Legal Notice

Information pursuant to Article 7 of the Belgian Law of March 11, 2003

• V V G B Advocaten / Avocats
• Barricadenplein 13 Place des Barricades
• 1000 Brussels, Belgium
• Telephone: +32 2 542 07 80
• Fax: +32 2 534 5888
• E-mail: info@vvgb-law.com

V V G B is registered as a limited liability partnership (CVBA) under the Laws of Belgium and is registered in the Crossroads Bank of Enterprises under number 0525.904.504.

The Belgian lawyers practicing in V V G B are admitted to practice as lawyers and are members of the Brussels Bar, List A, under the professional title “advocaat” or “avocat”.

As an international law firm, V V G B also includes a number of lawyers from other jurisdictions who are members of or are registered with the Brussels Bar, List E or B, and are members of foreign Bars.

A mention of each lawyer’s bar admission can be found in his/her biography on this website.

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Privacy Notice

VVGB is committed to safeguarding privacy and personal data. With a few exceptions, such as when we provide data room or e-discovery services (in the context of which our role is limited to that of a data processor), VVGB is generally the controller of personal data provided to us.

This privacy notice is intended to inform clients, prospective clients, candidates and more generally all visitors to this website about how we collect, use, share, protect or otherwise process personal data.

When do we process your personal data

We collect and use your personal data when you

1. use our website or social media or communicate with us via e-mail, phone, fax or any other digital communication channel, such as the form provided on the “Contact” page of this website;
2. contract and communicate with us as our client
3. contract and communicate with us as our supplier;
4. apply for one of our vacancies;
5. are (a counsel or staff member of) an opposing party.

This privacy notice may be amended as set forth at the end of this notice.

Who we are

“We”, “us”, “our” in this privacy notice refers to VVGB:

VVGB Advocaten / Avocats

Barricadenplein 13, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

0525.904.504.

info@vvgb-law.com

+32 2 542 07 80

 We are responsible for the collection and use of your personal data in the manner explained in this privacy notice. For the processing explained in this notice, we act as a controller of personal data under the GDPR. If you have any questions about this, please contact us by e-mail (info@vvgb-law.com).

Which personal data do we process and why

We will only process your personal data for specific purposes and to the extent permitted by law. We further explain below in which cases we collect and use your personal data. If we do not receive your personal data directly from you, we will also inform you of this below. We believe it is important to stress that we, as a law firm, give great importance to professional secrecy and confidentiality. Consequently, where we act in our specific capacity of law firm, we will only process your personal data in compliance with such confidentiality obligations.

Social media and communications          

When you use our website, social media or communicate with us via phone, e-mail, fax or any other digital communication channel (such as the form provided on the “Contact” page of our website), we will collect and use your personal data for various purposes. These are to

1. allow for the communication between you and us, for which we rely on our legitimate interest to be able to respond to requests, questions or remarks or to contact you proactively for inquiries of whatever kind (e.g., when you respond to a blog, use our contact form or contact us via social media, phone, e-mail or fax);
2. improve the website’s and social media pages’ content and the overall experience, for which we rely on our own legitimate interest to offer our visitors an interesting online space;
3. detect and prevent malware, illegal content and behaviour and other types of misuse, for which we rely on our legitimate interest to keep our and your online presence safe.

To achieve the above-mentioned purposes, we process the following personal data:

1. the basic identity information you provide us with, such as name, e-mail address, postal address, telephone number, the company you work for, your function;
2. the content of your communication and the technical details of the communication itself (with whom you correspond at our end, date and time, etc.); 
3. technical information associated with the device you use, such as your IP address, browser type, geographical location and operating system;
4. information concerning your browsing behavior, such as how long you visit, what links you click on, what pages you visit and how many times you visit a page;
5. any other personal data you choose to provide to us.

Business cards

When you give us your business card, we collect and digitally register the personal data which are written on that card for normal business relationship management purposes. We thus rely on our legitimate interest to process these personal data, which is to be able to build up our network of contacts.

Contracting

As a client or supplier entering in a contract with us, we process your personal data to:

1. be able to execute and perform our obligations under the contract, while strictly complying with our obligations as a lawyer, including our deontology. When you as an individual are our client or supplier, we rely on the necessity of processing your personal data for executing and performing the contract we have with you. In case you act in the capacity of or on behalf of a company or other legal entity, we rely on our legitimate interest to be able to contract with clients and suppliers when processing your personal data;
2. do our normal business administration, such invoicing and relationship management, for which we rely on our legitimate interest to manage our business responsibly and professionally;
3. defend ourselves in legal proceedings, when it is our legitimate interest to use your personal data in these proceedings.

