1. General
The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to inform you about the processing of personal data carried out by the law firm Crauwels Advocaten. The data controller is BV Crauwels Advocaten, with its registered office at 2610 ANTWERP, Sneeuwbeslaan 14, with company number 0871.193.226, and the attorneys associated with it (hereinafter referred to as “Crauwels Advocaten” or “we” and “us”).
Crauwels Advocaten considers the protection and confidentiality of your personal data to be of the utmost importance. The lawfulness of the processing of your personal data, as well as its security and confidentiality, is of essential importance to us.
Crauwels Advocaten therefore undertakes to process your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 27, 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 (hereinafter the GDPR).
2. Definitions
To ensure a clear and thorough understanding of this Privacy Policy, the following terms—which are used throughout the Privacy Policy—are defined and explained below:
- GDPR: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 27, 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 65/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), which entered into force on May 25, 2018. Directive 65/46/EC. (General Data Protection Regulation).
- Data subject: any identified or identifiable natural person to whom the processed personal data relates.
- Personal data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“the data subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier, or one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that natural person.
- Special Categories of Personal Data: means data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, as well as genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a person, data concerning health, or data relating to a person’s sexual behavior or sexual orientation. It also includes personal data concerning criminal convictions and offenses or related security measures.
- Sensitive personal data: personal data where loss or unlawful processing may lead to (among other things) stigmatization or exclusion of the data subject, harm to health, financial loss, or (identity) fraud.
These categories of personal data must in any case include: - Special categories of personal data
- Data regarding the Data Subject’s financial or economic situation
- (Other) data that may lead to stigmatization or exclusion of the Data Subject
- Usernames, passwords, and other login credentials
- Data that could be misused for (identity) fraud.
- Processing of personal data: any operation or set of operations performed on personal data or on a set of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieving, consulting, using, disclosing by transmission, disseminating or otherwise making available, aligning or combining, restricting access to, erasing, or destroying data.
- Data Controller: a natural person or legal entity, a public authority, a service, or another body that, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data. In this case, the data controller is Crauwels Advocaten.
- Processor: a natural person or legal entity, a public authority, a service, or another body that processes personal data on behalf of the Data Controller without being subject to its direct authority.
- Sub-processor: another processor engaged by the Processor to perform specific processing activities on behalf of the Data Controller.
- Data breach: means a breach involving personal data and/or circumstances that are likely to result in a breach involving personal data, which accidentally or unlawfully leads to—or where it cannot reasonably be ruled out that it may lead to—the destruction, the loss, alteration, or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, personal data that has been transmitted, stored, or otherwise processed.
- Data Protection Authority: any supervisory authority established by a Member State of the European Union pursuant to Article 51 of the GDPR to oversee the processing of personal data. In Belgium, this is the Data Protection Authority established by the Act of December 3, 2017, establishing the Data Protection Authority, the successor to the Commission for the Protection of Privacy – www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be.
- Website: the website of Crauwels Advocaten (www.crowelegal.be)
3. Personal Data Processed by Crauwels Advocaten
Below is an overview of the personal data that Crauwels Advocaten (may) process, depending on the nature of your interaction with us: as a client, as a supplier, as a third party, as a counterparty, as a consultant, as a prospect, as an employee, or as a job applicant:
Client
- Identification information: first and last name, address, phone number, contact message, email address
- Occupation and position
- Financial details: bank account number
- Personal information: attendance at events
- Camera footage when you enter our office
- Other personal data that you actively provide, for example in correspondence, via email and by phone, or when you give us your business card.
Third parties, counterparties, advisors
- Identification information: first and last name, address, phone number, contact message, email address
- Occupation and position
- Financial details: bank account number
- Camera footage when you enter our office
- Other personal data that you actively provide, for example, in correspondence, via email, and by phone, or when you give us your business card.
- Identification information: first and last name, address, phone number, contact message, email address
- Occupation and position
- Financial details: bank account number
- Camera footage when you enter our office
- Other personal data that you actively provide, for example in correspondence, via email and by phone, or when you give us your business card
- Identification information: first and last name, address, phone number, contact message, email address
- Occupation and position
- Camera footage when you enter our office
- Other personal data that you actively provide, for example, in correspondence, via email, and by phone, or when you give us your business card
- Identification information: first and last name, address, phone number, contact message, email address
- Occupation and position
- Education
- Financial details: bank account number
Our website also uses cookies that collect certain personal data. For the provisions regarding cookies, see Section 14 and our Cookie Policy.
