Policy Protection of personal data

 

Privacy statement

I. Processing of your personal data within the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency

The Belgian Foreign Trade Agency, a public institution with its registered office at Rue Montoyer 3, 1000 Brussels, hereinafter referred to as "BFTA", undertakes to comply with the regulations on the protection of personal data as described in the General Data Protection Regulation - 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 (GDPR).

The BFTA shall take all possible measures regarding the security and confidentiality of the processing of personal data and shall ensure that all processing is carried out properly and lawfully. The BFTA may amend this privacy statement. The most recent version is always available here.   

II. For what purposes do we collect, process and store your personal data?

Personal data are collected by the BFTA in order to carry out its tasks as stipulated in Articles 3 to 5 of the Cooperation Agreement (only available in French and in Dutch) of 24 May 2002 agreed between the Federal Government and the Regions (Belgian Official Journal 20.12.02).

The personal data which you share with the BTFA, via our partners, during your visit to our website and/or when filling in one or more of our contact forms are collected in our database and processed by the BFTA. The data are collected within the framework of the BFTA’s tasks, such as, among others:

  • answer your requests for information within the framework of our mission
  • provide an optimal service
  • manage your profile
  • manage your participation in the missions or seminars of the BFTA
  • improve your website experience
  • ...

III. Who is the responsible for the processing of the data?

In accordance with the provisions of the Cooperation Agreement, the BFTA places itself at the service of the three regional export promotion institutions and the Federal Government. As a recipient, the BFTA thus has access to data communicated to us by our partners, including the three regional export promotion organizations mentioned above and the Federal Government, within the framework of our mission.

Our partners referred to above, in their capacity as data controllers, guarantee that the information in question is collected lawfully and properly. The public data and personal data obtained via these data controllers may be relevant and used for the purposes mentioned by the BFTA in this declaration of confidentiality, but also to check the accuracy of the data in our files and to support our legal mission.

IV. What personal data do we collect?

We collect and use the following data:

  • Identification data: surname, first name, passport/identity card number, company number, address, email address, telephone number/cell phone number.
  • Information that you provide to us when you fill out our contact forms: subject, questions and further clarification.
  • Photographs and videos may also be collected and processed in order to be used for internal and external communication in connection with the execution of our mission.
  • In addition, the BFTA also collects data relating to its staff, customers and suppliers in the context of the normal exercise of the BFTA’s support services (i.e. personnel, customer and supplier management).

These data are processed in accordance with the policy described in the aforementioned GDPR regulation.

They will only be processed by the staff and subcontractors of the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency for the purposes described above.

V. With whom do we share your data?

The information we collect about you will be treated confidentially. They will only be used by the services of the BFTA and its subcontractors who are granted access to them in the context of their assignment for the BFTA and only to the extent necessary for the performance of the BFTA’s assignment and in so far as these service providers guarantee access to and possible use of this data and information.

For all requests for support, your personal data - surname, first name, postal address, telephone number and e-mail address - will be added to a database managed by the BFTA or its representative data processor.

As stated in article 5 of the Cooperation Agreement, the Regions and the Federal Government have direct and free access to the databases of the BFTA. Any other natural or legal person must contact the regional department in charge of foreign trade, depending on the region in which it is established, with regard to information and all aspects specific to foreign trade.

The data collected and processed are managed by the department in charge at the BFTA. In order to improve the dissemination of information on the missions and other activities of the BFTA, these data may be used by other departments of institutions, agencies and other bodies related to the mission of the BFTA, subject to the written consent of the departments managing the data in question.

We do not pass on personal data to third parties who are not part of the said recipients or who are not covered by the legal framework mentioned. The only exceptions to this are data that can be publicly consulted via official publications (Belgian Official Journal, Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, ...) and any transmission to bodies responsible for a monitoring or inspection mission in application of Belgian law, such as an examining magistrate.

Under no circumstances will the BFTA disclose personal data to third parties for direct marketing purposes.

VI. How long will your data be stored?

For the processing in question, your data will be kept as long as necessary for the provision of a good service, and then deleted.

VII. How can you consult your data, check their accuracy and, if necessary, correct them?

You have the right to request a copy of your personal data at any time in order to check, correct or update the accuracy of the information stored. You can also request that your personal data be completely deleted if no request from you is being processed.

To ensure your privacy and security, we will take the necessary steps to verify your identity before you can view and, if necessary, correct data.

VIII. What do we do to prevent misuse or unauthorised access?

The BFTA has implemented a number of procedures (hardware, electronic and administrative), which it regularly reassesses. We carry out updates in order to protect the data against unauthorized access, guarantee security and ensure that the information collected is used correctly to carry out the desired treatment.

Your data is stored on the server of our institutional ICT partners before it is processed.

External subcontractors have signed a contract with the BFTA under which they are legally obliged to comply with the applicable legislation on the protection and processing of personal data, and in particular the GDPR.

BFTA staff who have access to information enabling the identification of persons are obliged to protect this information in accordance with this statement on the protection of personal data. In particular, personnel must refrain from using this information for purposes other than providing the services for which it is intended.

The authorised persons appointed by the BFTA have access to the data via their personal username and password. Only these authorised persons have access to the data and this via a specific system.

XI. To whom should you address questions or complaints?

To view, delete or correct your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer (DPO).

In the event of a dispute, complaints may be addressed to the Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the BFTA or to the Belgian Data Protection Authority.

The Belgian Data Protection Authority 
Data Protection Authority
Drukpersstraat 35, 1000 Brussels 
T: +32 (0)2 274 48 00 & +32 (0)2 274 48 35
Website
Contact per e-mail

 

Disclaimer

The Belgian Foreign Trade Agency and all parties that contribute to the information published on this website, try to ensure the accuracy of the data as much as possible without being able to assume any liability in this respect. The inclusion of links to one or more other websites, including links contained in those websites, does not necessarily indicate any connection, partnership, affiliation or endorsement and is for informational purposes only.

Any user who makes use of the information in any way after this notification, waives any recourse against the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency which cannot be held liable under any circumstances for direct or indirect damages, including but not limited to infringements committed by third parties on the GDPR legislation and / or malware in the links mentioned.

 

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