Protection of personal data

The following information relates to the protection of your personal data. This is the data that allows you to be identified, directly or indirectly.

Personal data is collected by the FPS Chancellery of the Prime Minister when:

  • You surf on the pages of the portal Belgium.be. In your browser, those pages begin with ‘www.belgium.be’. When a link takes you to another website, an online application or a social network, you must check the terms and conditions for the processing of personal data used by those responsible for those services

  • You contact us

You are protected in accordance with:

  • European Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (entered into force on 25 May 2018) on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (GDPR)
  • the Data Protection Act of 30 July 2018

1. Legal bases and purposes of the processing operations

The Royal Decree (15 May 2001) incorporating the FPS Chancellery of the Prime Minister outlined the duties of the Directorate General External Communication  as follows:

  • the creation of a knowledge cell;
  • the creation of a communication service centre;
  • the organisation, development and coordination of trans-departmental communication and information for and with citizens, the media and policy makers.

The Royal Decree of 19 July 2001 implementing Article 2, 1°, of the Act of 11 April 1994 on the freedom of information (Belgian Law Gazette of 1 September 2001) also outlines the duties of the Directorate General to ensure the design and implementation of the information policy of the federal government, in particular:

  1. to use all educational means to educate citizens and inform them better about their country;
  2. to collect the most complete documentation possible on national heritage, activities and achievements;
  3. to coordinate the initiatives taken in the fields referred to under 1 and 2

Personal data is collected and processed with the aim of:

  • Informing you
  • Answering your questions
  • Handling the files and records that concern you

Data is also collected and processed anonymously:  

  • For statistical and qualitative purpose, with the aim of improving our services
  • To provide you with an answer in your language

If your request for information or services is intended for another department, we provide you with the particulars of that department and you are free to choose whether or not to contact them.

2. Processed data 

In the two situations listed in the table below, personal data is collected and processed automatically.

Situations

Data collected and processed

You visit one or more pages

IP address.

You contact us through an electronic form or e-mail

Surname, first name and e-mail address that you have provided.

Exchange of e-mails through the contact form and exchanging messages.

Meta data that may or may not be related to your e-mail.

 

The other personal data that may be processed is listed in the data processing register.

Data that is not of a personal nature is automatically collected without linking it to your IP address and therefore with respect for your privacy. It is used to generate statistics and to improve the content of the portal site:

  • Language selection
  • Search engine used
  • Keywords used
  • The website from which you came
  • The pages you viewed
  • The duration of each page view
  • The list of files downloaded
  • The date and time of access
  • The browser used
  • The platform and/or operating system installed on your computer

 

3. Use of cookies

Manage your cookie preferences

This site uses the following cookies:

Cookies needed for the proper functioning of the site:

Name Storage duration Content Purpose
BIGipServerF2W-… At the end of the session Characters sequence Assigns a server in order to handle the requests from the same user.
TS01448b0 (characters after TS… vary) At the end of the session Characters sequence Assigns a server in order to handle the requests from the same user.
language_cookie 365 days (1 year) Language of the latest visited page During your next visit, you will come directly on the homepage in the chosen language.
SimpleSAMLSessionID At the end of the session single session single session
has_js At the end of the session 1 To determine whether your browser accepts JavaScript or not.
fedconsent 90 days cookie preferences Save your choice from the cookie consent banner.

Statistical cookies:

Name Storage duration Purpose
_pk_id 28 days Analysis of website visits.
_pk_ref 6 months Analysis of website visits.
_pk_ses 50 minutes Analysis of website visits.
 

4. Storage duration

The storage duration:

  • of your IP address is 24 hours;
  • of the exchanges through the contact form and through e-mail is 12 months.

In exceptional cases, such as in the context of legal proceedings, your personal data may be stored for a longer period.  

5. Security

The FPS Chancellery of the Prime Minister guarantees the security (integrity and confidentiality) of your personal data. It is protected against unauthorised access, unauthorised use, loss and unauthorised changes.

To this end, we use security methods and procedures that we will not describe in detail here for security reasons.  

Please note: Appropriate physical, technical and organisational measures are taken to guarantee a level of security that is appropriate with regard to the risks.

6. Right of inspection, modification, objection and deletion

You have certain rights relating to the personal data that we use: the right of inspection, the right of modification, the right to object and the right to have data deleted.

Your application will be processed within 30 calendar days. If your application is complex or if our department has to deal with a large number of applications, that period may be extended by 60 days.

Please send an e-mail or letter to our Data Protection Officer together with a scanned copy or paper copy of your identity document containing your signature to the following address in order to exercise your rights:

dpo@premier.fed.be 

Federal Public Service (FPS) Chancellery of the Prime Minister
Courtesy of the Data Protection Officer
Rue Ducale 4, 1000 Brussels

7. Complaints

If you consider that the FPS Chancellery of the Prime Minister has not processed your personal data in accordance with the applicable regulations, you are entitled to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority:

Data Protection Authority

Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels

E-mail: contact@apd-gba.be

8. Contact

For more information about our data protection policy, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at: dpo@premier.fed.be