LEGAL
Privacy Policy
Last updated 24 October 2026.
Who we are
ISVS, the International Society of Veterinary Specialists, is a society of veterinary specialists. We run this website and a members-only portal at isvs.vet. ISVS operates from India and is the data controller for personal data collected through this site.
Nothing is sold on this site. We do not take payments and there is no checkout.
Reach us through the contact form at isvs.vet/contact, or by email at team@isvs.vet.
What we collect when you apply
Your name, your email address, the college or body that certified you, your credential, your specialty, and what you are interested in.
That is all. We do not ask for a phone number, a postal address, a date of birth or an employment history.
Checking that you are a specialist
Membership is open to specialists, CertAVP holders and RCVS-recognised specialists, or the equivalent. We check what you tell us, which may include looking you up on the public register of the college or body you name. If we cannot confirm it we will ask you about it, or decline the application.
What we hold once you are a member
Your profile, what you post in the portal, files you upload, and a record of which spaces you can reach.
Posts and files are visible to everyone else who can reach the same space. Treat a space as a room of colleagues rather than a private message. Site administrators can see all content in every space.
Trainees enrolled by partner institutions
Trainees are enrolled by VHI partner institutions, not by applying here. If your institution sends you an enrolment link we collect your name, your email address and the password you choose.
The lead at your institution can see that you have joined their training group and can remove you from it, which withdraws your access. Trainees reach only their institution’s training spaces and the teams supporting their training.
Rounds and video
Rounds run inside the portal through 8×8’s Jitsi service. When you start or join a round, your name and email address are passed to that service so it can identify you in the session.
Rounds are not recorded. Recording, live streaming and transcription are switched off.
Email from the site — your application, your enrolment, and notifications — is sent through Emailit. We keep a log of what the site sends for 30 days so we can tell whether a message was delivered, and it is then deleted.
Technical data
Our host keeps standard server logs, including your IP address, your browser and the pages you request. We use them for security and to diagnose faults.
Why we are allowed to hold this
Where the UK or EU GDPR applies we rely on your consent, for your application and for any non-essential cookies, which you may withdraw at any time; and on our legitimate interests in running a professional society, confirming that members are specialists, keeping private spaces private, and keeping the site secure. We do not rely on a purchase contract, because nothing is sold here.
Where Indian law applies we process your data for the purposes you gave it to us for, under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.
Who else processes your data
Our website host, Hostinger; our email provider, Emailit; 8×8, for video rounds; and the services we use to back up and maintain the site. They act on our instructions.
Some of them process data outside your country, including outside the EU and UK. Where the law requires it, those transfers are made under appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
Cookies
Cookies that are strictly necessary — keeping you signed in and holding your session — are set when you use the site. Anything else is set only if you agree through the cookie banner, and your choice is recorded so we can show that you made it. You can change or withdraw it at any time from the banner or in your browser settings.
How long we keep things
An application we do not approve is deleted within twelve months. Your membership record and what you have posted stay while you are a member. If you ask us to close your account we remove your profile and your personal details, and we will tell you what happens to posts other members have replied to.
Email logs are kept for 30 days. Server logs are kept for as long as our host retains them.
Your rights
You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, to delete it, to restrict or object to what we do with it, and to withdraw your consent.
In the EU and UK you can also complain to a supervisory authority — the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK, or your national authority in the EU. In India you have rights of access, correction, erasure and grievance redressal under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.
Write to us and we will answer within the time the law allows. Reach us through the contact form at isvs.vet/contact, or by email at team@isvs.vet.
Children
Membership is for qualified veterinary professionals. We do not knowingly collect data from children.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS. Access to private spaces is controlled by membership groups, and sign-in attempts are rate-limited.
No online service can be guaranteed secure. We take reasonable steps, and where the law requires it we will tell you and the relevant authority about a qualifying breach.
Changes
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the current version.
One note on this document
This policy describes what the site actually does. It is not legal advice. Have it reviewed by a qualified lawyer before you rely on it, particularly on the Indian Digital Personal Data Protection Act and on transfers out of the EU and UK.