Terms and Conditions of Participation & Privacy Notice

This document sets out the terms and conditions for participation in AQMCSE 2026 and explains how the organizers process personal data in connection with registration, participation, communications, social programme activities, presentation materials, photography, audio/video recordings, conference documentation, and use of the Dryfta event-management platform.

Part A - Terms and Conditions of Participation

1. Registration and participation
Registration for AQMCSE 2026 is required in order to attend the conference. By registering, you agree to provide accurate and complete information and to update the organizers if any relevant details change. Your registration is personal and may not be transferred to another person without prior approval from the organizers.

2. Payment, cancellation and refunds
Conference fees, payment deadlines, cancellation conditions and refund arrangements are set out on the registration page or in the registration confirmation. The organizers reserve the right to cancel unpaid registrations after the applicable payment deadline. Any refund requests must be submitted in writing to conference-secretariat@blueboxevents.nl. Refunds, if applicable, will be processed in accordance with the cancellation policy published by the organizers.

3. Programme changes
The organizers make every effort to deliver the conference programme as announced. However, the organizers reserve the right to make changes to the programme, speakers, session times, venues, social programme, technical visits or other arrangements where reasonably necessary. Such changes do not automatically entitle participants to a refund unless explicitly stated by the organizers.

4. Code of conduct
All participants are expected to behave respectfully and professionally towards other attendees, speakers, organizers, venue staff and service providers. The organizers may refuse admission to, or remove from the conference, any participant whose behaviour is disruptive, unsafe, discriminatory, harassing, unlawful or otherwise inappropriate.

5. Social programme and catering
The welcome reception and conference dinner are included in the conference ticket unless stated otherwise. Participants may be asked during registration to indicate which social programme activities they plan to attend. This information is used for planning, catering and reducing food waste. Participants are responsible for informing the organizers of any dietary preferences, allergies or accessibility needs in good time. The organizers will make reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests but cannot guarantee that all requests can be met.

6. Technical visits and optional activities
Technical visits or optional activities may be subject to limited capacity, safety rules, venue requirements or other conditions. Places may be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis or according to criteria determined by the organizers. Participants must follow all instructions provided by the organizers, host institutions or venue staff during technical visits and optional activities.

7. Presentation materials
Presenting authors are responsible for ensuring that their abstracts, slides, posters and other materials do not infringe third-party rights and do not contain confidential, unlawful or inappropriate content. If you are a presenting author, you may be asked whether you consent to the organizers making your presentation material, such as slides or poster, available to registered conference participants via the Dryfta platform. This permission applies only to distribution via the Dryfta platform to registered conference participants, unless otherwise agreed separately.

8. Photography, audio and video during the conference
Photographs, audio recordings and/or video recordings may be taken during the conference. During registration, attendees will be asked whether they consent to being identifiable in photographs, audio recordings and/or video recordings, and to the use of these materials by the organizers for conference-related documentation, educational, archival and promotional purposes, including on the conference website, social media, newsletters and future event communications.
Attendees who do not consent will be offered a red lanyard to help the organizers, photographers and videographers identify them and avoid using identifiable images or recordings of them for promotional purposes where reasonably possible. The red lanyard helps us respect this preference, but it may not always be possible to prevent attendees from appearing incidentally in general crowd, background or atmosphere images where this is unavoidable. In such cases, the organizers will take reasonable steps not to use images or recordings in which the attendee is clearly identifiable for promotional purposes without consent.

9. Liability
Participants attend the conference and related activities at their own risk, except where liability cannot be excluded under applicable law. The organizers are not responsible for loss, theft or damage to personal belongings, or for costs incurred by participants due to travel disruption, illness, force majeure, programme changes or other circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the organizers. Participants are advised to arrange appropriate travel, health and cancellation insurance where relevant.

10. Force majeure
The organizers are not liable for failure or delay in performing their obligations where this is caused by circumstances beyond their reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, strikes, public health measures, government restrictions, technical failures, security incidents or venue unavailability. Where necessary, the organizers may postpone, modify, relocate or cancel the conference.

11. Contact
For questions about registration, participation or these terms, please contact: conference-secretariat@blueboxevents.nl.

Part B - Privacy Notice

12. Data controller
For questions about this Privacy Notice or the processing of your personal data, please contact: conference-secretariat@blueboxevents.nl.

