Introduction

BELGAN BV with registered seat at Westerring 15, 9700 Oudenaarde, BELGIUM, Company number/VAT BE 0477.511.994 is the owner and responsible party of this Site:  belgan.com (“Site”) and the webforms or portals on the Site, if any. BELGAN is the controller of your personal data. 

You are advised to read BELGAN’s Cookie Statement to understand how BELGAN will, via Cookies, collect, transfer, disclose, process, and use your personal data when using the BELGAN Site.  This Cookie Statement complements the Data Protection Statement.

BELGAN respects the protection of personal data, individual privacy and values the confidence of its customers, employees, suppliers, contractors, business partners, and the public.

That is why BELGAN strives to collect, use and disclose personal data in a manner consistent with the laws of the countries in which it does business.  We want to protect the data of our customers, personnel, subcontractors, and suppliers, among others, against loss, leaks, errors, unauthorized access or unlawful processing.

We want to inform you about the collection and processing of your personal data by means of this Data Protection Statement. We ask that you read this Data Protection Statement carefully, as it contains essential information about how your personal data is processed and for what purpose. You are not obliged to disclose your personal data, but you understand that the provision of certain services or customer support or other assistance becomes impossible if you do not consent to its collection and processing.

We kindly point out to you that you are responsible for all personal data you provide to us and that we rely on its accuracy. If your personal data is no longer up to date, please inform us immediately.

Data Protection

This Data Protection Statement was prepared in implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (“”GDPR”) more specifically Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, entered into force from 25/05/2018 as well as the Belgian personal data Protection Act (the Act on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of personal data of 30 July 2018).

BELGAN is committed to being compliant to the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the local data protection legislation in Belgium. For more information about the applicable laws regarding data protection, please consult: https://www.dataprotectionauthority.be/citizen

Information Security

The management of BELGAN recognizes the importance of identifying and protecting the information assets of the organization, avoiding destruction, improper disclosure, improper modification or unauthorized use of any information relating to its customers, partners, suppliers, employees, pricing, strategy, management, or other related concepts.

BELGAN is therefore committed to developing, implement, maintain and continually improve its information security management system in order to ensure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of personal data and information in general.

Error or vulnerability report

Despite the care we take to secure our systems, errors or vulnerabilities may happen. In case you see an error or a vulnerability, please inform us thereof so that we can remediate. You can report a security issue to our data protection officer: privacy@belgan.com

Cookies

Cookie controls are described in our Cookie Statement (link).

From whom do we collect data?

– Contact persons/representatives of prospects or customers

Within the framework of our services and activities, we collect and process the professional identification and contact data of contact persons/representatives of prospective/potential customers (prospects) as well as our customers and clients, their staff, employees, appointees, and other useful contacts.

The purposes of these processing operations are the execution of the agreements with our customers, customer management, contract, and account management, executing the accounting, prospection, and direct marketing activities such as sending surveys, promotional or commercial information. The legal grounds are the execution of the agreement, the fulfilment of legal and regulatory obligations and/or our legitimate interest.  The legal basis for prospecting and direct marketing is our legitimate interest in expanding our market share, increasing our customer base and publicizing our range of services.

– Contact persons/representatives of suppliers, outsourcing partners, services providers, and subcontractors

We collect and process the identity and contact details of contact persons/representatives of our suppliers, outsourcing partners, service providers, liberal professions, brokers, agents, consultants, (sub)contractors, sellers of goods or services…, as well as of certain of their staff, employees, appointees, and other useful contact persons. The purposes of these processing operations are the execution of the agreement with them and the fulfillment of legal and regulatory obligations such as the management of the contractual relationship, administration, assessments/audits, fiscality and accountancy. The legal grounds are the execution of the agreement, executing payments and accounting, the fulfilment of legal and regulatory obligations and/or our legitimate interest (such as for direct marketing).  

– BELGAN Personnel

We process the personal data of our employees as part of our personnel management and payroll administration. In view of its specific nature, this processing is regulated more comprehensively in an internal Employee Data Protection Statement.

