Privacy Policy

At European Sperm Bank ApS ("ESB" or "we"), the protection of personal data and confidentiality is a high priority.

This privacy policy contains clear guidelines on how ESB processes your personal data when providing our services.

1. Controller and contact details

   European Sperm Bank ApS
   CVR no. 27506372
   Struenseegade 9, 2nd floor
   DK-2200 Copenhagen N
   Telephone: +45 38 34 36 00
   Email: info@europeanspermbank.com
   Data protection officer: dataprotection@europeanspermbank.com
   

2. Processing of your personal data

   Private purchasers and recipients of donor sperm, including from known donors

   When you create a profile on ESB's website, we process your contact details, details about your date of birth and about the clinic where you are planning to have your fertility treatment. We process this personal data to be able to create and manage your profile. The legal basis for processing this data is point (b) of article 6(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR").

   When you make purchases on ESB's website, we process your contact details and information about your choice of donor(s), purchase history, credit card details and treatment facility. This is done to perform the contract concerning the purchase of sperm (and, if relevant, establishment of storage facility) concluded between us. If you have requested "physical matching" to a donor, we will also process your photos to be able to perform the matching. The legal basis for processing this data is point (b) of article 6(1) of the GDPR.

   If you choose genetic matching to a potential donor, we will process your saliva samples or blood samples and information about your ethnicity and your health to be able to perform the matching between you and the potential donor. The legal basis for processing this data is the consent given by you under point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR.

   We also process information about your national ID number (CPR number). This is done to be able to uniquely identify you and comply with the requirements for traceability laid down in human tissue legislation.

   If you or your child is involved in an unintended incident, ESB will process the personal data concerning health that you provide to us and which is included in your medical record which we receive from your general practitioner etc. The purpose of this processing is to investigate the unintended incident. The legal basis for processing this data is point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR.

   Fertility clinics etc.

   When fertility clinics and other professional clients purchase donated sperm through ESB's website, we process contact details about the contact person with the client making the purchase. This is done to be able to contact the client. The legal basis for processing this data is point (f) of article 6(1) of the GDPR. Our legitimate interest is that we need to be able to contact the client in connection with our performance of the contract on supply of donated sperm.

   Known donors

   You are a "known donor" if you make your sperm available to women (recipients) who have chosen e.g. a friend or an acquaintance as a donor in advance. In that case, we process your contact details as a known donor to ensure identification of you and to be able to comply with the requirements for traceability laid down in legislation. The legal basis for processing this data is point (c) of article 6(1) of the GDPR.

   Before we pass on the sperm donated by you to the clinic inseminating the recipient, we will screen you for infectious diseases and perform a sperm analysis to test your sperm count and ensure that the sperm donated by you does not put the recipient at risk of infection. We store and pass on the sperm donated by you to the recipient to perform the contract concluded with the recipient and you in this respect. We also process information about your CPR number to be able to comply with the requirements for traceability laid down in legislation. The legal basis for processing this data is the consent given by you under point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR and section 11(2)(1) of the Danish Data Protection Act (databeskyttelsesloven).

   Depositors

   If you wish to deposit your sperm (and thereby become a depositor), we process your contact details to ensure identification of you and to be able to comply with the requirements for traceability laid down in legislation. The legal basis for processing this data is point (c) of article 6(1) of the GDPR.

   When your sperm is analysed and/or you are screened for infectious diseases, we process your genetic data and data concerning health to be able to test your sperm count and ensure that the sperm donated by you does not put a later recipient of your sperm at risk of infection. We store and pass on the sperm donated by you to the person named/identified in the depositor contract if you pass away while your sperm is deposited in our facilities, and we will process information about your CPR number to be able to comply with the requirements for traceability laid down in legislation. The legal basis for processing this data is the consent given by you under point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR and section 11(2)(1) of the Danish Data Protection Act.

   Sperm analysis for private clients

   When you purchase a sperm analysis from ESB, we process your contact details, purchase history and credit card details to be able to complete the purchase. The legal basis for processing this data is point (b) of article 6(1) of the GDPR.

   We also process your genetic data in the form of your sperm sample to be able to perform a sperm analysis and your data concerning health if your sperm analysis reveals such data (e.g. reduced sperm count). Moreover, we process information about your CPR number to ensure unique identification of you. The legal basis for processing this data is the consent given by you under point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR and section 11(2)(2) of the Danish Data Protection Act.

   Donor children

   If your mother has been inseminated with sperm from an open donor and you as a donor child contact ESB to establish contact with your biological father, we will process your contact details and such other personal data that you may disclose to us in that connection. The legal basis for processing this data is point (f) of article 6(1) of the GDPR. Our legitimate interest is that we need to be able to contact you in connection with your request.

   In certain circumstances, we need to perform a paternity test to ensure that the donor is your biological father. This implies that we need to collect a blood or saliva sample from you, following which we will process your genetic data. The legal basis for this is the consent given by you under point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR.

   Visitors on ESB's website

   When you use ESB's website, we process information about online identifiers and your navigation on the website. This is done to analyse and prepare statistics on your and other visitors' use of the website. The legal basis for processing this data is point (f) of article 6(1) of the GDPR. You may read more about our legitimate interests in our cookie policy.

