Privacy- en cookie statement Antwerp & Partners Convention Bureau

The protection of your personal data is important to Antwerp & Partners Convention Bureau.

This Privacy Statement provides you with detailed information regarding the protection of your personal data by Antwerp & Partners Convention Bureau, a non-profit organisation, with its registered office at Francis Wellesplein 1, 2018 Antwerp, and with company number 0670.800.431 ("we").

As the data controller, we are responsible for processing some of your personal data in the context of our activities. The purpose of this Privacy Statement is to inform you about which personal data we process about you, the reasons for processing these data, how long we keep them, and how you can exercise your rights.

Please read this Privacy Statement carefully.

For any questions and/or comments regarding this Privacy Statement, you can contact us at the contact details provided at the end of this Privacy Statement.

1  WHICH PERSONAL DATA DO WE USE ABOUT YOU AND WHEN?    

§1. Personal data are data that can be used to identify you, complete a booking, or contact you (e.g., name, (email) address, phone number, age, etc.).

We process your personal data to provide our services to you, which mainly consist of offering advice and support in matching convention organizers with the Antwerp partners of Antwerp & Partners Convention Bureau. This mainly involves finding locations for conventions, hotels, experience partners, airlines, and other service providers. To the extent necessary, we may collect and process certain of your personal data within this context of our (social) activities.

For example, personal data may be processed/collected through our website (e.g., cookies), via the contact form on the website, and through the booking desk on the website.

§2. You are not obliged to provide your personal data where we ask for it.

However, if you choose not to do so, we may not be able to offer you services or respond to any questions you may have.

In such cases, you agree that your personal data will be stored and processed in our database(s), and you guarantee that the data you have provided to us belong to you, or that you have the permission to use and share them with us.

2    HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA? 

§1. The personal data provided will only be processed by us for the purposes mentioned in point 1 of this Privacy Statement.

If we deem it desirable to process your personal data for purposes other than those mentioned in this Privacy Statement, your explicit consent will be requested, and you will have the right to object to this use of your personal data for changed purposes (see point 7 of this Privacy Statement).

However, this prior consent requirement does not apply if we process your personal data for (other) purposes that are compatible with the purposes mentioned in this Privacy Statement.

§2. We take appropriate security measures to prevent unauthorized access to, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of your personal data without permission.

The processing of the personal data we hold is primarily done using computers and/or IT tools, following organizational procedures and methods closely aligned with the stated purposes.

§3. Subject to point 4 of this Privacy Statement, in principle, only our directors and employees, who are connected to us through an employment relationship, have access to your personal data. This access is limited to the extent that the persons concerned need these data for the performance of their function and/or assignment.

Additionally, personal data may be accessible to certain persons responsible for processing or persons appointed by us as processors (such as external technical service providers, mail programs, hosting providers, IT companies, communication agencies). A list of these parties can be requested at any time.

We may also grant third parties access to your personal data that we hold, in accordance with point 4 of this Privacy Statement and, in particular, if this is legally required, at the request of judicial authorities or competent police services, and/or if you have given your consent.

§4. To ensure the availability of certain personal data, backups of these data may be kept by us. In such cases, we may rely on third parties for these backups, with whom we then enter into a processing agreement.

3    WHY AND ON WHAT BASIS DO WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA? 

Every processing of your personal data will always be based on (at least) one of the lawful grounds, as provided by Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Our main grounds for processing your personal data:

• Consent: you actively, specifically, unambiguously, and with knowledge of the facts give us your consent to process your personal data;
   
• Legitimate interest: the processing of your personal data is necessary for the pursuit of our legitimate interests, except where your interests outweigh;
   
• Agreement: the processing of your personal data is necessary for the performance of an agreement you enter into with us or - at your request - to take the necessary steps to enter into an agreement;
   

The possible processing of Special Personal Data will also be based on one of the legal exceptions provided for this purpose (e.g., consent).

