Privacy Policy

IAPP-Group-Member

Last updated - April 2026

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA, we, us, our) leads a worldwide collaborative movement for doping-free sport. We are a private, not-for-profit foundation seated in Lausanne, Switzerland and headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

This Privacy Policy explains how WADA collects, uses, shares, and manages your personal information in connection with our Platforms, meaning our website, newsletters, social media, content, and resources available via www.wada-ama.org, other digital platforms we manage (for example, the PlayTrue Quiz, WADAConnect, and WADAGrants), and through our other interactions with you. WADA, whose head office is at Stock Exchange Tower 800 Place Victoria (Suite 1700), Montreal (Quebec) H4Z 1B7, Canada, is the controller responsible for your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. 

Specific privacy policies might apply to certain of our Platforms or activities. Where this is the case, these will be brought to your attention and will apply instead of this Policy. For example, see our:

Click on these headers to go to what you want to know: 

What types of personal information we process and why

Personal information is any information that may identify you, directly or indirectly, as an individual, for example, your name, address, email and/or phone number. Primarily, we collect personal information directly from you (for example, where you provide such information through our Platforms, when you contact us, or apply for a job with WADA). We may also collect personal information about you when you interact with our Platforms, or through third-party sources. 

Here are the purposes for which we collect personal information:

To provide you with our updates & resources

News - We send important updates about WADA’s activities to our stakeholders by email. These updates include WADA decisions, statements, grant application invitations, reports, new resources, and upcoming events or webinars. Where the update is mainly relevant to a specific interest group (for example, anti-doping organizations or laboratories), we limit the mailout to this group.

If you are part of the anti-doping community and interact with us directly as part of your work, you may already be included on our contact list and be receiving these updates. Our contact database contains personal information like names, email addresses, phone numbers and job titles. You can also subscribe to WADA news by sending us a request to be added to our mailing list.

In any case, you can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails. However, please note that you may continue to receive transactional or account-related communications from us.

The third-party provider (Mailchimp) we use to manage mailouts also provides us with aggregate information about the performance of our emails, like click rates, dates of access, and bounce backs. Mailchimp uses some of this technical information for its own purposes – for details, review Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy. 

Webinars - If you register for a webinar, we receive your name and email address and will use it to register you and to send you a confirmation email as well as a short survey after the webinar. You can cancel your registration or unsubscribe from any further Microsoft Teams emails about the WADA webinar by using the links included in your confirmation email. Our webinar platform Microsoft Teams may also provide us with aggregate information on attendance and engagement with our content.  

Athlete Outreach - If you participate in our Play True Quiz, we will ask for your name and country (you can provide fictional information if you wish), and the language you want to complete the quiz in. This information is used to rank participants and display the latest top 10. If you want to receive WADA’s athlete outreach materials, you will be asked to complete a form requesting your name and contact information. You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails.

Public Consultation - If you want to submit comments as part of a public consultation process, you will need to create an account on WADAConnect, our consultation platform. To do so, we ask that you provide your name, email address, phone number, job title, and organization type, name and country. We use this information to create and administer your WADAConnect account, and to attribute any public comments you submit. We may also periodically consult our stakeholders through surveys sent by email. These are optional, and you can unsubscribe from our emails at any time using the unsubscribe link (see ‘News’ above, for details).

Social Media - We use social media platforms to share information about WADA and its mission, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Youtube. We also post pictures or videos from our events. Please note that if you tag us in a picture or a post on these platforms, we may repost your content. We also include a link to these platforms on our website, and allow you to share content to these platforms.

Social media platforms provide us with aggregate information about our followers, people who interact with our Platforms, or people who share similarities with those groups, like age, country, and interests. We may use this information to help us select the content we share on our social media platforms that we think will be of most interest. These platforms collect personal information about users for their own purposes, and you should consult their privacy policies for more details.

To operate, deliver, and improve the Platforms

You can provide us with feedback on some of our Platforms. When you do so, we ask for your email address and your comments so that we can follow up with you if needed.

You can send us a request or question using our contact form. We will ask you for the stakeholder group you are part of, your name, language preference, and email address, along with your inquiry so that we can respond to you.

Digital platforms process certain technical data automatically to function. This includes data about the device and/or browser you use to access a Platform as well as the actions you take on the Platform (for example, the IP address and type of device or browser used, the date and time of visit, crash reports, time spent, page speeds/resolution, and pages viewed and requested).

Aggregated technical data also helps us measure and improve the performance of our Platforms. Skip to Cookies for more information on the collection of Technical Data using cookies, and what we do with this data.

To process your application for a job

You can apply for a job via our Career opportunities page (currently powered by a third-party software provider, BambooHR). We will ask you to complete an application form with your contact information along with your CV and cover letter. If your application matches our criteria, we may also process additional personal information about you, like interview and referee notes, and may ask for your consent to conduct background checks. For some positions, we may work with recruitment agencies to find suitable candidates, in which case we may receive personal information about you from such agencies.