– Candidates who apply for a job at BELGAN

For our recruitment activities, BELGAN may ask you for certain information, including identification and contact details, information about your education and employment, contact details and preferences, professional qualifications, and jobs for which you wish to apply. You may also choose to provide BELGAN with additional information, such as your CV or diploma, employment references and related information, and compensation requests. In addition, BELGAN may collect information from third parties, based on your consent or based on the consent you gave to such third parties such as temporary work agencies or recruitment agencies, for example in connection with a background check and/or an employment reference. Given its specific nature, this processing is regulated in more detail in a Recruitment Data Protection Statement (link).

– Other Persons

In addition to the personal data of leads/prospects, customers, suppliers/subcontractors, candidates for recruitment and staff, we also process personal data of others, such as possible useful contacts within our sector, network contacts, contacts with government agencies, regulator, expert contacts, etc. The purposes of these processing operations are in the legitimate interest of our business, the execution of a contract or based on a legal obligation. In addition, we also process personal data to comply with certain legal obligations. Finally, we may also process personal data when a person has given an unambiguous consent.

Which personal data do we collect and process?

Depending on your activities and your relationship with BELGAN, you may confide us with the following personal data:

– Contact persons/representatives of prospects, customers, suppliers, service providers, contractors, and vendors

  • your identification details (full name and/or title).
  • your professional contact details (address, e-mail address, telephone and/or mobile phone number);
  • Employment information: employer, function title.
  • Involvement in incidents, complaints, and problems in the execution of the contract or payments, as well as the content thereof.
  • Bank account number, name bank, name account holder.
  • Transaction information (bank transfers).
  • All other information you share in your interaction with us for a certain business purpose.
  • All other information you share in your interaction with us for the execution of the contract between us and for fulfillment of accountancy, legal and fiscal obligations.

– BELGAN Personnel

All information required and permitted under applicable law to execute the employment agreement and our legal obligations towards employees, payment of salaries/employee benefits and related administration and fiscality.

– Candidates who apply for a job at BELGAN

Reference is made to the Recruitment Data Protection Statement.

– Other Persons

  • First name, last name, professional contact information (employer, function title, telephone number and email address)
  • All other information you share in your interaction with us for the execution of the contract between us and for fulfillment of legal, fiscal, regulatory, or other obligations.

How do we collect your personal data?

We collect personal data in variety of ways directly from you:

  • When you communicate your personal data verbally or in writing to us.
  • When you visit our Site.
  • When you participate in commercial or technical conference calls, webinars, events, commercial promotions, or marketing campaigns.
  • When you participate in market research, surveys, or other evaluation actions we launch.
  • When you contact us via a webform.
  • When you contact us via e-mail, social media, or telephone.

We collect thus personal data both when you give it to us verbally, when you send us documents and when you do it digitally, as well as when we look for it through public channels (such as the Belgian Official Gazette, Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, National Bank, etc.) and professional social media (such as Linkedin).

We may also collect personal data from third parties and partners who can demonstrate that you gave them your consent to transfer your personal data to us.

How BELGAN uses your personal data

We process your personal data in different ways and for various purposes. When processing them, only personal data is processed which is necessary for the intended purposes. The purposes for which we process data may vary depending on the person from whom and about whom we process personal data. 

  1. Business operations and service delivery. 

– Contact persons/representatives of customers or business partners

We use personal data to

  • provide and improve our services and perform essential business operations.  
  • detect and prevent internal or external fraud and criminal activities.
  • aggregate analysis and business intelligence: this enable us to operate, to protect our services, to make informed decisions (including profiling based on anonymized personal data which is not involving automatic decision making by our software applications for business analytics and reporting) and report on the performance of our business and the services.

– Contact persons/representatives of suppliers, outsourcing partners, services providers and subcontractors

We use personal data to receive supplies, services or works from suppliers, outsourcing partners, service providers and subcontractors and to manage those parties when they execute their contract towards us.

  • Contractual obligations.