To achieve the above-mentioned purposes, we process the following personal data:

1. basic identity information, such as name, e-mail address, postal address, telephone number, the company you work for and your function.
2. depending on the specificities of our contract with you, we might process other personal data we have received from you.

Recruitment and selection

In light of a recruitment and selection process, for example when you apply for one of our vacancies, we will collect and use your personal data for the following purposes:

1. assess your application, for which we rely on the necessity of processing your personal data in order to come to a potential agreement with you;
2. defend ourselves in legal proceedings, when it is in our legitimate interest to use your personal data in these proceedings.
3. keep you in our recruitment reserve, for which we will ask your consent.

To achieve the above-mentioned purposes, we process the following personal data:

1. your basic identity information, such as name, e-mail address, postal address and telephone number;
2. any other personal data you have chosen to include in your application, such as information you have included in your resume and cover letter;
3. information you have made publicly available, such as on social media.

Legal proceedings

As (a counsel or staff member of) an opposing party we will process some of your personal data too. This depends on the dispute between our client(s) and your client(s), your employer or yourself. This may include your basic identity data, such as your name, e-mail address, postal address, telephone number and the company you work or have worked for. We receive this data from yourself, our client(s) or another third party (e.g. a bailiff or expert).

Marketing communications

We might send you non-digital marketing communication, such as a postcard wishing you happy holidays, for which we rely on our legitimate interest. Moreover, we may send you digital marketing communications where you are or have previously been a customer of our services. To achieve this purpose, we process your basic identity information (name, e-mail address, telephone number and postal address).

Additionally, where your personal data are not processed under the aforementioned processing purposes, we rely on your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time, after which we will no longer send you any form of digital marketing communication. To achieve this purpose, we process your basic identity information (name, e-mail address and telephone number).

Other circumstances

Apart from the abovementioned circumstances, we may additionally be obligated to process any of your personal data mentioned above when

1. we need to comply with legal obligations or to comply, insofar we are legally allowed to as lawyers, with any reasonable request from competent law enforcement agents or representatives, judicial authorities, governmental agencies or bodies, including competent data protection authorities;
2. we need to inform a third party in the context of a possible merger with, acquisition from/by or demerger by that third party, even if that third party is located outside the EU, in which case we rely on our legitimate interest to engage in corporate transactions.

With whom we share your personal data

In principle, we do not share your personal data with anyone other than the persons who work for/with us, as well as with the service providers who help us process your personal data. In order to process a query, or to fulfil any of the abovementioned purposes, we may be required to share personal data with other law firms. Anyone who has access to your personal data will always be bound by strict legal or contractual obligations to keep your personal data safe and confidential.

We do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). We will only transfer your personal data outside the EEA if you or your employer, as a customer or supplier, has offices outside the EEA with which we need to communicate. If a transfer were to take place, we will take sufficient safeguards to protect your personal data during the transfer (e.g. by entering into an agreement based on standard data protection clauses approved by the European Commission).

How long we keep your personal data

Your personal data will only be processed for as long as necessary to achieve the purposes described above or, when we have asked you for your consent, until you withdraw your consent.

As a general rule, we will de-identify your personal data when it is no longer needed for the purposes described above or when the retention period has expired. To determine the retention period for personal data, we will take into consideration the purposes for which they were collected, the amount, the nature, the sensitivity and the applicable legal requirements.

All personal data we collect through our interactions with you via the website, social media, phone, fax, e-mail and other digital communication channels will be kept for as long as required to communicate with you, but also to keep an historical archive of our communications. This allows us to revert back to earlier communications if you return to us with new questions, request, remarks or other input.

All personal data we collect when you hand us your business card will be kept for as long as you do not request us to erase your personal data.

All personal data we collect in the context of a contractual relationship with you or the organization you represent, will be kept for the duration of the contractual relationship and at least until seven years thereafter.

All personal data we collect in the context of your application with us will be kept for the duration of the application process and, if we choose to engage your services, for the whole duration of your contract with us and until ten years after such contract has terminated. If we do not choose to engage your services, but we have invited you for an interview, we will retain your personal data for one year after the assessment process has been closed. If you consent to including your personal data in our recruitment reserve, we will retain your personal data for five years after having received your personal data.

All personal data we collect in het context of marketing communications will be kept for one year after collecting your data. Where we collect your personal data for direct marketing purposes based on your consent, we will retain your personal data for as long as you do not withdraw your consent.

How we keep your personal data safe and secure

The security and confidentiality of the personal data we process is very important to us. That is why we have taken measures to ensure that all personal data processed is kept secure. These measures include technical and organizational measures to protect our infrastructure, systems, applications, premises and processes. They protect your personal data against accidental or intentional manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction or unauthorized access by third parties.