We are willing to clarify the specific legal basis and the aforementioned legal exception(s) that apply to the relevant processing.

4    DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA AND, IF SO, WITH WHOM? 

In principle, no personal data are passed on to third parties, unless this is necessary to fulfill our tasks, as provided in point 1, or is imposed on us by or pursuant to a legal provision.

5    DO WE ALSO SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (“EEA”)? 

§1. In the case of international data transfers from the EEA to a country outside the EEA that the European Commission has recognized as a country with an adequate level of data protection, your personal data will be transferred on this basis.

For transfers to countries outside the EEA that are not recognized by the European Commission as countries with an adequate level of data protection, we will either rely on a derogation that applies to a specific situation (e.g., when the transfer is necessary to perform our agreement with you) or implement one of the following safeguards to ensure that your personal data are protected:
-    Standard data protection clauses, as approved by the European Commission; 
-    Binding corporate rules;

§2. To receive a copy of these safeguards or for more details on where you can find them, you can send a letter or email to the contact details at the end of this Privacy Statement.

6    HOW LONG DO WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA? 

§1. Personal data are processed and stored as long as necessary for the purpose for which they were collected. Therefore, the following generally applies:

• Personal data collected based on your consent will be retained as long as this consent is not withdrawn, and at most as long as necessary to achieve the purpose for which you gave your consent; 
• Personal data collected for purposes related to the performance of an agreement we have entered into with you will be retained (at least) until this agreement is fully executed; 
• Personal data collected for the benefit of our legitimate interests will be retained as long as necessary to achieve these goals.
  
  However, when operationally required, personal data may be retained longer, such as to respond to legal claims or requests from supervisory authorities.
   

§2. Personal data may also be retained for a longer period when consent has been given for such processing, and as long as this consent is not withdrawn by the data subject.

Furthermore, we may be required to retain your personal data longer when this is necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations or at the request of a government agency.

§3. After the retention period expires, your personal data will generally be deleted.
Therefore, the right of access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification, and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the retention period expires.

7    WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS AND HOW CAN YOU EXERCISE THEM? 

§1. In accordance with applicable regulations, anyone whose personal data we process can assert a right to:
 

• Access: you have the right to obtain confirmation from us as to whether or not we are processing personal data concerning you and, if    so, to access and/or obtain a copy of (among other things) these personal data; 
   
• Rectification: if you believe that the personal data we hold about you are incorrect or incomplete, you can request a correction or completion of these personal data; 
   
• Erasure: you can request the erasure of your personal data; 
   
• Restriction: under certain circumstances, you can request the restriction of the processing of your personal data. In that case, we will not further process your personal data for other purposes than storing them; 
   
• Objection: you have the option to object to the processing of your personal data when this processing is based on a legal ground other than consent. 
  
  For example, when your personal data are processed in the public interest, in the exercise of official authority, or for our legitimate interests, you can object to this processing by providing a reason related to your specific situation to justify the objection. 
  
  However, when your personal data are processed for direct marketing purposes, you are free to object to this processing at any time and without giving reasons. 
   
• Withdrawal of your consent: if the processing of your personal data is based on your consent, you always have the right to withdraw this consent, provided that this does not affect the lawfulness of the processing(s) based on your consent before its withdrawal; 
   
• Data portability: to the extent legally applicable, you have the right to obtain the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format or, where technically possible, to have them transferred to a third party.
  
  The exercise of these rights is generally free of charge and will be handled as soon as possible but no later than within the legally prescribed periods.
   

§2. If you wish to exercise any of the aforementioned rights, you can send a letter or email to the contact details at the end of this Privacy Statement.

Please always include a scan/copy of the front of your identity card so that we can identify you.

§3. In accordance with applicable regulations, in addition to the rights mentioned above, you also have the right to file a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

8    DO WE ALSO USE COOKIES AND/OR OTHER TECHNOLOGIES? 

§1. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer, tablet, or smartphone during your visit to our website. This text file stores information. This information can be recognized by the website during a subsequent visit.