– Contact persons/representatives of customers or business partners

When you conclude a contract with BELGAN, BELGAN will use your personal identification data and transactional data to:

  • Provide you with the BELGAN goods or services you contracted.
  • Customer support: reply to your request, provide assistance, handle a complaint.
  • Inform you and send you messages related to your contract with us and our goods or services.

– Contact persons of suppliers, outsourcing partners, services providers, and subcontractors

We use personal data to execute our contract with suppliers, services or works from suppliers, outsourcing partners, service providers and subcontractors (communications, instructions, complaints, invoicing, payment, etc…)

  • Communications. 

– Contact persons/representatives of prospects or customers

Based on your consent or our legitimate interest to grow our customer base and market share, we use data we may collect to deliver and personalize our communications with you via e-mail, sms or social media. Regarding direct marketing, BELGAN might send you information about its services via personalized marketing messages (information, offers…) or generalized publicity and information.  You can withdraw your consent to process your personal data for commercial communications by contacting us via privacy@belgan.com.

– Contact persons/representatives of suppliers, outsourcing partners, services providers and subcontractors

We use personal data to communicate with suppliers, services or works from suppliers, outsourcing partners, service providers and subcontractors regarding the execution of the contract and new requirements for purchasing, tenders or assignments.

  • Personnel management and recruitment. 

We use personal data from our personnel for our personnel management, the execution of the employment contract and compliance with our legal obligations as an employer. For candidates for recruitment, we collect to communicate with you, to manage BELGAN’s recruiting and hiring processes, and for compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. If you are hired, the information may be used in connection with employment and personnel management.

  • Comply with legal and compliance obligations.
  • Contact persons/representatives of prospects or customers

BELGAN uses your personal data to comply with mandatory requirements imposed by the applicable legislation:

  • All commercial and corporate legislation applicable to BELGAN and its activities (accountancy, finance, fiscal, administrative, consumer protection, commercial, etc…).
  • Data protection legislation as identified above.
  • Prevention, health and safety regulations implemented at our production site.
  • Environmental requirements.

– Contact persons/representatives of suppliers, outsourcing partners, services providers and subcontractors

  • Financial, accountancy, administrative and fiscal compliance.

Profiling -automated decision mating

We confirm that the processing of personal data does not include profiling and that you are not subject to fully automated decisions.

Why we share personal data

-In general

Your personal data are mainly processed internally. However, to execute our agreement (or measures preceding the conclusion of the agreement) or to fulfil certain legal obligations, they may sometimes need to be communicated to third parties.

To process your personal data, we grant access to your personal data to our employees, collaborators, and appointees as well as certain service providers. We organize a similar level of protection by providing contractual obligations to our employees, staff, and agents as well as service providers, which are similar to this Data Protection Statement.

It is possible that one or more of the above-mentioned third parties are located outside the EEA.

Transfers of personal data outside the European Union are made based on EU Standard Model Clauses on data protection where the country to which the personal data is transferred does not provide adequate protection within the meaning of the GDPR. No transfers to the United States of America are carried out based on the EU-US or Swiss-US Privacy Shield/Safe Harbour.

Certain personal data collected by us will also be passed on to and possibly processed by third-party service providers, such as our IT hosting partner and IT supplier, external partners assisting us with the support and further development of our IT tools, lawyer, data protection officer, bailiff, accountant, auditor, et cetera…  as well as by government or auditing authorities. These and other public authorities are entitled to request personal data from us to which we are legally obliged to respond in certain cases defined by law. In such cases, your personal data may be transmitted to these third parties but only for the purpose of the service in question and always under our company’s control.

The employees, managers and/or representatives of the above-mentioned service providers or institutions and the specialized service providers appointed by them shall respect the confidential nature of your personal data and may use these data only for the purposes for which they were provided.

If necessary, your personal data may be passed on to other third parties. This may be the case, for example, if all or part of our business is reorganized, if our activities are transferred or if we are declared bankrupt. It is also possible that personal data may need to be transferred in response to a court order or to comply with a specific legal obligation. In this case, we will make reasonable efforts to inform you in advance of such communication to other third parties. However, you will acknowledge and understand that in certain circumstances, this may not be technically or commercially feasible, or that legal restrictions may apply.

