Privacy statement

Artsen zonder Grenzen (Médecins Sans Frontières Netherlands, hereinafter “MSF”) has a legal and ethical duty to protect the personal information you share with MSF. We process your personal data with care and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) and the GDPR Implementation Act (UAVG).

We also comply with all codes of conduct of the sector association Goede Doelen Nederland and the (privacy) codes of the Dialogue Marketing Association (DDMA). Since 2012, we have been awarded the Privacy Waarborg certification (see www.privacywaarborg.nl for more information).

MSF is the data controller under the GDPR and therefore responsible for the lawful collection, use, and sharing (processing) of personal data. We only collect personal data that is strictly necessary to achieve the specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes outlined in this privacy notice.

MSF is registered at Plantage Middenlaan 14, 1018 DD in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Directly

You may provide us with personal data when you:

• make a donation;
• request a periodic donation agreement;
• register for one of our meetings or events;
• organize a fundraising activity for us (including online at www.actiezondergrenzen.nl);
• communicate with us;
• request a brochure or magazine;
• request a guest speaker;
• subscribe to email newsletters;
• leave a comment on our social media accounts.

Social media

We may obtain information about you through your social media accounts or services, but only if you have given permission for this. You can manage these settings yourself by clicking “Cookies” at the bottom of the page.

Websites

To improve our services, we also collect personal data. For example, we analyze website click behavior to determine which articles are read most often and monitor open rates to assess whether our newsletters are relevant. For this purpose, we store cookies in your internet browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer) when you visit our websites. In addition to necessary cookies, there are also optional cookies that you can manage. Read more about cookies.

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors like you use our website without storing your personal data. We only track things such as the order in which pages are viewed and how long pages remain open. In short, we do not collect your personal data through Google Analytics, nor do we share it with Google. See our explanation of how we use Google Analytics and the data processing agreement we have concluded.

Email subscriptions

You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time via the unsubscribe link included in the email.

Indirectly

We may obtain your personal data through third parties and use public sources to supplement and keep your data up to date.

We process the following personal data:

• Personal details (such as name, gender, date of birth) and contact details (such as address, email address, and telephone number). We process this data to handle your questions and requests, to register you for our events, to contact you regarding updates and fundraising activities, to provide information when you organize activities for us (for example through www.actiezondergrenzen.nl), and when you appoint us as executor of your will. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  •  Consent;
  • Legal obligation;
  • Legitimate interest.

Justification of legitimate interest: maintaining relationships, respecting preferences, promoting engagement.

• Financial information (such as bank details, payment methods, refunds). We process this data to manage and record your donations and recurring contributions. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  • Consent;
  •  Contractual necessity;
  • Legal obligation.

• Information about your support for MSF (such as donation amounts). We process this data to analyze previous donations for retention strategies. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  • Legitimate interest.

Justification: maintaining relationships, respecting preferences, promoting engagement.

• Device and network information (such as your IP address, social ID, and browsing behavior). We process this data: to track engagement, to show you online information tailored to your interests, needs, and engagement. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  • Your consent to allow certain types of cookies in your browser;
  • Legitimate interest:

Justification: optimizing campaigns, increasing fundraising effectiveness.

• Email address. We also use custom audiences via social media and advertising platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Google, and DPG Media targeting. These platforms may display personalized advertisements or exclude you from certain advertisements. To do this, we upload email addresses to our advertising accounts on these platforms. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  • Legitimate interest.

Justification: these data are necessary to target the correct audience and use advertising budgets efficiently.

• Voice recordings ((telemarketing calls). We process these data to improve telemarketing activities. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  • Consent;
  • Legitimate interest.

Justification: feedback analysis, outreach optimization.

•  Health information (dietary requirements, disability-related comments). We process these data to provide accessibility support for inclusive participation in events. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  • Explicit consent.

• Anonymous recordings of website visits, mouse tracking, and heatmaps. We process these data to improve user experience and make our websites more user-friendly. We use Hotjar to anonymously record and analyze visitor sessions on our websites. These recordings are used solely for analysis and optimization and are retained for a maximum of 365 days before automatic deletion. We process this data based on the following legal bases:
  •  Legitimate interest.

