Privacy Policy
With this Privacy Policy Counselled wants to inform any visitor of www.counselled.be which personal data are being processed and why. This Privacy Policy is dated 1 April 2021 and will be updated from time to time to reflect any changing regulatory requirements, processing practices or new functionalities that we might add. Any such changes to the Privacy Policy will be posted on the relevant website and will be effective upon posting. See our Cookie Policy for more information about the usage of cookies.
Introduction
The privacy policy applies to the processing of personal data of:
- clients;
- suppliers;
- visitors;
- recruitment candidates;
- parties to proceedings and their counsel.
The personal data we collect and process
The personal data that we collect and process from you may include the following information (any such data hereinafter referred to as “personal data”):
- Identity data including name, surname, date of birth, passport number, etc.
- Contact data including billing address, email address, phone number.
- Professional information including your employer, your title or position, your professional history, your preferred language, the practice areas, jurisdictions and industries you are interested in, your relationship to a person.
- Financial data including bank account details.
- Usage data such as Information that we derive from your visits to our website www.counselled.be, applications, systems and online platforms (including social media channels), such as your IP address, the pages you visit, the browser you are using, the website you have previously visited, demographic information, and the time and duration of your visit.
Marketing data such as Information that you provided to us or that we collected as part of your registration for events, marketing materials such as newsletters and alerts, attending meetings and events, including access and details of visits to our offices and dietary requirements.
- HR data including Information that you provided to us when applying for a job at Counselled in order to assess your profile and skills.
In rare circumstances, depending on the situation, Counselled may:
- process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences.
- process special categories of personal data such as e.g. religious of philosophical beliefs, political opinions, trade union membership, information about health.
We might e.g. process this personal information for cases related to employment law or criminal law; regulatory purposes.
How we collect your personal data
- Your personal data might be collected directly from you when you provide us your personal data.
E.g.: You request our service; you provide us with personal data that are necessary for a client service, you give us your business information on a client event of Counselled; you participate to one of our events, etc.
- Your personal data may be collected from third parties when we:
E.g.: When another party sends us your personal data; in order to do background checks; when we interact with government or other public authorities; when we receive documents of the parties to proceedings and their counsel.
- Your personal data may be collected by using publicly available resources, including:
E.g.: public register of companies, public register of individuals, etc.
How do we use your personal data?
Counselled might process your personal data in the following circumstances:
- To performance of a contract: when the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.
- To comply with a legal obligation.
- For its legitimate interest: when necessary for the interest of Counselled or a third party and your fundamental rights are not overridden by such interests. These legitimate interests include organising our internal operations, handling our matters, ensuring proper administration, ensuring appropriate security, and the like.
- Consent: where you have provided your consent or explicit consent to the processing of the personal data.
For which purposes do we process your personal data?
Your personal data will be processed for the following purposes:
- To provide legal advice or other services to our (potential) clients and to manage our business relationships with you or your organisation (including for billing, accounting, auditing, collection, payments, employment, and other support services).
- To handle our matters and to get in touch with parties to proceedings and their counsel.
- To act in compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations, including with respect to Know Your Customer, anti-money laundering and sanction checks.
- To manage and secure access to our offices, website www.counselled.be, applications, systems and online platforms.
- To inform you about job vacancies and opportunities at Counselled that we consider suitable for you.
Additionally, we may process your personal data for the following purposes:
- Communicating with you with respect to legal developments, events, products or services provided by Counselled and that are relevant to you (including via newsletters, alerts, event invitations, etc.).
- Distributing surveys or marketing materials.
- In addition, if you consent by clicking on our website's cookie notice, we automatically process personal data for technical and functional management of our website and to ensure it is easy to use. More information about cookies can be found in our cookie policy.
We will store your data no longer than necessary as defined by the purposes for which the data is stored.
Personal data processed within the context of a recruitment process are kept for six years. Personal data processed during a recruitment event are kept for two years.
Exchange of your personal data
Any personal data we collect from you, may be transferred to third parties (including (sub)contractors, other counsel, legal directories, and third parties involved in your matter), both based inside and outside the European Union, in order to execute a processing agreement, based upon your consent or because required by applicable law and regulations.
For data processed outside the European Union or European Economic Area, Counselled applies the standard contractual clauses defined by the European Commission.
Security
Counselled shall secure your personal data through various technical and organisational measures, such as firewalls, secured servers, and data processing agreements with third parties.
Social media – other websites
If you share the content from Counselled’s website, applications, systems and online platforms (including social media channels) via social media, your personal data will be visible to the visitors of your personal pages on these social media websites. We are not responsible or liable for any processing of your personal data via such media.
Counselled’s website, applications, systems and online platforms (including social media channels), may provide references – including hyperlinks – to websites, channels or social media from other companies/persons. Counselled is not responsible or liable for any processing of your personal data via these websites, channels or media. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the use of such websites, channels or media.
Your rights
Subject to the terms and conditions provided for by the applicable law, you may contact Counselled to exercise the following rights:
- You have a right to be informed about how we process your personal data.
- You have a right to access your personal data – You have a right to receive confirmation as to whether or not your personal data is processed, and where that is the case, you can access your personal data.
- You always have the right to have your personal data corrected. This allows you to rectify or correct, inaccurate or incorrect personal data Counselled processes.
- You have the right to have your personal data erased. This allows you to permanently delete personal data which Counselled processes. Counselled is not always obliged to delete your personal data at your request – this right only applies in the situations and to the extent provided for by law.
- You have the right to restrict the processing of personal data related to you. This allows you to freeze the use of your personal data by Counselled, without deleting it. Counselled is not always obliged to limit your personal data at your request – this right only applies in the situations and to the extent provided for by law.
- You always have the right to withdraw your consent whenever the processing of your personal data takes place on the basis of your consent.
- You always have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes. You can withdraw your consent or change your preferences regarding newsletters, alerts and invites at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” or “change profile” button at the bottom of our newsletters, invitations or through our website www.counselled.be or our online platforms.
- You have the right to data portability. This allows you to easily move, copy or transfer your personal data from one controller to another. This right may only be exercised whenever the processing takes place on the basis of an agreement with you.
Should you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy or if you wish to exercise any of your rights in respect of your personal data processed by Counselled, please send your request to info@counselled.be or by post to our registered address.
If you believe that your rights as a data subject have been infringed, please be aware that you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority: / l'Autorité de protection des données (for Belgium).