4. Special/Sensitive Data
As part of our duties as attorneys, we process (as appropriate) the following special and/or sensitive personal data:
- criminal and judicial history, offenses, or convictions;
- data concerning individuals under the age of 16;
- personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data intended to uniquely identify a person, or data concerning health, or data relating to a person’s sexual behavior or sexual orientation.
This website does not intend to collect data from website visitors under the age of 16, unless they have permission from a parent or guardian. However, we cannot verify whether a visitor is over the age of 16. We therefore recommend that parents be involved in their children’s online activities to prevent data about children from being collected without parental consent.
If you believe we have collected personal data about a minor without consent, please contact us at info@crauwels-law.be, and we will delete this information.
5. Purposes and Legal Basis for the Processing of Your Personal Data
Crauwels Advocaten processes your personal data for the purposes listed below and on the legal basis specified herein:
A. To perform a contract with you or to take the necessary steps at your request prior to entering into a contract:
- to proceed with the delivery and billing of our services;
- to manage our customer records;
- to contact you by phone or email if necessary to provide our services;
- to inform you about changes to our services;
- to process your (potential) payment.
B. To protect our legitimate interests or those of third parties, including, but not limited to, the following purposes:
- the exercise of fundamental rights, such as the right to organize a legal defense;
- proving transactions, statements, etc.;
- fraud prevention and protection against violations;
- IT management, infrastructure management, and IT security.
C. To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, such as:
- responding to an official request from authorized public or judicial authorities;
- fulfilling our tax obligations.
D. To respect your choice when we ask for your consent to a specific processing activity:
- collecting information about your profession and/or educational background to process your application for an open position;
- collecting your personal data to register your attendance at events;
- if we carry out additional processing for purposes other than those stated in this Privacy Policy, we will inform you of this and, if necessary, ask for your consent.
Direct marketing: Your personal data will not be used for direct marketing unless you have provided additional explicit consent (“opt-in”). If you are already included in our mailing list for receiving marketing materials in paper and/or electronic form, Crauwels Advocaten may use your information to send you marketing and other materials related to Crauwels Advocaten, its products, and/or services. Crauwels Advocaten may use the data you provide to update documents retained by Crauwels Advocaten.
This consent may be withdrawn at any time, without providing a reason and free of charge, for example by clicking the unsubscribe link provided at the bottom of every promotional email or newsletter.
6. Purposes Not Covered by This Privacy Policy
If we wish to process personal data for a purpose not specified in this Privacy Policy, we will contact you in advance via the email address you provided to inform you of this new processing, its purpose, and its legal basis. If the legal basis for the processing is “consent,” we will always ask for your consent; without such consent, we will not proceed with the processing.
7. Duration of the processing of your personal data
We retain and process personal data for a period necessary to fulfill the purposes of the processing and in accordance with the contractual relationship between Crauwels Advocaten and you, taking into account the legal obligation to retain files for five (5) years.
8. Security of Your Personal Data
We use various security technologies and measures to appropriately protect your data against unauthorized access, use, loss, or disclosure. These technologies and measures are tested on a regular basis and adjusted as necessary.
Should a data breach involving your data occur, you will be personally notified in the manner and within the timeframe prescribed by law.
Under no circumstances can Crauwels Advocaten be held liable for any direct or indirect damage resulting from the incorrect or unlawful use of personal data by a third party.
You must comply with the security guidelines at all times, including by preventing any unauthorized access to your login and password.
When we do share personal data with external parties, we enter into a data processing agreement with them that must always include sufficient (technical) measures to ensure that the security of your data is guaranteed to the greatest extent possible.
If you nevertheless feel that your personal data is not properly secured or if there are indications of misuse, please contact us immediately at info@crauwels-law.be.
9. Confidentiality - Sharing Data with Third Parties
All personal data is treated as strictly confidential. We do not sell your data to third parties and disclose it only if necessary to fulfill our legal obligations, for legitimate interests, or to fulfill the agreement with you.
We use third-party services. As a result, these parties have access to our website, server, or collected personal data.
10. Third-Party Websites
If we provide you with links to websites that are not provided or managed by Crauwels Advocaten, these links are provided solely for informational purposes and for your convenience. We recommend that you carefully review the privacy policy of the website provider when visiting these websites. Crauwels Advocaten cannot be held liable in any way for the policies or practices of the owner or operator of such third-party websites.
11. Location where personal data is stored
All personal data is stored on servers in the EU. When we engage data processors, we require that they and their subprocessors store the personal data on servers in the EU.
12. Your Rights
In accordance with current regulations, as a data subject, you have the following rights:
- Right to access your personal data: You have the right to review your personal data at any time, as well as to learn how we use your personal data. This also includes the right to request a copy.
