METREX Privacy and Cookies Policy

Contact us on +44 (0) 7840 436844 or info@eurometrex.org.

Your privacy
METEX is committed to building and maintaining your trust in our organisation and the activities we undertake. Our aim is to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and expertise on issues affecting cities and metropolitan areas. We do not sell or transmit your data without prior consent. Here you will find details of when and where we collect data and how we use it.

Types of data we collect

Website Cookies

https://www.eurometrex.org uses cookies to help provide you with the best experience we can. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or device when you browse websites. Our cookies help us: make our website work as you’d expect, remember any settings you have chosen during and between visits, improve the speed/security of the site, allow you to share pages with social networks, and continuously improve our website. We do not use cookies to collect any personally identifiable information (without your express permission) or sensitive information (without your express permission). We do not pass any data to other organisations.

Third-party

• Google Analytics: When someone visits our site we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.
• Cloudflare: METREX utilises a third-party tool called Cloudflare to enhance the performance and security of eurometrex.org. Cloudflare uses the _cflb, _cf_bm, and _cfduid technical cookies to maximize network resources, manage traffic, and protect our site from malicious traffic. Cookie data is processed in Cloudflare’s data center in the United States and is subject to the cross-border data transfer section (section 7) of the Cloudflare Privacy Policy. These cookies are essential to protect eurometrex.org from malicious traffic and as such, we are unable to offer user control to block these cookies.

METREX-controlled

• Comments: If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
• Logging-in: If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser. When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
• Editing or posting on eurometrex.org: If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
• Website profiles: METREX members have access to an online public-facing profile. The purpose of this is to enhance the network so that you and others can see who else is a member. We use a third-party tool for this called WordPress, which offers a structure upon which we can organise your data. This is a non-profit tool trusted by many associations: they do no collect data. Users have complete control over which data is stored and presented.

Data we collect

Mailing Lists
If you have opted-in to receive our email updates, this means we have collected your personal information. We do this in order to contact you by email about activities and events that we believe you will be interested in. We don’t rent or trade email lists with other organisations and businesses. We use a third-party system provided by Zoho Corporation to store the information you provide (Zoho CRM) and to email you (Zoho Campaigns). Through this we will gather statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies to help us monitor and improve our e-newsletter. You can unsubscribe to general mailings at any time of the day or night by contacting stephen.gallagher@eurometrex.org.

Database
If you are a member of METREX we collect additional information you provide to us about you and the organisation you represent within METREX. We collect this additional data – such as contact details, biography, organisation and job title – to enhance networking capabilities across the organisation and to connect you with relevant activities. If have previously been invited to join as a member, or have resigned as a member, we retain limited data to ensure we have a record of this so that we don’t waste your time with future invitations. This includes your name, organisation, job title and date of contact / membership. We use third-party systems provided by Zoho Corporation (Zoho CRM) and Microsoft (Sharepoint) to store the information you provide. For more information please contact stephen.gallagher@eurometrex.org.

Personal identifiable information]
Occasionally for events with increased security we need to request information such as passport or ID details. Only the minimum required information will be requested. This information will be shared only with the services that need it in order for the event or activity to take place as planned. For example, events in the European Parliament require advanced authorisation of all delegates, including passport or ID details, date of birth, etc. METREX will not hold such information beyond the date that is necessary.

Ticketing
When you register your attendance at a METREX event, the details that you submit will be retained for the purposes of logging your interaction with our network. This helps us tailor future events according to who has attended previous events.

Data storage
Data is stored in these locations:

• Microsoft Sharepoint – (METREX data storage)
• Interxion Frankfurt – part of DE-CIX (website server)
• Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns (contact database / Email Campaigns)

Access to your personal information

You are entitled to view, amend or delete any personal information we hold about you. Please email your request to METREX.

Changes to this policy

METREX reviewed this policy in 2020.

How do I control my cookies?

You should be aware that any preferences will be lost if you delete all cookies and many websites will not work properly or you will lose some functionality. For these reasons we do not recommend turning cookies off when using our website.

Most browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can alter the settings of your browser to erase cookies or prevent automatic acceptance if you prefer. You generally have the option to see what cookies you have got and delete them individually, block third-party cookies or cookies from particular sites, accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is issued or reject all cookies. Visit the ‘options’ or ‘preferences’ menu on your browser to change settings, and check the following links for more browser-specific information.

Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari

Managing performance cookies
It is possible to opt out of having your anonymised browsing activity within websites recorded by performance cookies.

Google Analytics: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Posted Feb 11, 2019
Revised Feb 7, 2024