Under no circumstances will we sell your personal data.

  • Contact persons/representatives of prospects or customers
  • Contact persons/representatives of suppliers, outsourcing partners, services providers and subcontractors

We share your personal data in case we have a legal obligation to do so, for instance to the regulatory or government bodies or agencies, or in case of legal proceedings, a court order or other mandatory legal injunction.

We may also share personal data with your consent or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide a service you have requested or authorized.

In addition, we share personal data among BELGAN-controlled affiliates and entities for our reporting, service delivery, business operations, direct marketing, and communications.

We also share personal data with suppliers, outsourcing partners, service providers, processors or agents working on our behalf for the purposes described in this statement.

For example (this list is not limitative):

  • IT services companies.
  • Providers of cloud and hosting infrastructure and services.
  • Platform providers.
  • Marketing companies or market analysts.
  • Providers of services and tools to assure regulatory compliance.
  • Connectivity, telecommunication and internet providers.
  • Companies we have hired to provide customer service assistance.
  • Companies we have hired to assist in protecting and securing our systems and services.
  • Recruitment software.
  • Personnel management software.
  • Accountancy software.
  • CRM tools.
  • ERP tools.

In such cases, these companies must abide by our data protection and security requirements and are not allowed to use personal data they receive from us for any other purpose.

We may also disclose personal data as part of a due diligence or corporate transaction such as a merger or sale of assets subject to the signature of strict confidentiality agreements with the receiver of the personal data.

Finally, we will access, transfer, disclose, and preserve personal data, including your content, we are confident that doing so is necessary to:

  • comply with applicable law (for instance: financial, accountancy, administrative and fiscal compliance) or respond to valid legal processes, including from law enforcement or other government agencies.
  • protect our customers, for example to prevent spam or attempts to defraud users of our services, or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone.
  • operate and maintain the security of our offices or production sites, including to prevent or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or
  • protect the rights or property of BELGAN.

Where do we store and process your personal data?

Personal data collected by BELGAN may be stored and processed in the European Union or in any other country where BELGAN or its affiliates, subsidiaries, outsourcing partners, or service providers maintain facilities. We take steps to ensure that the data we collect under this Data Protection Statement is processed according to the provisions of this statement and the requirements of applicable law wherever the data is located. In the context of international debt recovery, processing may be carried out by debt recovery service providers outside the European Economic Area (EEA). When we transfer personal data from the European Economic Area to other countries, we use a variety of legal mechanisms, including contracts (EU Standard Contractual Clauses), to help ensure your rights and protections travel with your personal data.

How long do we keep your personal data? Retention of personal data

BELGAN retains personal data for as long as necessary to provide the services and fulfill the transactions you have requested, or for other essential purposes such as complying with our legal obligations, resolving disputes, and enforcing our agreements. personal data will be stored and processed by us for a period of time that is necessary in function of the purposes of the processing, the mandatory legal retention periods and/or in function of the (contractual or non-contractual) relationship that we have with you.

In particular, we process personal data for as long as it is necessary for the performance of the contract or for the implementation of measures preceding the conclusion of the contract which were taken at your request, for as long as it is necessary for the fulfilment of our legal obligations, to issue legal proceedings, action or claims or to contest them, or if the processing is necessary for the protection of our legitimate interest to prevent abuse.

Customer personal data, accounts receivable data and personal data of customers, suppliers or subcontractors will in any case be deleted from our systems after a period of ten years from the end of the year following the termination of the agreement, except in the case of such personal data which we are obliged to retain for a longer period on the basis of specific legislation or in the case of an ongoing dispute, claim, action or court case for which the personal data is still necessary.

Personal data for recruitment is stored for a maximum of 24 months. Candidates may request the deletion of their personal data at any time if they do not wish to maintain their candidacy by notifying privacy@belgan.com.

