Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy & Cookie Notice

Effective Date: June 14th, 2026

The Institute for the International History of Medicine ("IIHM," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website (iihm.org) and interact with our platform.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked to you ("Personal Information") in the following contexts:

• • Fellowship Applications: When you apply for a fellowship, we collect your name, email address, institutional affiliation, curriculum vitae, and uploaded application materials (PDFs).
  • Donations: When you make a financial contribution, we collect your contact information. Payment processing is handled securely by Stripe; we do not store or process full credit card numbers on our servers.
  • Communications: When you subscribe to our newsletter or submit inquiries, we collect your email address. Subscriptions require double opt-in confirmation.
  • Automatically Collected Data: We collect basic server logs and technical data (e.g., IP address, browser type) necessary to ensure the security and functionality of the website.

2. Legal Basis and How We Use Your Information

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we process your Personal Information under the following legal bases:

• • Consent: To send newsletter updates and communications (which you may withdraw at any time).
  • Contractual Necessity: To evaluate and administer fellowship applications.
  • Legitimate Interest: To operate and secure our website, prevent fraud, and process charitable donations.
  • Legal Obligation: To retain donation records for tax acknowledgment and financial reporting.

3. Sharing and Third-Party Subprocessors

We do not sell your Personal Information, nor do we share it with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising. We share data only with trusted service providers acting on our behalf:

• • Stripe: For secure payment processing of donations.
  • Resend: For delivering transactional and newsletter emails.
  • Cloudflare (R2): For the secure cloud storage of fellowship application uploads.
  • Google: For embedded calendar displays (see Cookie Notice below).

Each provider processes data under its own privacy terms and strict data processing agreements.

4. Data Retention

We retain Personal Information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy. Fellowship application materials are retained for the duration of the review cycle and a reasonable archival period. Donation records are kept as required by applicable tax and accounting laws. Newsletter subscriber data is retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.

5. International Data Transfers

IIHM is located in the United States. If you are accessing our site from the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, or other regions with laws governing data collection, please note that your Personal Information will be transferred to and processed in the United States. By using our website and submitting your information, you consent to this transfer.

6. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your residency (such as California under the CCPA/CPRA or Europe under the GDPR), you may have the right to:

• • Access: Request a copy of the Personal Information we hold about you.
  • Correction: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • Deletion (Right to be Forgotten): Request that we erase your Personal Information, subject to certain legal exceptions (e.g., tax records).
  • Restriction/Objection: Object to our processing of your data or request we restrict its use.
  • Non-Discrimination: You will not be penalized or discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at director@iihm.org. We will verify your request and respond within the legally required timeframe.