PRIVACY POLICY

Welcome to our website. We are the Knowledge Centre Data & Society ("KCDS").

Below you will find a summary (and a more in-depth explanation) of how we process your personal data and respect your privacy.

In summary:

• We value your privacy and process your data strictly in accordance with the applicable regulations.
• We collect personal data through the use of our website and through communication between us. In addition, we also search public sources for data on individuals and organisations that we suspect may be interested in our activities ("Target Organisations"). This data mainly includes your (e-mail) address, technical information, the way you use our services, the organisation you are active in, your function and the relevant activities
• This data is only used to enable you to use our services and to communicate with you.
• You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time You can always contact us via info@data-en-maatschappij.ai or +32 2 614 85 40.
• You can always exercise your rights of access, erasure, rectification, portability of your data, complaints, etc. (if the conditions are met).
• Since the KCDS consists of employees of the universities UGent, VUB and KU Leuven, many of the aspects below have been arranged at the level of these universities. These three universities are also jointly responsible for the processing of your data.
  

ARTICLE 1. What data do we collect?

We only collect the categories of data that we need in order to communicate with you, to carry out and evaluate our services, to keep you informed of our activities, reports and actions, etc.

1.1. We collect the following categories of data:

i) Contact details
ii) Organisation(s) in which the person is active, function, activities of the organisation
iii) Technical information: such as your IP-address or your operating system when using our website
iv) Your surfing behaviour on our website, such as how often you visit a page, how long you stay there, what you click on, etc.
v) Billing and payment information, if amounts are to be charged
vi) If you are a paying business customer or business partner, we may request information about your creditworthiness
vii) Correspondence you conduct with us
viii) Other information you provide to us.
ix) If you are (a contact person at) a Target Organisation to whom we would like to introduce ourselves by email or telephone, we may collect your company, name, position, work telephone and professional email address
x) If you are a job applicant, we will process the data you provide us, data resulting from interviews and tests, data of persons you indicate as references and data which is publicly available and relevant for the assessment of your application (such as public posts on social media).

ARTICLE 2: How do we collect your data?

When using our website. When communicating with us. When using our services. From public sources.

2.1. We process personal data that either :

i) Are collected in the course of contact with you,
ii) provided by you in the course of our activities,
iii) collected by us as a result of your participation in our activities,
iv) through public sources, such as on the website of the organisation where you are active.

2.2. In particular we collect your personal data:

i) when using our website
ii) when communicating with us,
iii) when participating in our activities. In doing so, we collect/receive from you your name and e-mail address,
iv) through public sources. For example, if you are (a contact person at) a Target organisation, we may look for your data through public channels, such as through your organisation's website. Or if you are applying for a job, we may consult public information such as public posts on social media.

ARTICLE 3: How do we use your personal data?

We use your data to communicate with you, to inform you about our activities and findings, to improve the functioning of our website and organisation, etc.

3.1. We use your data:

i) When you show interest in or participate in our activities:

(1) to enable you to participate in them
(2) to establish and register which activities interest you, which uses you have made of them and/or which views you hold on them,
(3) to evaluate and improve/adapt our operations and activities to your needs,
(4) to provide you with support when necessary,

ii) For our communication:

(1) to communicate with you (e.g. when you ask us a question or send you an invitation to our activities),
(2) to improve our website,
(3) to provide you with information about our operations and activities by e-mail and (only if you are involved or (a contact person at) a Target organisation), based on our legitimate interest to do so, or if you request it, e.g. by subscribing to our newsletter),

(iii) Website

(1) to improve, effectively present and personalise our website,
(2) to display (targeted) messages on our and other websites,
(3) to evaluate your use of the website (e.g. via third party analytics services), compile activity reports, gather demographic data, analyse performance data and gather other data about our website and internet usage. These third parties use cookies and other technologies to help analyse the data and provide us with the data. Please see our Cookie Policy for more information.

ARTICLE 4: On what legal basis do we process your data?

We process your data when:

• this is required for the performance of our agreement with you
• we are legally obliged to do so
• we have a legitimate interest in doing so
• we have received consent to do so

4.1. We process your personal data strictly in accordance with the applicable privacy laws and in particular on the basis of the following legal grounds:

i) Performance of contract: We need to process some data in order to enforce our rights and fulfil our obligations under our contract with you, to communicate with you prior to the conclusion of a contract and to assess the desirability of such a contract. For example, we will need your contact details to prepare a contract or to deliver your orders, your email address to let you know that your order is being delivered and your billing details to invoice you (if you are using a paid service).

ii) Legal obligation: in some cases, we are legally obliged to process your data. This is for example the case when we have to send you invoices, which must contain your VAT number.

iii) Legitimate interest: Are you involved in our operations, a Target organisation or more generally an existing relationship? Then, based on our legitimate interest, we will send you targeted information and newsletters about our products. Unless you unsubscribe of course. If you are (a contact person at) a Target Organisation, we may collect your data as described above from public sources and contact you by phone or e-mail to provide you with more information about our operations and activities and to gauge your interest.