13. Personal data we process
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:
  • Name, affiliation, job title and contact details;
  • Registration and ticket information;
  • Billing details and payment-related information, where applicable;
  • Social programme attendance choices;
  • Dietary preferences, accessibility needs or other information you provide;
  • Visa-support information, where requested;
  • Abstract, author, speaker and presentation information;
  • Presentation materials, such as slides or posters;
  • Photographs, audio recordings and/or video recordings;
  • Communication records relating to your registration or participation;
  • Platform usage information and interactions with the Dryfta event platform, where applicable.
14. Purposes of processing
We process your personal data for the following purposes:
  • To manage your registration and participation;
  • To process payments, invoices and administrative records;
  • To communicate with you about the conference;
  • To organize the programme, sessions, social events, catering and logistics;
  • To support visa-related requests, where applicable;
  • To manage abstracts, speakers, presentations and conference materials;
  • To provide access to conference information, participant services and materials via Dryfta;
  • To make presentation materials available via Dryfta, where applicable and with permission;
  • To document the conference and, where consent has been given, use media for educational, archival and promotional purposes;
  • To comply with legal, tax, accounting and administrative obligations.
15. Use of the Dryfta event platform
AQMCSE 2026 uses the Dryfta event-management platform for conference registration, ticketing, participant administration, communication, abstract and speaker management, programme information, and access to conference-related materials where applicable. When you register for the conference or use the conference platform, personal data may be processed in Dryfta. This may include your name, contact details, affiliation, registration and ticket information, payment-related information, social programme choices, dietary or accessibility information, abstract or speaker information, presentation materials, communication records, and your interactions with the platform.
Dryfta processes personal data on behalf of the organizers for the purposes described in this document and in accordance with its applicable terms, privacy policy and data protection documentation. Dryfta may also process limited data for its own platform-security, account-management, legal or service-administration purposes, as described in Dryfta's own terms and privacy documentation. Where payment processing is enabled through Dryfta, payment services may be provided by a third-party payment processor, such as Stripe. Payment-related data may therefore also be processed by the applicable payment provider in accordance with its own terms and privacy documentation.

16. Legal basis for processing
Depending on the processing activity, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases:
  • Contractual necessity: to process your registration and provide access to the conference;
  • Legal obligation: for tax, accounting or other legal requirements;
  • Legitimate interests: for event administration, security, internal reporting, platform management and general conference documentation;
  • Consent: for specific uses such as identifiable photography, audio/video recordings for promotional purposes, and distribution of presentation materials via Dryfta.
Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect processing that took place before the withdrawal.

17. Photography, audio and video recordings
Where you provide consent, photographs, audio recordings and/or video recordings in which you may be identifiable may be used by the organizers for conference-related documentation, educational, archival and promotional purposes. If you do not consent, you will be offered a red lanyard to help the organizers, photographers and videographers identify you and avoid using identifiable images or recordings of you for promotional purposes where reasonably possible. You may withdraw your consent for photography, audio and/or video recordings at any time by contacting: conference-secretariat@blueboxevents.nl.

18. Presentation materials
If you are a presenting author and provide consent, your presentation material, such as slides or poster, may be made available to registered conference participants via the Dryfta platform. This permission applies only to distribution via the Dryfta platform to registered conference participants, unless otherwise agreed separately. Any wider publication or reuse may require separate permission. You may withdraw your consent for distribution of your presentation material by contacting: conference-secretariat@blueboxevents.nl.

19. Sharing personal data
We may share personal data with:
  • Conference organizers and authorized staff;
  • Dryfta, as the conference event-management platform provider, including for registration, ticketing, participant administration, communications, abstract and speaker management, programme information, and access to conference-related materials;
  • Payment processors and financial administration providers;
  • Venues, catering providers and logistics partners;
  • Abstract review, programme and speaker-management teams;
  • Photographers, videographers or media service providers;
  • Legal, tax or professional advisers;
  • Public authorities, where required by law.
We only share personal data where necessary for the purposes described in this document.

20. International transfers
Some service providers, including event-management or communication platforms such as Dryfta, may process personal data outside the European Economic Area. Where this happens, we will take appropriate measures to ensure that personal data remains protected in accordance with applicable data protection law, such as relying on adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses or other appropriate safeguards where required.

21. Retention periods
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this document, including legal, accounting, archival and reporting requirements.
  • Registration and payment records: up to 7 years, where required for accounting or tax purposes;
  • General attendee communication records: up to 12 months after the conference;
  • Dietary preferences and accessibility information: deleted shortly after the conference, unless needed longer for a specific reason;
  • Abstract, author and programme information: retained for academic, archival and reporting purposes;
  • Photos, audio and video used for documentation, archive or promotion: up to 5 years, unless consent is withdrawn and removal is reasonably possible;
  • Presentation materials on Dryfta: available until 12 months after the conference, unless removed earlier;
  • Personal data stored in Dryfta: retained for as long as necessary to manage the conference and complete post-conference administration, after which the organizers may request deletion or export of the relevant event data in accordance with the applicable Dryfta account settings and contractual arrangements.
22. Your rights
Under the GDPR, you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data; restrict or object to certain processing; request data portability, where applicable; withdraw consent, where processing is based on consent; and lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
To exercise your rights, please contact: conference-secretariat@blueboxevents.nl. Requests relating to your conference registration data should be addressed to the organizers. Where necessary, the organizers may coordinate with Dryfta to respond to such requests. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, or with another competent supervisory authority.

23. Updates to this document
We may update these Terms and Conditions of Participation & Privacy Notice where necessary. The latest version will be available on the conference website.
Last updated: June 2026




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