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Afghanistan Physics Associationانجمن فیزیک افغانستان
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Privacy policy

This page explains what the Afghanistan Physics Association keeps about you when you use this website, why, who can see it, and how to have it changed or removed. We have tried to write it plainly. If anything is unclear, write to us.

01Who is responsible

The Afghanistan Physics Association (APA) runs this website and decides how your information is used. Our registered office is still being confirmed.

For anything about your personal data, email privacy@apa.example. A named member of the board reads that inbox.

02What we keep, and when

We only keep what you give us or what the site needs to work:

  • Account: your name, email address and preferred language. Your password is stored only as a one-way hash; nobody at APA can read it.
  • Profile (optional): institution, country, a short bio, research interests and ORCID iD.
  • Learning: the courses you enrol in, which lessons you finish, quiz scores and any certificates you earn.
  • Events: which events you register for and whether you attended.
  • Membership: your applications, the category you chose, any fee-waiver request and the note you wrote.
  • Journal: manuscripts you submit, reviews you write and the editors’ decisions.
  • Messages: what you send through the contact form, and your email if you subscribe to the newsletter.
  • Security: your IP address is used for a few minutes to stop repeated sign-in attempts and spam. It is stored scrambled (hashed) and the record is deleted soon after.

03Why we use it

To run your account and the services you ask for: courses, certificates, event places, membership, the journal and replies to your messages.

To send the emails you would expect — a password reset link, a decision on your application or manuscript, a confirmation that we received your message — and the newsletter if you signed up for it.

We do not sell personal data, show advertising or build marketing profiles. We do not use analytics or tracking tools.

04Who can see your information

  • Association staff can see what they need for their role: administrators manage accounts and membership, editors manage content and the journal, instructors see the progress of learners in their own courses.
  • The collaborator directory shows your name, institution, country and interests only if you tick the box to be listed, and only to other members who are signed in.
  • A certificate page shows your name, the course or event and the date. Anyone with the certificate link can open it, so it can be checked by an employer or university.
  • Reviewers see the title, abstract and author names of the manuscript they review. Authors never see who reviewed their work.
  • Published journal articles, with their author names, are public.

05Your safety

We know that being publicly linked to education, science or an international organisation can carry personal risk for some people in Afghanistan, especially women and girls.

We never publish a member’s name, photo or location without their clear permission. You may use initials or a shortened name on your account. If you want something removed from the website quickly — a name on a certificate, a directory entry, an author name — write to privacy@apa.example and we will act on it as a priority.

06Services that handle data for us

Our hosting provider stores the website, database and uploaded files. Our email provider (Resend) delivers the emails described above; it receives the recipient’s address and the message text.

Fonts are served from our own server. When a lesson includes a YouTube video, it is embedded through YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, and YouTube only receives information if you press play.

07Cookies

The site sets two cookies, both necessary for it to work. There are no advertising, analytics or third-party cookies.

  • apa_session — keeps you signed in. It is removed when you sign out and expires after 30 days.
  • apa_locale — remembers whether you chose English, Dari or Pashto. It lasts one year.

08How long we keep it

  • Contact messages: 12 months.
  • Event registrations: 2 years, so certificates can still be checked.
  • Membership records: while you are a member, plus 2 years.
  • Course progress and certificates: until you close your account.
  • Journal submissions and reviews: published articles permanently, as part of the scholarly record; unpublished manuscripts and their reviews for 3 years after the final decision.
  • Backups are kept for 14 days and then deleted.

09Your choices

  • Correct your details at any time from your profile.
  • Leave the collaborator directory by unticking the box in your profile.
  • Unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link in any newsletter email.
  • Ask for a copy of everything we hold about you, or ask us to delete your account. Write to privacy@apa.example; we reply within 30 days. Published articles and issued certificates may need to stay in a reduced form, and we will explain what stays and why.

10Changes to this policy

If we change how we use personal data, we will update this page and change the date at the top. For significant changes we will also tell members by email before they take effect.

This policy will be reviewed by legal counsel before the association completes its registration.