- Right to correct your personal data: You always have the right to correct your data if it turns out to be inaccurate.
- Right to erasure of your personal data: You have the right to request the erasure of your personal data as soon as there is no longer a lawful basis for processing this data.
- Right to restrict the processing of your personal data.
- Right to data portability: You have the right to receive the personal data we process in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and/or to request that we transfer this data to another data controller.
- Right to withdraw your consent: You may withdraw the consent you have given us to process your personal data at any time. However, the withdrawal of your consent does not affect processing that is necessary to pursue our legitimate interests or those of a third party.
- Right to object to the processing of your personal data: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data (1) that is necessary for our legitimate interests, but where there are reasons specific to your situation, and (2) for the purposes of direct marketing (in the latter case, you do not need to provide reasons). However, such an objection is not possible if the processing of your personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract.
- Automated individual decision-making and profiling: You have the right not to be subject to fully automated decision-making. Fully automated means that there is no human intervention that (effectively) contributes to the decision-making process and therefore cannot alter the decision. The processing of your personal data by Crauwels Advocaten does not involve profiling. Crauwels Advocaten also does not use automated decision-making processes.
- Right to File a Complaint: If you believe we have violated the GDPR, you always have the right to file a complaint with the Data Protection Authority, the body responsible for overseeing compliance with the GDPR: www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be - Drukpersstraat 35, 1000 Brussels Tel: +32 (0)2 274 48 00 Fax: +32 (0)2 274 48 35, contact@apd-gba.be. Filing a complaint with the Data Protection Authority does not preclude the right to bring a civil action in court. If you suffer damages as a result of the processing of your personal data, you may file a claim for compensation.
13. Exercising Your Rights
If you wish to exercise any of the rights listed above, you may submit a dated request to us in writing or electronically, either by email to info@crauwels-law.be or by mail to Crauwels Advocaten BV, Sneeuwbeslaan 14, 2610 Antwerp.
We are committed to responding to your request as soon as possible, but no later than thirty days. Please note, however, that the aforementioned rights are not absolute: there may be grounds on which we are not obligated to comply with your request, or on which we may only partially comply with your request. If this is the case, we will notify you within thirty days of receiving your request.
To ensure that the request was made by you, we may also ask you to send us a copy of your identification document. Please black out your passport photo and national identification number on this copy.
All requests are processed free of charge, unless the requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly due to their repetitive nature.
If requests are found to be manifestly unfounded or excessive, either a reasonable fee will be charged in light of the administrative costs associated with providing the requested information or communication and taking the requested measures, or the request will be denied. We will notify you of this decision no later than thirty days from the date of your request.
14. Cookies
We use cookies to make your browsing experience easier and more enjoyable, and to better tailor the content of our website to your needs and preferences.
Cookies are small text files that may be stored on your computer or other internet-enabled devices, such as a tablet or smartphone, when you visit a website. These text files store information, such as your language preference, which the website can recognize during a subsequent visit. When you visit the website again later, this cookie is sent back to the website. This allows the website to recognize your browser.
There are two types of cookies: functional cookies and non-functional cookies. Functional cookies are necessary for the website to function properly. Non-functional cookies are not strictly necessary but contain useful information to enhance your browsing experience on the website (e.g., personalized ads).
Other technologies, such as web beacons (also known as pixel tags or clear GIFs), tracking URLs, or software development kits (SDKs), are used for similar purposes. Web beacons are small graphic files that contain a unique identifier that allows us to recognize when someone has visited our service or opened an email we sent. Tracking URLs are custom links that help us understand where traffic to our web pages comes from. SDKs are small pieces of code in apps that function like cookies and web beacons.
Social media plug-ins allow us to recognize you based on your social media profile and to import certain data (such as your identification and contact information and your profile picture). They also allow us to use social media (“Share”) buttons (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook). You can find more information about this in the privacy policy of your social media service. If you do not wish to connect to your social media profile, please log out before using our website.
For simplicity, we also refer to these other technologies (web beacons, SDKs, and social media plug-ins) as “cookies.” You can find our Cookie Policy on our website, which we recommend you read carefully. This Cookie Policy forms an integral part of this Privacy Policy.
15. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to expand or amend this Privacy Policy in the future. The most recent version of this statement is always posted on our website. Therefore, we recommend that you review our Privacy Policy on the website regularly.
16. Contact Information
If you have any further questions or comments regarding the processing of your personal data as described in this Privacy Policy, please feel free to contact us at any time:
Crauwels Advocaten BV
Sneeuwbeslaan 14
2610 Antwerp
info@crauwels-law.be
This Privacy Policy was last updated on January 1, 2025.