3. Recipients

   When you as a known donor or depositor are screened for infectious diseases, we use processors, including accredited test laboratories to test for diseases etc. The employees of the test laboratories are subject to a duty of confidentiality, and the legal basis for processing in respect of disclosing your genetic data is the consent given by you under point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR.

   Your deposited or donated sperm will be passed on to the recipient and their treating fertility clinic according to the contract that you have concluded with ESB. The legal basis for disclosing your genetic data is the consent given by you under point (a) of article 9(2) of the GDPR.

   If ESB discontinues its activities, the personal data of donors will be disclosed to another tissue establishment to ensure compliance with the requirement for traceability laid down in section 11 of the Danish Consolidated Act on Requirements for Quality and Safety in the Handling of Human Tissue and Cells (bekendtgørelse om kvalitet og sikkerhed ved håndtering af humane væv og celler).

4. Transfer to third countries

   Your personal data (e.g. your name, CPR number and/or data concerning health and the actual sperm donation) may be transferred to your or the recipient's treatment facility or to a test laboratory located in countries in or outside the EU/EEA. This is done to perform our contract with you, to comply with national public authority requirements, to be able to identify you, to manage adverse reactions or to perform screening. Unless the European Commission has determined that the level of protection is adequate, the legal basis for the transfer is the model contract between ESB and the data recipient. You may find an example of the model contract here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32004D0915.

   Our processors may also transfer your personal data to their sub-suppliers in the US or other (unsecure) third countries. Such a transfer will be based on the EU-US Privacy Shield or the EU's standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries. You may access the model contract here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32010D0087&from=EN.

5. Storage of your personal data

   	Credit card details	Purchase history	Contact details	Genetic data and data concerning health	CPR number	Photo	Online identifiers
   Purchasers of sperm	5 years*	30 years**	30 years**	30 years**	30 years**	1 year****	Not applicable
   Contact persons in clinics	Not applicable	Not applicable	5 years*	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
   Depositors	5 years*	5 years*	30 years**	30 years***	30 years**	Not applicable	Not applicable
   Known donors	Not applicable	Not applicable	30 years**	30 years**	30 years**	Not applicable	Not applicable
   Sperm analysis clients	5 years*	5 years	5 years*	5 years*	5 years*	Not applicable	Not applicable
   Donor children	Not applicable	Not applicable	5 years*	5 years*	5 years*	Not applicable	Not applicable
   Visitors on ESB's websites	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	2 years after your latest visit

   
   

   * We will erase your personal data 5 years after the end of the financial year during which you made your purchase or contacted us.

   ** ESB is required to store all your personal data for at least 30 years after we have sent the sperm donated/purchased by you.

   *** If we do not send your donation and the sperm donated by you is destroyed, we will store your personal data for 5 years after destruction.

   **** We will erase your photo no later than 1 year after the physical matching has been performed.

6. Right to withdraw consent

   You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. If you wish to do so, please contact us at dataprotection@europeanspermbank.com.

   If you wish to withdraw your consent, it will not affect the lawfulness of our processing of your personal data on the legal basis of the consent previously given by you and up to the time of withdrawal. If you withdraw your consent, it will not become effective until such time.

7. Your rights

   Under the GDPR, you have several rights in relation to our processing of personal data about you.

   Right to access data (right of access)

   You have the right to access the data which we process about you and several other pieces of data.

   Right to rectification (correction)

   You have the right to have inaccurate data about you rectified.

   Right to erasure

   In certain circumstances, you have the right to have data about you erased before we are generally required to erase such data.

   Right to restriction of processing

   You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances. If you have the right to restrict the processing, we will, in future, only be permitted to process the data – except for storage – with your consent or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or for the protection of a person or important public interests.

   Right to object

   In certain circumstances, you have the right to object to our otherwise lawful processing of your personal data.

   Right to transmit data (data portability)

   In certain circumstances, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to have such data transferred from one controller to another without hindrance.

   You can read more about your rights in the Danish Data Protection Agency's (Datatilsynet) guidance on the data subjects' rights, which is available on www.datatilsynet.dk.

   If you wish to exercise one of the above rights, you may contact ESB at dataprotection@europeanspermbank.com.

8. Links to other websites etc.

   Our website may contain links to other websites or integrated websites. We are not liable or responsible for the contents of the websites of other businesses or their practices in respect of collection of personal data. When you visit other websites, you should read the owners' privacy policy and other relevant policies.

9. Data protection officer

   If you have any questions about how we process your personal data, you are welcome to contact our data protection officer at any time. You may contact our data protection officer at dataprotection@europeanspermbank.com.

10. Correction of personal data etc.

    If you wish to update, change or erase the personal data which we have registered about you, wish to access the personal data we process about you, or if you have any questions about this policy, you may contact us at dataprotection@europeanspermbank.com.

11. Complaints

    If you wish to complain about the processing of your personal data, you may contact us by email, telephone or letter by using our contact details stated in paragraph 1. You may also contact the Danish Data Protection Agency, Borgergade 28, 5th floor, DK-1300 Copenhagen K, at dt@datatilsynet.dk.