We also keep your data safe by only processing what is required for achieving the abovementioned purposes.

Your rights regarding your personal data

You have the right to request access to all personal data processed by us insofar as it pertains to you. You can exercise this right by contacting us as set out below. We reserve the right to refuse multiple requests for access that are clearly submitted for causing nuisance or harm to us or others.

Each request addressed to us can be sent via e-mail to info@vvgb-law.com.

An e-mail requesting to exercise a right will not be construed as consent for the processing of your personal data beyond what is required for handling your request. Such requests should clearly state and specify which right you wish to exercise and the reasons for it if such is required. It should also be dated and signed, and – in general – be accompanied by a digitally scanned copy of your valid identity card proving your identity.

You have the right to ask that any personal data about you which are inaccurate, are corrected free of charge. If a request for correction is submitted, such request must be accompanied by proof of the flawed nature of the data for which correction is asked.

You have the right to request that personal data about you be deleted if they are no longer required in light of the purposes outlined above. However, you need to keep in mind that a deletion request will be evaluated by us against:

1. our own or a third party’s overriding interests; or
2. legal or regulatory obligations or administrative or judicial orders which may contradict such deletion.

Instead of deletion, you can also ask that we limit the processing of your personal data if and when (a) you contest the accuracy of that data, (b) the processing is illegitimate or (c) the data are no longer needed for the purposes which are outlined above, but you need them to defend yourself in judicial proceedings.

You have the right to withdraw your consent that was earlier given for the processing of your personal data at any time. Please note that such withdrawal will not affect earlier processing of your personal data in any way. The withdrawal of consent will only prevent future processing of your personal data.

You have the right to object to the processing of personal data unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights, and freedoms or for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

Where the purposes identified above rely on your consent or a (pre-)contractual obligation, you have the right to receive a copy from us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, of any personal data you have provided to us.

We will promptly inform you of having received this request. If the request proves valid, we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and at the latest thirty (30) days after having received the request.

If you have a complaint about the processing of your personal data by us, you can always contact us at info@vvgb-law.com. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority, being the data protection authority of the country of your habitual place of residence, place of work or the place of an alleged infringement.

Changes to this privacy notice

We can change this privacy notice on our own initiative at any time. If material changes to this privacy notice may affect the processing of your personal data, we will communicate these changes to you in a way that we normally communicate with you (e.g. via e-mail).

We invite you to read the latest version of this privacy notice on this website (www.vvgb-law.com).

 

 

Cookie Policy

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users, provide a better experience when you browse our website, and improve our site’s performance and usefulness. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

A cookie is a small data file that websites can place on your hard drive when you visit. A cookie file can contain information such as a user ID that tracks the pages you’ve visited within that site. The cookies on this website are primarily used to recognize that a user has visited the website previously and to track user traffic patterns. We do not correlate this information with data about individual users, nor do we share this information or sell it to any third party.

If you prefer not to receive cookies through the site, you can set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies and refuse the cookie when your browser alerts you to its presence. You also can refuse all cookies by turning them off in your browser. You do not need to have cookies turned on to use any pages within our website. For more information about cookies, including how to set your browser to reject cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Types of Cookies We Use

Following is a list of cookies with brief descriptions, to better inform our users why we use cookies on our site. For your convenience, we have split them into two categories.

Essential Cookies: These are used to recognize you when you return to our website, enabling us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).

Name	Type	Expiration Time	Description
cookieControl	Essential	30 days	Hides cookie notice after accepting cookies
cookieControlPrefs	Essential	30 days	Saves cookie preferences after accepting cookies
__RequestVerificationToken	Essential	Session	This is an anti-forgery cookie. It is designed to stop unauthorised posting of content to a website, known as Cross-Site Request Forgery. It holds no information about the user and is destroyed on closing the browser.

Tracking Cookies: These cookies enable us to collect information such as number of visitors to the website and pages visited in order to analyze user behavior. This information is collected in an anonymous format and will be collated with similar information received from other users. We use these cookies to determine the usefulness of the information we supply to you and other users and to see how effective our navigation is in helping users reach that information.

Name	Type	Expiration Time	Description
_ga	Analytics	2 year	Used to distinguish users.
_gid	Analytics	24 hour	Used to distinguish users.
_gat	Analytics	1 minute	Used to throttle request rate.

Cookie Expiration

The cookies will remain on your computer after the browser is closed. Until removed, the cookies will become active again when the website is reopened. Cookies can be deleted by you, at any time, and will not collect any information when you are not accessing the website.

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