Privacy statement in connection with the use of the BELMED platform

Introduction

This privacy statement concerns the “BELMED” platform, which aims to give information on amicable dispute resolution options in Belgium and to provide a confidential and secure space where procedures for the out-of-court/amicable resolution of commercial disputes can be attempted with the help of a neutral third party.

This privacy statement is intended for you as a consumer and/or for your representative.

The “BELMED” platform was created and is managed by the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy.

The statement presents the purposes of the processing of all the personal data provided, the way they are collected, processed and protected, the use made of them and your rights concerning these data (rights of access, rectification, erasure, etc.), as well as the way you may exercise these rights.

The Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy wants to preserve and protect your privacy. Since this platform collects and processes personal data, it is subject to Regulation (EU) No. 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC.

Data security and confidentiality

The Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy has implemented the technical and organisational measures necessary to ensure the security and confidentiality of your personal data.

Who processes your data: identity of the Controller

Data protection liability is shared between the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy and the dispute resolution partners.

The Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy and the partners use a common platform. The Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy sets out the means to be used, namely the data that shall be saved, the way the request shall be redirected and assigned to the partners and the people who shall have access to the stored information.

Each partner remains solely liable for the other processing activities relating to him within the framework of his missions.

Purposes of the processing: Why do we process your data?

Your personal data are collected and processed in order to:

• provide general information on the alternative resolution of commercial disputes in Belgium;
• obtain more targeted information depending on the theme or sector concerned (knowledge base, web forum);
• obtain more information or even be redirected to an entity competent for alternative dispute resolution in the sector and/or theme in question;
• conduct outof-court resolution procedures in a user-friendly manner and in a secure space;
• deal with either businessto-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) cases, or both, depending on the partner’s choice;
• deal with internal EU disputes (if one of the parties is located in Belgium);
• handle disputes individually or in batches;
• produce statistics and dashboards (link with SAS platform);
• manage and follow cases;
• ensure accessibility for people with functional impairments such as visually impaired people;
• create a search engine to display the list of partners.

The Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy processes your personal data within the context of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy (Royal Decree of 25 February 2002 establishing the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy).

Your personal data shall never be processed by the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy for commercial or advertising purposes, nor transferred to third parties that would use them for such purposes.

The Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy concludes a protocol with each partner using the “BELMED” platform to set out the rights and liabilities of the respective parties.

Along with the conclusion of this protocol between the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy and each partner, you have to agree with the platform’s terms of use.

Which data do we collect and process?

The following personal data are collected and processed in order to allow your identification as a user of the platform:

• Your email address ;

These data are processed when you create an account on the “BELMED” platform.

Moreover, the following personal data are collected and processed with the electronic form:

• Your first name and your surname (mandatory information);
• Your email address (mandatory information);           
• Your geographic address (street, number, box, postal code, town) (mandatory information);
• The language you wish to use (mandatory information);
• Your phone number (optional);
• Country (mandatory information to validate or invalidate the territorial competence of the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Selfemployed and Energy);
• Gender (mandatory information to produce statistics);
• National register number: data only collected if the mediator and optionally the citizen want to use their identity card to make their request.

Personal data can also be included in the documents you may wish to enclose with your request or that the dispute resolution partner may invite you to provide during the dispute resolution procedure. The documents provided by the other party in the dispute may also contain personal data.

How long will your data be stored?

All the personal data processed on the “BELMED” platform shall be stored for 5 years.

Who has access to your data and to whom are they communicated?

The authorised personnel of the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy and the out-of-court/alternative commercial dispute resolution partners have access to your data on a need to know basis only.

A data exchange protocol is concluded between the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy and each partner in order to comply with Regulation (EU) No. 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC.

What are your rights and how to exercise them?

In compliance with Regulation (EU) No. 2016/679, you have the right to request the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy:

• to give you access to your personal data,
• to rectify them if they are incorrect or incomplete,
• to erase them completely or partially,
• to limit the processing of your data,

You also have the right to let the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy know that:

• (except in the case of arbitration) you wish to put an end to the amicable resolution procedure,
• you object against the processing of your data.

It is however possible that personal data featured in other parts of the dispute file cannot be modified, for instance the data written in the other party’s version of the facts or in the messages exchanged with the partner.

The platform enables you to add to this information by means of a note enclosed in the dispute file on the platform.

You also have the right to file a complaint with the data protection authority.

How to exercise your rights?

For any question, comment, issue or complaint concerning the collection and use of your personal data, you can contact the data protection officer of the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy. Please provide a scan or paper copy of your identity document containing your signature.

The data protection officer is the contact person for all questions concerning the processing of your personal data and the exercise of your rights arising from the General Data Protection Regulation.

By email:
dpo@economie.fgov.be

For the other personal data contained in the dispute case (included in the file) and processed by the dispute resolution partner in charge of your case:

You can directly send your requests to the dispute resolution partner in charge of your case.

Complaints

If you consider that the Federal Public Service Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy has not processed your personal data in accordance with the applicable regulations, you are entitled to file a complaint with the Data Protection Authority.

By e-mail:
contact@apd-gba.be

By mail:
Data Protection Authority
Rue de la Presse, 35
1000 Brussels

By phone:
+32 2 274 48 00

By fax
+32 2 274 48 35

Update of the privacy policy concerning the use of the BELMED platform

This policy may be subject to updates. You are therefore asked to re-read it occasionally to be informed. The updated policy shall always comply with Regulation (EU) No. 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC.