Privacy statement

Protection of your personal data

The Federal Public Service Policy and Support (FPS Policy and Support) processes some of your personal data when you visit our website or use one of our services, and in the performance of some of our statutory assignments or duties of public interest. The FPS Policy and Support attaches great importance to your privacy, which is why we are committed to delivering the most accurate and up-to-date information at all times.

We also want to give you the greatest possible degree of control over what happens to your personal data.

The present privacy statement is issued by the FPS Policy and Support (registered office at 30 Simon Bolivarlaan (WTC III), 1000 Brussels, company reg. number 0671.516.647).

If you have any questions about your personal data or about the present privacy statement, please contact us via the details specified below.

Our policy on the protection of persons in the processing of personal data is based on the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016, also known in its abbreviated form as the GPDR.

For which purposes do we process your personal data ?

The processing of your data will either be for purposes of a statutory assignment, a duty of public interest, or based on your express consent which will be asked of you.

Most processing operations are performed as part of our statutory assignments, which are set out in the Royal Decree of 22 February 2017 establishing the Federal Public Service Policy and Support.

Some data are exchanged with other institutions for the performance of a statutory assignment or a duty of public interest.

Where we register your data through the website for an online service or for an assignment, we will ask for your consent at that point, unless the processing is pursuant to a regulatory obligation.

When processing your data, we will inform you of the exact purposes and of your rights in connection with the processing.

Cookies and log files

When you visit the website, we use so-called ‘cookies': small information files that are stored on your computer by your browser.

The cookies are used to remember your language of choice, to identify you during your visit to the website where this is necessary for the use of a service, and to gather non-personalised statistics regarding visits to the website.

You can disable the use of cookies in your browser, although this will mean that some parts of the website or the services will be rendered unusable.

The session cookie is active only during your visit.

The cookie that stores your language of choice will remain in place as long as you have not deleted it or have not removed it via the cookie control settings.

When you visit our website, the FPS Policy and Support will register your IP address, your browser and operating system, the external department that has referred you to our website and the time and date of each page you visit. This information is collected only for statistical purposes and to enable us to continuously improve the website. On no account are any of the data thus gathered linked to your personal data.

When some web pages of the FPS Policy and Support website gather other data, this is duly stated.

Whom do we share your data with ?

The data we process about you are treated as confidential. They are transferred only to the institutions that are authorised to receive these data.

In some cases, the FPS Policy and Support calls on service providers who act as processors and are required to comply with the GDPR in that capacity. In its agreements with such processors, the FPS Policy and Support includes the relevant clauses to protect the personal data. These service providers are not permitted to use the data for any purposes other than those of the FPS Policy and Support.

These service providers may be located outside of the European Union. In that case, the protection of your data is ensured since the processors are located in countries that hold an adequacy decision delivered by the European Commission, the recipients are located in the United States of America and have signed up to the Privacy Shield, and appropriate contractual safeguards have been agreed with the recipients.

How long do we keep your data on file ?

The data that are processed for purposes of a statutory assignment or a duty of public interest are retained for the length of time required for the application of legislation and regulations or to perform the duty of public interest.

The data that are processed based on your consent are retained for the length of time specified upon registration or until such time as you withdraw your consent.

How to assert your rights under the GPDR

You have the right to request a copy of your personal data to check whether the information that is kept relating to you is accurate and/or to rectify or update this information. Your request will be granted and duly processed, provided it does not conflict with a statutory obligation / the general interest.

You may also request that your personal data be completely erased if the processing is based on your consent. Your request will be granted and duly processed, provided it does not conflict with a statutory obligation / the general interest.

If you have any questions or believe that your rights have been violated, you can also let us know.

To safeguard your privacy and security, we will take the relevant steps to establish your identity before giving you access to your data and/or rectifying them as need be.

The FPS Policy and Support has appointed a data protection officer, who monitors the confidentiality and protection of the data and compliance with the GPDR requirements. This officer can be contacted at DPO@bosa.fgov.be for any requests for information or queries regarding your rights in the area of privacy protection.

Please feel free to report any incidents or complaints to privacyincident@bosa.fgov.be