(iv) Consent: We may also process your data when we receive your consent, e.g. when you subscribe to a newsletter or receive certain (targeted) information.

ARTICLE 5: Which third parties process your data?

Only service providers are granted access to your data and must treat it as confidential

5.1. We use the following categories of companies (suppliers) who process your data but may not use it themselves:

i) hosting of our data and our website,
ii) analysis of our website,
iii) e-mailing,
iv) couriers,
v) consultants
vi) [other].

5.2. These third parties will of course only have access to your data if this is necessary for the services they provide..

ARTICLE 6: How do we protect your data?

We protect your data:

• By working with trusted partners
• By taking technical security measures
• By taking organisational measures

6.1. We protect your personal data by taking technical and organisational security measures, such as:

i) Technical security measures in the areas of access (login requirements, password policy, etc.), storage (encryption, back-up, etc.) and protection against external access (firewall, anti-virus software, etc.) of or to the media on which personal data may be stored,

ii) organisational measures such as keeping a register of processing activities, complying with a data policy, imposing measures so that our employees keep the data held confidential, etc.

iii) where we process your personal data on the basis of legitimate interest (such as processing for "prospection purposes"), we will carry out a "legitimate interest assessment" to ensure that we have the required interest and that additional safeguards are provided for and applied. In this way, we ensure that the processing of your data is proportionate and balanced in accordance with privacy legislation.

(iv) working with reliable partners/suppliers and enforcing security guarantees with them.

6.2. Despite the security measures we take, it is important to know that data transmission over the Internet is not without danger and you should take the necessary precautions when sending data to us via the Internet.

ARTICLE 7: Where do we process your data?

• As much as possible within the EU
• Outside the EU when necessary and when an adequate level of protection is provided in accordance with the GDPR

7.1. The data you provide us with, are stord and processed:

i) on the servers and computers we use within the EU,
ii) on the systems of the mentioned third parties processing the data.

7.2. Where possible, we opt for processing within the EU, but some of these service providers process data outside the EU. In those cases, we ensure that they provide an adequate level of protection in accordance with the GDPR.

ARTICLE 8: You decide about your data

8.1. You can choose

i) not to share personal data with us: You may choose not to share your personal data with us. If you choose this option, you can continue to use our website, but you will not be able to use areas where we need to know who you are, where you must pay, for example, or where you must be logged in. We must be able to continue to process the personal data we need to provide our services for as long as you use our services.

ii) Not to accept or disable cookies: You cannot accept or disable cookies. For more information, please read our Cookie Policy [/insert link to cookie policy].

iii) To not have your personal data used for marketing by us of our activities and operations: You can request that we do not use your data for marketing purposes. If you receive marketing communications from us, you can opt out at any time. You can do this by

1) the unsubscribe-link at the bottom of every e-mail you receive from us,
2) by sending an e-mail to info@data-en-maatschappij.ai

ARTIKEL 9: Your rights to your personal data

You may:

• access your personal data and modify/rectify it;
• Request a copy of your personal data and transmit it to others;
• Ask us not to use your personal data for marketing;
• Ask us to remove your personal data and to be “forgotten” by us.

9.1 You may exercise your rights by emailing us at info@data-en-maatschappij.ai

9.2 We will provide you with an answer within one month of your request.
Within the same term, we will send you the required personal data or provide you with the necessary access, unless this would harm the rights and freedoms of others (e.g. confidentiality, intellectual property,…) in which case we will inform you of this. If we need additional time as a result of the complexity of your request, we may extend the answer period with 2 months. We will also inform you of this extension within one month of your request.

9.3 You may access and adapt your personal data

• You have (within the legal conditions) the right to access the personal data that we have about you. This includes the right to ask for additional information about:

• the categories of personal data that we process about you
• the purposes for which we process your personal data
• the categories of recipients to whom we disclose your personal data
• the period for which we store your personal data or the criteria based on which this period is determined
• the other rights that you can exercise with regard to your personal data
  

9.4 You have the right to have the personal data that we have about you rectified. You can request this by emailing us at the e-mail address info@data-en-maatschappij.ai

9.5 You can object to our use of your personal data for profiling or automatic decision making. We may use your personal data to determine if certain information or (targeted) communication may be useful.

9.6 You have the right (within the legal conditions) to receive your personal data to transmit it to a different service provider. We can provide you with your personal data in a structured format. This will only include the personal data to which you have a right of access (as detailed above)

9.7 You have the right to erasure and to be “forgotten” by us. This means that, at your request, we will erase all personal data for which we no longer have any legitimate interests in storing it. We may, for example, have an interest in storing your personal data if you are our customer and if those personal data are necessary to contact you.