

• Oversight regulators and statutory bodies (e.g. HM Revenue & Customs and OSCR)
• Software providers supporting our digital processes
• Approved event management partners (association systems, conference systems, online publication platforms)

How long we retain personal information

Retention periods depend on the purpose for which the information was obtained. We retain personal data only as long as required by law or for legitimate record-keeping and legal purposes.

Date of birth is retained only for as long as necessary to maintain accurate membership records and deliver membership-related services, after which it is securely deleted in accordance with AMEE’s retention schedule.

Where we store personal information

Your information is stored on secure servers. Some services are hosted by third-party contractors.

Personal information is processed by our staff online and at our office in Dundee, and by users who provide details through our systems.

We store data in secure cloud-based servers located within the EEA. Where information is transferred outside the EEA, we implement safeguards such as:

• UK IDTA
• UK Addendum to EU SCCs
• Binding data-sharing agreements

These safeguards apply equally to date of birth and ensure that your data is treated in accordance with UK and EU data protection laws.

IP addresses

We may collect information about the device you use to access our websites for analytics and performance improvement.

This data is anonymised and aggregated.

We apply security measures including SSL encryption and require users to keep passwords secure.

Browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer may display a lock icon when accessing secure pages.

Profiling

We may analyse personal information to create a profile of your interests.

Date of birth may be used to generate anonymised demographic insights but will not be used to make automated decisions about individuals.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to optimise user experience and provide analytics. 

Users may refuse cookies via browser settings, acknowledging this may reduce site functionality.

Payments

Payments are processed via third-party providers such as PayPal and Stripe.

These providers receive only the data necessary to process payments.

Other websites

Our website and emails may contain links to other organisations. 

We are not responsible for their content or privacy practices.

Your Rights

Users in the UK and EU have rights to:

• Access personal information
• Request correction
• Request deletion
• Object to processing
• Restrict processing
• Withdraw consent (where applicable)

Requests can be made via the contact details below.

Data Breach Procedures

In the event of a data breach, AMEE follows required legal procedures to inform affected individuals and authorities as appropriate.

Changes to this policy

We keep this policy under regular review.

Updates will be published on our website.

Paper copies may be requested by emailing communications@amee.org or writing to:
AMEE
11 Dudhope Terrace
Dundee
DD3 6TS
UK

Contact information and further advice

For any questions not covered in this policy, please email communications@amee.org.

Please include “GDPR Data Request” in the email subject for rights-related queries.