Justification: optimizing the website for a better user experience.

We share personal data with organizations that help us carry out our mission. These organizations may only use the data for the tasks assigned by us and are required to use and secure your personal data carefully. They must keep the data confidential and destroy it after use. We make clear agreements about this in advance.

We work with organizations for activities such as:

• processing donations;
• handling incoming phone calls;
• conducting fundraising campaigns;
• carrying out research.

Personal data are only shared with tax authorities, law enforcement agencies, or supervisory authorities such as the Dutch Data Protection Authority if we are legally required to do so.

Under no circumstances will MSF sell your data or make them freely available to other organizations or companies.

This website contains links to external websites. MSF is not responsible for the use or content of external websites linked from this site or websites linking to this site. Our Privacy Statement, including the cookie provisions, does not apply to personal data collected and processed through those external websites.

MSF stores your personal data in a secure database. Physical, technical, and organizational measures have been implemented to protect your personal data.

All data entered into our electronic forms are transmitted via a secure connection, ensuring that data exchanged between you and our computers cannot be read by others.

MSF uses a secure internet environment whenever you complete a one-time donation or donor registration. Through SSL, your transaction data are encrypted during transmission over the internet. You do not need special software to pay via SSL. You can recognize a secure SSL connection by the “green padlock” in your browser.

Bank transfers are carried out using the specific security methods of your own bank.

MSF retains your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and in compliance with legal and statutory obligations.

We retain your name and email address as long as you are subscribed to our newsletters and/or mailings.

To determine and establish retention periods, we consider factors such as:
legal retention obligations, the purposes for which the personal data were originally collected, the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data.

Under the GDPR, you have several rights regarding your personal data, including the right to access, correct, or delete them. To exercise these rights, contact us at vragen@amsterdam.msf.org or 0800-0102 (free of charge).

We will process your request as quickly as possible, although this may take up to 30 days. You may be asked to answer identifying questions.

Access and information
You can request overview of the personal information we hold about you by contacting us using the details above.

Rectification
If you believe the personal data we hold about you are incorrect, you have the right to request corrections.

Restriction
You have the right to ask us to stop or restrict the use of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example if they are no longer necessary for the original purpose or if there is disagreement about their accuracy or lawful use.

Withdrawal of consent and objection
Where we process personal data based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. We will then stop processing your data for that purpose. If we process your personal data based on our legitimate interest, for example for direct marketing purposes, you may object at any time.

To withdraw consent or object to processing, contact us using the details above.

We conduct fundraising campaigns (online, by post, via telemarketing, and face-to-face) to raise funds for our humanitarian work and to inform you about MSF activities and the impact of your support.

If you do not want advertisements shown through these platforms, you can opt out directly on the platforms themselves:
– Facebook/Instagram (Meta)
– LinkedIn
– X.com
Please note that you may still see our advertisements if you belong to a general target audience we are targeting.

Deletion
In some cases, you have the right to request deletion of your personal data (“right to erasure”) or transfer to another organization (“data portability”), for example if you believe we no longer need the data or are using them unlawfully.

If you have requested not to be contacted again, we must retain limited information to ensure you are not contacted in the future.

Data portability
If we process your personal data based on consent or for the performance of a contract, you may request a copy of the data you provided in a standard format so you can transfer them to another controller. Where technically feasible, you may also request us to transfer the data directly to another controller.

If you no longer want us to contact you, you can inform us at any time:
call 0800-0102 or email to vragen@artsenzondergrenzen.nl.

If you have any complaints or comments regarding the handling of your request or the processing of your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@amsterdam.msf.org.

You can also write by post to:

Artsen zonder Grenzen
Data Protection Officer
Plantage Middenlaan 14
1018 DD Amsterdam
The Netherlands

If you are concerned about how your data are used or wish to file a complaint, please contact us using the contact details above.

You also have the right to submit a complaint to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) via their official complaint form.

This Privacy Statement was last updated on: 10-08-2026.

We update this Privacy Statement whenever necessary. If we make important changes to the way we handle your personal data, we will clearly communicate this on our websites or contact you directly.