To process your application for a position on WADA’s Executive Committee or one of its other permanent or ad hoc committees 

You can apply for a position on the WADA Executive Committee or any one of the other permanent or ad hoc committee via the instructions on the applicable call for applicants or our spontaneous application form. Depending on the position you are applying for, we will ask you to provide information such as your contact information, your CV, a cover letter, an eligibility form and a letter of recommendation. We may also ask you to provide information about your gender and nationality, on a voluntary and optional basis, as part of our efforts to improve regional and gender representation on WADA’s governance bodies. If you are nominated by your sporting organization, your organization will provide your candidate file to WADA, which includes the personal information listed above. If your application matches our criteria, we may ask for your consent to conduct background checks.   

In relation to your position on WADA’s Foundation Board or Executive Committee or one of its other permanent or ad hoc committees

If you are a member of the Foundation Board and Executive Committee and other permanent or ad hoc committees, we process personal information like contact information to manage the activities of the relevant governance body.  We may also ask you to provide information about your gender and nationality, on a voluntary and optional basis, as part of our efforts to improve regional and gender representation on WADA’s governance bodies. We are required by Swiss law to provide a list of our Foundation Board members to Swiss authorities, which includes contact information and a copy of a travel document for each member. 

To process your application for a WADA grant

To apply for a WADA grant, you will be asked to create an account on our grants platform (WADAGrants) by choosing a username and password and providing your email address. You will be asked to complete an application form and submit supporting documents like a CV. We use this information to create and manage your WADAGrants account and process your application.

To arrange for your travel to or participation in a WADA event or meeting

If WADA is arranging for your travel to or participation in a WADA event or meeting, we will need personal information to book your travel and process any relevant expense reimbursements. This can include your contact information, dates/purpose of visit, travel booking details, travel document, mileage card information, meal preferences and expense details. You will typically receive a request from WADA staff if this information is needed; for a larger event, you may also be asked to provide it through an online platform. We use third-party software and platforms to book and manage travel requests.  We also use third-party software to conduct online meetings and events.

Legal bases we rely on to process personal information

Where such concept is recognized under applicable law, we rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information: 

  • To fulfil a contract we have entered into with you, or take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract; 
  • Our legitimate interests to:  
    • maintain our operations and manage our relationships; 
    • continuously improve our Platforms and to ensure the efficient and proper functioning of our Platforms across devices; 
    • maintain security and safety, prevent threats, fraud, theft and other unlawful activities that may impact our Platforms, services and systems; 
    • promote WADA’s activities and our objectives; 
    • recruit, consider and contact job applicants; 
  • To comply with legal obligations, including to perform accounting, auditing, billing, and collection activities and meet financial and administrative obligations; 
  • To establish, exercise or defend ourselves from actual or prospective legal claims, and otherwise defend our rights; 
  • With your consent, where required, for instance to conduct marketing, including sending you messages, news, and other types of information about our products and services, or where you apply for a job with us, or for any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection.

When and where we share personal information

Within WADA: The Platforms we operate and manage ourselves (like our website, WADAGrants and WADAConnect) are hosted in Canada. WADA’s head office is in Montreal (Canada). WADA staff located in its Regional Offices have access to personal information only to the extent necessary to fulfill their duties and will treat the data in confidence.

WADA Foundation Board and Committees: WADA Foundation Board, Executive Committee and other permanent or ad hoc committee members, who may be located anywhere in the world, have access to personal information (e.g., applicant information in accordance with WADA’s Governance Regulations) only to the extent necessary to fulfil their duties and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.  

Athlete Commissions/Councils: If you apply for a position on WADA’s Athlete Council, your candidate biography will be shared with the athlete commissions or councils responsible for voting for candidates in accordance with the WADA Athlete Council Election Procedure. These commissions/councils may be located anywhere in the world. Your bio will also be shared on WADA’s website to provide all candidates with visibility during the election process.  

Service Providers: We use trusted service providers, as well as third-party software, to operate and manage the Platforms and provide services on our behalf, including to host and maintain them; to communicate and share content with you; to manage job applications; to manage and book travel; to organize online events and meetings; and to deliver webinars to you.

Legal and Compliance: WADA may disclose your personal information to governmental and other authorities where required by law or compulsory legal process and to other organizations in the case of investigating a breach of an agreement or a contravention of law, or to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim. Our service providers are subject to the laws of the countries in which they operate, and could be compelled by legal process to disclose personal information to courts, law enforcement or other public authorities.

International Data Transfers: Where possible, we work with service providers who can keep any personal information processed on our behalf in Canada or another jurisdiction recognized for providing strong levels of data protection. Where our service providers or a Regional Office are not based in Canada or another jurisdiction deemed to provide an adequate level of protection (for example, the United-States), we take appropriate steps to ensure that personnel based in such Regional Offices and relevant service providers are subject to a duty of confidentiality, and we implement measures, such as standard data protection contractual clauses, to ensure that any transferred personal information remains protected and secure to the extent required by law.