Technical and organizational measures

We take steps to ensure that the personal data we collect under this Data Protection Statement is processed in accordance with the provisions of this Data Protection Statement and the requirements of applicable law wherever the personal data is located. We take appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against accidental or deliberate manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction or access by unauthorized third parties. Our security measures are constantly being improved in line with technological developments. We take the necessary technical and organizational measures to process your personal data with an adequate level of security and to protect them against destruction, loss, falsification, alteration, unauthorized access, or accidental disclosure to third parties, as well as any other unauthorized processing of these personal data.

BELGAN is committed to protecting the security of your personal data. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure.

BELGAN is also committed to reducing the risks of human error, theft, fraud and misuse of BELGAN facilities. BELGAN’s efforts include making staff aware of security policies and training them to implement them. BELGAN employees are required to maintain data confidentiality. Employee obligations include written confidentiality agreements, regular training on information protection and compliance with company policies regarding the protection of confidential information.

BELGAN quickly evaluates and responds to incidents that cause suspicion of unauthorized processing of personal data. If BELGAN determines that your personal data has been misused (including by an BELGAN employee) or otherwise wrongfully obtained by a third party, BELGAN will immediately report such misuse or data breach to you.

BELGAN will conduct compliance audits on an annual basis. Any employee caught by BELGAN not complying with the data protection policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. Any third party who violates this Data Protection Statement will be required by all agreements with BELGAN to indemnify and hold BELGAN harmless for claims relating to such violations.

We take the necessary technical and organizational measures to process your personal data to an adequate level of security and to protect them against destruction, loss, falsification, alteration, unauthorized access or accidental notification to third parties, as well as any other unauthorized processing of these data.

Under no circumstances, shall however BELGAN be held liable for any direct or indirect damage resulting from the incorrect or unlawful use of personal data by a third party.

Your rights as a data subject

In accordance with and subject to the conditions of the General Data Protection Regulation Implementation Act and the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, we inform you that you have the following rights:

  • Right of access and inspection: you have the right to inspect, free of charge, the data that we hold about you and to check what it is used for.
  • Right of rectification: you have the right to obtain rectification (correction) of your incorrect personal data, as well as to complete incomplete personal data.
  • Right of deletion or limitation: you have the right to request us to delete or limit the processing of your personal data in the circumstances and under the conditions laid down by the General Data Protection Regulation. We may refuse the deletion or restriction of any personal data which is necessary for us to fulfil a legal obligation, the performance of the contract or our legitimate interest, and this for as long as these data are necessary for the purposes for which they were collected.
  • Right to transferability of data: You have the right to obtain the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, common, and machine-readable form. You have the right to transfer these data to another data controller.
  • Right of objection: you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for serious and legitimate reasons. Please note, however, that you cannot object to the processing of personal data which is necessary for us to fulfil a legal obligation, the performance of the contract or our legitimate interest, and this for as long as these data are necessary for the purposes for which they were collected.
  • Right of withdrawal of consent: If the processing of personal data is based on prior consent, you have the right to revoke this consent. This personal data will then only be processed if we have another legal basis for doing so.
  • Automatic decisions and profiling: You may object to profiling and fully automated decisions.

You can exercise the rights by contacting BELGAN via privacy@belgan.com.

How to Contact Us

If you have a data protection concern, please contact us by using the following E-mail: privacy@belgan.com. We will respond to questions or concerns within 30 days:

We make every effort to handle your personal data in a careful and legitimate manner in accordance with the applicable regulations. Nevertheless, if you believe that your rights have been violated and if you do not find an answer to your concerns within our company, you are free to lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority:

Data Protection Authority

Drukpersstraat 35, 1000 Brussel

Tel +32 (0)2 274 48 00

Fax +32 (0)2 274 48 35

email: contact@apd-gba.be

https://www.dataprotectionauthority.be/citizen

You may additionally address a court if you believe that you will suffer damage as a result of the processing of your personal data.

Changes to this Data Protection Statement We will update this Data Protection Statement when necessary to reflect customer feedback and changes in our services. When we post changes to this Data Protection Statement, we will revise the “last updated” date at the top of the Data Protection Statement. If there are material changes to the Data Protection Statement or in how BELGAN will use your personal data, we will notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes before they take effect or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this Data Protection Statement to learn how BELGAN is protecting your information.

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