Policy regarding the use and protection of personal data on the website and the dispute resolution platform

The purpose of this policy is to indicate how the not-for-profit association Ombudsman for Retail collects, uses and protects your personal data within the framework of the use of this website and dispute resolution platform. The Ombudsman for Retail is recognised by the Federal Public Service Economy and meets the legal criteria regarding independence, objectivity, transparency, accessibility and expertise.

This use is according to the applicable legislation and regulations, including the Belgian Act dated 8 December 1992 to protect the privacy regarding the processing of personal data (Privacy Law; Privacywet) and European regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the European Council dated 27 April 2016 regarding the protection of natural persons in connection with the processing of personal data and regarding the free traffic of this data (General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR) that will come into force as of 25 May 2018.

The use of our website and our dispute resolution platform means you accept this policy regarding the use of personal data.


1. WHO PROCESSES YOUR PERSONAL DATA?

The controller for the processing of your personal data as collected on this website is the Ombudsman for Retail, Edmond van Nieuwenhuyselaan 8, 1160 Brussels, Belgium, hereinafter to be referred to as ‘we’.


2. WHAT TYPE OF DATA DO WE COLLECT?

We mainly collect information and data which you provide when you use our website and our services including when you:

  • Submit a complaint.
  • Use our contact form.

In some cases we also use certain data which concerns you that we receive from third parties. This is mainly the Consumentenombudsdienst (Consumer Mediation Service) when they forward certain types of complaints to us.

Further information

We collect various types of data depending on the services you use and how you use the website.

  • When you submit a complaint: we collect the data you submit in the registration form including your surname, first name, email address, postal address, telephone number and the details regarding the complaint being submitted.
  • When you submit a complaint: we collect the data you submit in the registration form, including your surname, first name, email address, postal address, telephone number and the name of your company.
  • When you use our website we collect navigation data using cookies.


3. HOW AND WHY DO WE USE YOUR DATA?

Our company uses your personal data based on criteria according to legislation with regard to legal processing. Your data is mainly used for the following purposes:

  • To process your complaint according to our Procedure Regulations (available on our website).
  • To improve the experience when browsing our website and our dispute resolution platform.

Your data is not used for direct marketing purposes.

Further information

During the processing of your personal data, we base ourselves on the consent you provided either explicitly (by marking the checkbox when surfing our website) or implicitly where your acceptance is based on your behaviour on our website (for example, by contacting us using the contact form). When this is the case, you will always have the possibility of retracting your consent with regard to the future.


4. HOW AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE THE DATA?

We share your data with:

  • Comeos, the Belgian trade and services federation that takes care of the Ombudsman for Retail payroll administration.
  • The company that is the subject of your complaint.
  • The mediator if one is appointed to help with the dispute management process. The names of the mediators are provided on our website.
  • Tyler Tech, the company that develops the dispute resolution platform and is responsible for the technical operation of the platform.

Further information

In certain cases, data can be shared with third parties, for example, third parties that provide services or who provide services on our behalf and at our costs. Cooperating with these service providers and sharing your data helps us provide and improve our services.

Our company is, furthermore, obliged to share your personal data when demanded by law, a decree or a court ruling.

We commit to ensure that your data remains confidential mainly by entering into appropriate agreements with our partners.


5. HOW CAN YOU MANAGE, ACCESS OR DELETE YOUR DATA?

You have the right to access your data, correct the data or ask for it to be corrected, delete your data, object to the processing of your data or to profiling, restrict the processing of your data and transfer your data.

Further information

In accordance to the Privacy Act and the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to:

  • Consult and access your data and the essential information regarding the processing (processing purpose, data categories which are processed, etc.)
  • Request corrections of this data or, if required, to delete the data based on the conditions set out in Article 17 of the GDPR and, especially, when the data is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected or processed or when you withdraw your consent.
  • Object to the processing of your personal data under specific conditions as described in Article 21 of the GDPR including the processing for direct marketing purposes. In that case, your data will no longer be processed by us except for legal and compelling reasons which override your interests and rights and freedom or when the processing is linked to establishing, executing or substantiating a legal claim.
  • Object to automated individual decisions including profiling based on the conditions set down in Article 22 of the GDPR.
  • Request to limit the processing in specific cases as set down in Article 18 of the GDPR and, especially, when you dispute the correctness of this data during a period which allows us to check the correctness of the data.
  • Receive your personal data in a format that can be transferred, mainly in order to transfer it to a different processing controller, according to the conditions set down in Article 20 of the GDPR and, if technically feasible, to arrange that the data is transferred directly from one processing controller to another.

These rights can be exercised by sending a written request via email to info@ombudscom.be or via standard postal services to Ombudsman for Retail, Edmond Van Nieuwenhuyselaan 8, 1160 Brussels, Belgium.

Complaints regarding a breach of applicable Belgian regulations regarding the protection of personal data on this website can be addressed to the Data Protection Authority by writing to contact@apd-gba.be.

6. HOW LONG IS YOUR DATA KEPT?

Your data may not be kept longer than required. The period during which your data is kept will never be longer than three years.

Further information

The collected data is kept as long as necessary to provide our services and for the purposes described in item 3 above.

You can always ask us to delete your data. Please refer to item 5 above for information on deleting data.


7. WILL YOUR DATA BE TRANSFERRED TO PARTIES OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA?

Yes, in some cases your data can be transferred outside the European Economic Area. Our company complies with all applicable protection rules and regulations and implements all required measures.

Further information

Our company stores your data on servers within the European Economic Area to guarantee the protection of this data. In view of technical improvements of the dispute resolution platform, the data may be viewed by the supplier of the dispute resolution platform, Tyler Tech, with offices in Plano, Texas, USA. Our company commits to always guarantee an appropriate and adequate protection of your data mainly by using the type contract clauses as approved by the European Commission or other means in accordance with the Belgian and European legislation regarding the protection of personal data.


8. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES AND THIRD PARTY CONTENT

Our website includes links to other websites, which are managed by other companies that are not connected to our company. These websites have, in principle, their own Non-disclosure Policy. We, therefore, recommend you become informed on their policies when you surf to third party websites. We cannot be held liable for data processing by these third parties.

Our website, furthermore, collects data via third parties such as Google Analytics. The information on the processing of this data is not included in this policy. We refer to the relevant provisions of the policies regarding the protection of personal data of these third parties. Your rights regarding the data can be exercised in relation to these third parties too.


9. HOW ARE YOU INFORMED REGARDING CHANGES TO THE PRESENT NON-DISCLOSURE POLICY?

The date of the last change to the policy is provided on this page.

Further information

The policy information provided in this Non-disclosure Agreement can be changed when required without having to inform you. We recommend that you regularly refer to this policy.

 

10. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US?

Contact us as follows:

  • Via e-mail at info@ombudscom.be.
  • Via the postal services by writing to the Ombudsman for Retail address: Edmond van Nieuwenhuyselaan 8, 1160 Brussels, Belgium.