Safeguards and retention

We adopt measures, including administrative, technical, physical and contractual measures, to protect personal information in our custody and control against theft, loss and unauthorized access, use, modification and disclosure. This includes restricting access to your personal information on a need-to-know basis to employees and authorized service providers who require access to fulfill their designated functions.

We retain your personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described above or as required by applicable legal requirements or to defend ourselves against legal claims.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you reside, you may also have certain rights under applicable laws and under the International Standard for Data Protection, subject to applicable exceptions. These rights may include: rights to access, correct and/or delete your information, the right to object the processing of your information, the right to restrict the processing of your personal information, the right to data portability, and the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority or to obtain other remedies with respect to unlawful processing of your information. Where our processing of your personal information is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.  Contact us via privacy@wada-ama.org  to exercise your rights.  

If you need to update or delete your WADAConnect account, please send your request to:

connect@wada-ama.org.

If you need to update or delete your WADAGrants account, please send your request to:

science@wada-ama.org. 

You can unsubscribe from WADA emails using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email at any time. If you are an anti-doping stakeholder, you may continue to receive communications from WADA staff related to your work. You may also continue to receive account-related or transactional emails from us. If you wish to have your personal information deleted from our contact database, please contact us.

If you wish to withdraw your candidacy for a position at WADA or on one of WADA’s permanent or ad hoc committees or make a correction, contact:  

  • For job applications: you may do so by communicating with WADA's Human Resources and Corporate Services team (hr@wada-ama.org). 

  • For positions on WADA’s permanent or ad hoc committees: you may do so by communicating with WADA's Governance Management team (governance@wada-ama.org). 

Contact us and updates to this policy

If we make changes to this Policy, or to our Platforms, we will update the “Last Updated date” at the beginning of this Policy, and the new version will apply from that date.

If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us at:

E-mail: privacy@wada-ama.org

Address:

World Anti-Doping Agency  
(Attn: Privacy and Data Protection Office) 
Stock Exchange Tower 
800 Place Victoria (Suite 1700) 
Montreal (Quebec), Canada 
H3C 0B4

Cookies

We use cookies to operate our Platforms. A cookie is a small piece of data that is stored on a website visitor’s computer. To function, these cookies collect certain Technical Data about your device, such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, device type, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform.

Cookies can be “first party” or “third party”. First-party cookies are cookies set by the operator of a website (e.g., the cookies WADA sets on its own website). Third-party cookies are cookies set by a party other than the operator of website you are visiting.

Cookies can also be “session” or “persistent”. Session cookies are temporary and expire once you close your browser (or once your session ends). Persistent cookies encompass all cookies that remain on your hard drive until you erase them or your browser does, depending on the cookie’s expiration date.

We use the following types of cookies on our Platforms. You can find a complete list in our cookie preference centre and adjust your settings at any time:

Strictly Necessary Cookies: We use cookies that are necessary for our Platforms to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. These cookies allow us to operate and manage the Platforms, such as to identify your session and ensure the security of the connection. We also use a cookie set by our cookie management solution, OneTrust, to remember a visitor’s cookie settings. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these necessary cookies (see “Do I have to allow cookies?” below), but some parts of our Platforms will not work as a result.

Analytics Cookies: We use cookies set by Google to help us measure and improve the performance of our Platforms and make it more user-friendly over time. These cookies collect Technical Data about Platform users to prepare aggregated statistics of visitors’ activities. They allow us to count visits, determine page speeds and resolution, understand what devices/browsers are used to access our Platforms, determine traffic sources, and understand how users move around the Platforms.

Please note that Google Analytics is used by many organizations across the web and in mobile apps, and that Google uses the analytics data from these sources for its own purposes. Based on this cross-site information, Google also provides us with aggregate information about our Platform users’ age, gender, and interests. On mobile, Google uses your device’s unique advertising ID to collect analytics data. For more information about Google’s use of analytics data, go to www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.

Targeting Cookies: Targeting cookies may be set by third-party providers whose services have been added to our Platforms, and who use targeting cookies for their own purposes to build a profile of your interests based on the browsing information they collect from you, which includes uniquely identifying your browser and terminal equipment. For instance, when we share a youtube video on our site, youtube sets a cookie to allow a site visitor to view the video directly via youtube. You can find out more about youtube’s use of this data at https://policies.google.com/privacy. If you do not allow these cookies you will still see basic advertising on your browser or when you use these third third-party services that is generic and not based on your interests.

Do I have to allow cookies?

Other than strictly necessary cookies, which are are essential to ensure the basic functioning of our Platforms and cannot be disabled, you can freely choose whether to accept cookies for any other purpose. 

We have implemented a cookie management solution called OneTrust, which enables you to choose whether to allow or disable non-essential cookies. You can review and adjust your settings at any time by clicking on the Cookie Settings button in the bottom left of the webpage.

Many web browsers allow control over most cookies through the browser settings. If you want to set your cookie preferences through your browser, please visit your browser’s settings or review the online instructions provided by the following browsers: Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Safari Mobile; and Android Browser.

Where can I find more information?

A useful resource for learning more information about cookies can be found at: www.allaboutcookies.org.