Through cookies, personal data (including pseudo-anonymous data) may be processed, which would allow you to be identified.

If personal data are involved, the principles of this Privacy Statement also apply to the relevant processing of personal data through cookies.

In particular, we generate (web) statistics through cookies to improve our services/website. We use the data collected through cookies, if necessary, also in the context of legal (reporting) obligations.

§2. We distinguish the following categories of cookies:

• Necessary cookies: these cookies are necessary to properly visit/work on our website/mobile application (e.g., to load pages). 
• Functional cookies: these cookies collect information about your choices and preferences (e.g., preferred language) and allow for an improved user experience. 
• Analytical cookies: these cookies collect information about visitor behavior on the website/mobile application to create (web) statistics to improve our services/websites.

We use first-party cookies (cookies that we place, manage, and from which we receive the collected data) and third-party cookies (cookies placed and/or managed by a third party):

§3. To enable cookies, the following actions must be performed:

Google Chrome

• Click on the three dots next to the browser bar at the top of your browser window and select 'Options'.
• Find the 'Privacy and security' section and click on 'content settings'.
• Click on the 'cookies' option. 
• Now select 'Allow sites to save and read cookie data'.

Microsoft Internet Explorer
 

• Click on 'Internet options' in the 'Tools' menu. 
• On the 'Privacy' tab, move the settings slider to 'low' or 'accept all cookies' (setting above 'medium' disables cookies). 
• Click 'OK'.

Mozilla Firefox

• Click on 'Firefox' in the top left corner of your browser and then click on 'Options'. 
• On the 'Privacy' tab, make sure that 'Tell websites I do not want to be tracked' is not checked. 
• Click 'OK'.

Safari

• Choose 'Preferences' in the task menu. (The task menu is located at the top right of the Safari window and looks like a gear or click on 'Safari' in the extended task menu.) 
• Click on the Privacy tab. Find the section called 'Cookies and other website data'. 
• Indicate that you accept cookies.

§4. If you prefer not to, you are free as a visitor to disable cookies via your browser settings, with the understanding that we cannot ensure a trouble-free visit to our website. Disabling can be done in the following ways:

Google Chrome

• Select 'More Settings' in the browser toolbar. 
• Select the 'Advanced' option at the bottom of the page. 
• Under 'Privacy and security', select 'Content settings'. 
• Select 'Cookies'. 
• Disable 'Allow sites to save and read cookie data'.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

• In Internet Explorer, select the Tools button and then select Internet options. 
• Select the Privacy tab and under Settings, move the slider up to block all cookies.
• Click OK.

Mozilla Firefox

• Click the menu button and choose 'Preferences'. 
• Select the 'Privacy & Security' panel and go to the 'History' section. 
• Set 'Firefox will' to 'Use custom settings for history'. 
• Set 'Accept third-party cookies' to 'Never'. 
• Close the 'about: preferences' page. Any changes you have made will be automatically saved.

Safari

• Choose 'Preferences' in the task menu. (The task menu is located at the top right of the Safari window and looks like a gear or click on 'Safari' in the extended task menu.) 
• Click on the Privacy tab. Find the section called 'Cookies and other website data'. 
• Indicate that you do not accept cookies.

9    HOW CAN YOU FOLLOW CHANGES TO THIS PRVACY AND COOKIE STATEMENT? 

In  a world of continuous technological changes, we will need to update this statement regularly.

We invite you to consult the latest version of this Privacy Statement online and we will inform you – as far as technically and legally possible – of significant changes via our website or via our other usual communication channels.

The date of the last change is indicated at the bottom of the page.

10    DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WISH TO CONTACT US? 

If you have any questions about the processing of your personal data as described in this Privacy Statement, you can contact us as follows:

Antwerp & Partners Convention Bureau
Francis Wellesplein 1
2018 Antwerpen
info@antwerpconventionbureau.be

Last modified on 19.10.2024