Privacy Policy

United Optometrist Forum (UOF) ("UOF", "we", "our", or "us") is a registered professional forum based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Registration No. SC 242014401). We are committed to protecting the personal data of our members, website visitors, and event participants in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on Personal Data Protection (PDPL) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share your personal information when you visit uof.world or interact with our services.

We may collect the following categories of personal data:

• Identity data: full name, date of birth, nationality, profession, and membership ID.
• Contact data: email address, phone number, and postal address.
• Account data: login credentials (stored as a one-way cryptographic hash), session tokens, and account preferences.
• Membership data: membership tier, zone, expiry date, and payment status.
• Event data: registration details for conferences, webinars, and CME activities.
• Profile data: professional biography and profile photograph (uploaded voluntarily).
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, and pages visited (collected via server logs).
• Communications: messages sent to us via email or contact forms.

We do not collect sensitive personal data such as health records, financial account numbers, or government-issued identity document numbers unless explicitly required for a specific service and with your separate consent.

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

• To create and manage your UOF membership account.
• To issue membership certificates, CME certificates, and birthday certificates.
• To process event registrations and send confirmation communications.
• To operate the Member Directory (name, zone, and tier only — no contact details are publicly displayed without consent).
• To send newsletters, event announcements, and professional updates (you may unsubscribe at any time).
• To respond to enquiries submitted through our contact channels.
• To comply with our legal obligations under UAE law.
• To maintain the security and integrity of our platform.

We rely on the following legal bases for processing: contract performance (membership services), legitimate interests (platform security, fraud prevention), legal obligation (regulatory compliance), and consent (marketing communications and optional profile data).

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:

• Service providers: email delivery, cloud hosting, and payment processing partners who process data on our behalf under data processing agreements.
• Event co-organisers: where you register for a jointly organised event, limited registration data may be shared with the co-organiser.
• Regulatory authorities: where required by UAE law or a valid legal order.
• Professional bodies: aggregated, anonymised statistics only (no individual data).

Any third-party processor is contractually required to handle your data securely and only for the purposes we specify.

We retain your personal data for as long as your membership is active and for a further period of five (5) years after termination, unless a longer retention period is required by UAE law. Technical logs are retained for 90 days. You may request earlier deletion subject to our legal obligations — see Section 7 below.

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. Passwords are stored using industry-standard one-way cryptographic hashing (scrypt). Data in transit is encrypted using TLS. Access to personal data is restricted to authorised personnel on a need-to-know basis. Despite these measures, no internet transmission is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erase your data (subject to legal retention obligations).
• Restrict or object to certain processing activities.
• Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days. If you are an EU/EEA resident and believe we have not addressed your concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

We use strictly necessary session cookies to maintain your login state. We do not currently use third-party advertising or analytics cookies. If we introduce optional analytics in the future, we will update this policy and obtain your consent where required.

Our services are intended for healthcare professionals and are not directed at individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such data, please contact us immediately.

UOF is based in the UAE. If you access our services from outside the UAE, your data may be transferred to and processed in the UAE. Where data is transferred to countries outside the UAE, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with the UAE PDPL.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page will be updated accordingly. For material changes, we will notify members by email. Continued use of our services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

For any privacy-related queries or to exercise your rights, please contact: