Privacy is very important for us. We wish to inform to the greatest possible extent our (potential) clients, suppliers, partners and opposing parties in litigation, to respect their privacy and give them control over what happens to their data. Below you will find our policy regarding the collection, storage, use, communication and disclosure of personal data.

The law firm De Bock & Baluwé would like to emphasise that it strives at all times to act in accordance with the EU Regulation of 2016 concerning the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data, and with respect to the free movement of such data, “General Data Protection Regulation” (hereinafter: GDPR) – which repealed the Directive 95/46/EC – and to the law of 30 July 2018 concerning the protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data.

CONTENTS

FIELD OF APPLICATION.

IDENTITY OF THE CONTROLLER.

WHAT PERSONAL DATA IS PROCESSED AND WHY.

PURPOSES OF PROCESSING.

PERIOD OF RETENTION.

CATEGORIES OF RECIPIENTS OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.

RIGHTS OF DATA SUBJECTS.

SECURITY.

TRANSFER TO THIRD COUNTRIES.

CHILDREN.

COMPLAINTS.

KEEPING UP WITH MODIFICATIONS.

FIELD OF APPLICATION

This privacy statement (hereinafter the “Privacy Statement”) applies to every visit to and use of the website (www.dbblaw.be) as well as to all relationships (and the exchange of data that may be associated with them) between De Bock & Baluwé (and any lawyer associated with the law firm De Bock & Baluwé) and its (potential) clients, suppliers, partners and/or opposing parties in litigation.

 

IDENTITY OF THE DATA CONTROLLER

The controller of your personal data is “De Bock & Baluwé Advocaten”. De Bock & Blauwé Advocaten is a grouping arrangement (within the meaning of the “Codex Deontologie voor Advocaten” [Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers”]) between bvba D2 Law (company number 0719.555.007), the bvba Koen Baluwé (company number 0474.599.818) and Mieke Vansteenkiste (company number 0812.626.012).

The data controller is the person who determines the purpose and means (the ‘what’, the ‘how’ and the ‘why’) for the processing of personal data.

De Bock & Baluwé can be contacted by post, by telephone 00 32 9 241 80 30, by fax 00 32 9 383 83 59 or via email info@dbblaw.be or gdpr@dbblaw.be.

Specifically with regard to the Privacy Statement, apart from the contact details mentioned above, the following persons can also be contacted:

Koen De Bock

Koen Baluwé

Mieke Vansteenkiste

Julie Detemmerman

WHAT PERSONAL DATA IS PROCESSED AND WHY

Personal data is all data that makes is possible to identify someone. This includes, but is not limited to, data such as name, address, user name, company name, email address and telephone number, as well as other information such as IP address, information about business sector, etc.

The information we collect depends on the context of your interaction with us, the method of contact and the information you provide.

The following personal data may be processed by us:

• Data communicated by you when contacting our office (e.g. by telephone, email, post, fax, exchange of business cards, visits to the office) or which is obtained by other means, such as through a public source.Identification and contact details

• Surname
• First name
• Email address
• Telephone number (landline/mobile)
• Fax number
• Home address
• Company address
• Function and capacity
• Company nameFinancial details

• Bank account numberFamily informationPersonal characteristics, such as gender, age, date of birth, nationality, etc.

  Professional details, such as profession/occupation, contractual relationships.

          Criminal and judicial data or other special and/or sensitive personal information.

PURPOSE AND LEGAL BASIS

This data is collected for the purpose of providing a correct and high-quality service and the proper execution of our assignment/agreement, as well as for managing prospective clients, clients and suppliers, general and financial administration. This information may also be used for marketing purposes.

The legal basis for processing this personal data may be as folloiws:

• The execution of an agreement: the provision of a number of these items of personal data is a necessary condition for contacting De Bock & Baluwé and possibly for working together. The processing of such data is necessary for the execution of agreements concluded with us.

• Compliance with legal and ethical obligations: as a law firm, we must comply with various legal obligations, which means that we are obliged to keep closely specified personal data. This is the case, for example, within the context of the Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and on limitations to the use of cash.

• It is a legitimate interest of our law firm to be able to offer a proper service, namely to represent/defend the interests of our clients.

If personal data is also used for marketing purposes, the legal basis is either the legitimate interest of De Bock & Baluwé in providing publicity for similar services to already existing clients, or your freely-given permission to receive marketing information. In addition, you will always have the option of unscubscribing.

If sensitive data were to be processed, the legal basis for this is the necessity with respect to the institution, exercise or substantiation of a legal claim within the meaning of Article 9,2, f) of the GDPR.

• Data comunicated with a job application

1. Academic curriculum
2. Professional experience

1. Publications
2. Membership of/participation in professional organisations
3. Professional competence

 

PURPOSE AND LEGAL BASIS

In order to process your application, it is necessary that you provide the above information. Failure to provide such information will mean that De Bock & Baluwé cannot process your application.

The legal basis for processing this personal data is the legitimate interest of De Bock & Baluwé in checking the abilities and personal characteristics of the person concerned with respect to the vacancy.

If there are special categories of personal data (such as nationality, health data, criminal data, national register number, data on sexual life, political views, membership of a trades union etc…..) then the legal basis for processing it is your consent to the processing of such data.

 

PURPOSES OF PROCESSING

We process the above-mentioned personal data for the following purposes:

• The provision and optimisation of a correct and high-quality service
• Communication with the person concerned
• Management of prospective clients, clients and suppliers (drawing up of list of (potential ) clients, partners and suppliers)
• General and financial administration (accounting)
• Marketing purposes, including direct marketing
• Job applications

In the event that De Bock & Baluwé uses your personal data for direct marketing purposes, you always have the right of discontinuing this through a simple request (possibility of unsubscribing).

For any particular objective, the legal basis for processing may be one of the following:

• your freely-given permission for processing
• the preparation or execution of a contract
• compliance with legal or ethical obligations
• a prevailing legitimate interest
• a requirement in order to institute, exercise or substantiate a legal claim

Whenever we have a prevailing legitimate interest, we strive to achive e a balance between that interest and the respect for your privacy.

When the legal basis for processing depends on your freely given consent, you always have the right to withdraw consent at any time. This can be done via a simple request addressed to De Bock & Baluwé Advocaten using the contact details indicated in this Privacy Statement under ‘Identity of the data controller’.

We collect and use your personal data only for the purposes stated above, unless we have received your unambiguous and freely-given permission to use your personal data for other purposes, or unless such processing is necessary in order to fulfil an obligation imposed by a regulation, a law, a decree, a decision or a prescription under professional ethics.

PERIOD OF RETENTION

Unless a longer retention period is required or justified (i) by compliance with a period of limitation or an expiry period provided for by law or (ii) by compliance with some other legal obligation, your data will not be kept longer than necessary for the purposes for which the data was collected, as described in the present Privacy Statement under ‘Purposes of processing’.

CATEGORIES OF RECIPIENTS OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

The personal data processed will only be communicated to the following recipients in accordance with the present Privacy Statement:

• Staff members and employees of the data controller
• The data subject him/herself
• Processors, subject to their carrying out a specified task (e.g. IT service providers and bookkeepers)
• Other third parties (e.g. opponents in legal proceedings, the Court, experts, etc) to the extent necessary for the performance of a particular assignment.

The above-mentioned processors act solely on behalf of De Bock & Baluwé. De Bock & Baluwé can present the following guarantees regarding data processing by these processes:

• In its agreement with such third parties, De Bock & Baluwé has included clear undertakings concerning the quality of data processing in accordance with the obligations imposed by the relevant privacy legislation.
• The third parties can only use the data for purposes as determined by De Bock & Baluwé and in accordance with the present Privacy Statement

Without prejudice to the forgoing, it is possible that De Bock & Baluwé may make disclosure of your personal data:

• To competent authorities (i) when De Bock & Baluwé is obliged to do so by law, professional ethics or within the context of legal proceedings, and (ii) in order to safeguard and defend our rights.
• When De Bock & Baluwé itself, or almost all of its assets, is subject to a take-over by a third party, in which case your personal data will be one of the assets transferred.

RIGHTS OF DATA SUBJECTS

As a data subject you have a number of rights that we respect. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us via the contact details described in the present Privacy Statement under ‘Identity of the data controller’.

Your rights are as follows:

• The right of access, at latest one month after receipt of the request: you have the right to take note of your data in our possession in order to find out what we use this data for.
• The right of adjustment or rectification of incorrect data: you can request the correction of incorrect data, or the completion of incomplete data.
• The right to complain if you do not agree with the way in which we process your personal data.
• The right to transfer data: under certain conditions, you have the right to obtain your personal data in a structured, commonly-used and machine-readable form in order to transfer it to third parties.
• The right to delete data: under certain conditions you have the right to have personal data deleted. This request can be refused.
• The right to limit processing.

In principle, you can exercise these rights free of charge. For this purpose, you must send a request to us, with a copy of your identity card or passport in order to prevent any unauthorised disclosure of your personal data.

If your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a reasonable fee for the administrative costs associated with your request, or we may refuse your request. Moreover, you may only exercise these rights once every six months.

In any case, we will always inform you at latest within a period of one month concerning our response to your request.

In certain circumstances, De Bock & Baluwé is not obliged to grant your request. This may be related to legal or ethical obligations, reasons of general interest (statistical purposes, scientific or historical research), the establishment, exercise or substantiation of a legal claim, or to a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression and/or information.

SECURITY

All information is stored in a secure environment. The information is not accessible to the public. Within De Bock & Baluwé only persons authorised to do so have access to personal data, and only if that data is relevant to the performance of their duties.

TRANSFER TO THIRD COUNTRIES

In principle, De Bock & Baluwé do not pass on your personal data to entities established outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

In the event that there is nevertheless a transfer of personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to a recipient that has its domicile or registered address in a country not covered by an adequacy decision issued by the European Commission, such transfer shall be governed by provisions of a transfer agreement, which will either (i) contain the standard contractual clauses, as defined in the ‘European Commission Decision of 5 February 2010 (Decision 2010/87/EC)’, or (ii) be based on any other mechanism resulting from the privacy legislation or any other regulations concerning the processing of personal data that offers appropriate safeguards.

CHILDREN

We do not ask any people under 16 to provide De Bock & Baluwé with personal data, unless the relevant permission has been obtained from parent(s) or guardian(s). If we discover that we have collected personal information from a person below the age of 16, we will delete such information as soon as possible.

COMPLAINTS

If you are not in agreement with the way in which De Bock & Baluwé collects, uses and/or processes your personal data, you can of course contact us.

In addition, you have the option of submitting a complaint to the supervisory authority, which you can contact using the details below:

Data Protection Authority

Drukpersstraat 35 1000 BRUSSELS

Tel: +32 (0)2 274 48 00

Fax: +32 (0)2 274 48 35

Email: contact@apd-gba.be

KEEPING UP WITH MODIFICATIONS

De Bock & Baluwé may change this Privacy Statement, for example, in response to changes in the market or new processing activities. We therefore invite you always to consult the latest version of this policy on our website. We will, of course, inform you in advance of any substantive change via our website or other current communication channels, and, if required by law, we will request your prior approval for our (new) processing activities.