Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting our website!

The protection of your personal data is extremely important to us. We make every effort to safeguard your privacy and ensure that you can entrust your personal data to us securely. We always strive to handle personal data in a safe and discreet manner, and appropriate protection measures have been taken to prevent loss, alteration, unauthorized access, and any other unlawful processing of your personal data.

We aim to be transparent about how we process your personal data and what we do with it. You can read more about this in this privacy policy.

Who are we?

METES NV, with its registered office at Siemenslaan 2-4, 3650 Dilsen-Stokkem, Belgium, registered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number 0449.840.270 (RPR Antwerp, division Tongeren) (“METES”, “we” or “us”).

Contact details:
E-mail: privacy@metes.be

We always process your personal data in accordance with the applicable legal provisions regarding the protection of personal data, including Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 concerning the protection of individuals in relation to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (“GDPR”), as well as applicable national implementing legislation.

Some explanatory terms

For the purposes of this privacy policy, "personal data" means any information concerning an identified or identifiable natural person ("the data subject"). A person is considered identifiable if he or she can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that person. This includes, for example, your name, first name, date of birth, telephone number and email address, but also your IP address.

The term "processing" is very broad and covers, among other things, the collection, recording, organization, storage, updating, alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, distribution, combination, archiving and erasure of data.

Responsible for processing your personal data (“data controller”)

METES is responsible for processing your personal data.

As defined by the GDPR, we are the "data controller" for your personal data, meaning that METES, possibly together with others, determines the purpose and means of processing your personal data.

Which personal data do we process, why, and on what legal basis?

The table below provides:

• Column 1: the categories of personal data we process ("Categories of personal data");
• Column 2: why we process this data ("Purposes");
• Column 3: the legal basis on which the processing is based ("Legal basis");
• Column 4: how long we process your personal data ("Retention period").

Every processing activity takes place for one or more specific purposes.

There is always a demonstrable legal basis for each processing activity. The relevant legal basis, referred to in the third column "legal basis", can mean:

• "Consent": You have given consent for your personal data to be processed for one or more specific purposes;
• "Legitimate interest": Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, except where your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms that require the protection of personal data outweigh these interests;
• "Contract": Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.

Which personal data do we process, why, and on what legal basis?

Categories of personal data	Purposes	Legal basis	Retention period
Identification and device data	To provide you with access to our website	Consent	Until the end of your website visit
Identification and contact details Content of your message and/or file	To respond to your query or message via the website contact form	Consent	For the duration necessary to handle your query or message
Identification and contact details Data concerning your education level Curriculum vitae and motivation letter	To allow you to apply to our organization for recruitment purposes (optional data)	Contract Consent (for optional data)	For the duration of the recruitment procedure
Identification and contact details	To handle your request to exercise your rights	Legitimate interest (to facilitate your rights)	As long as necessary to handle your request (in case of legal proceedings: until such proceedings are concluded)
Identification data Other information about you needed to defend our rights	To defend our rights	Legitimate interest (defense in court)	Applicable statutory limitation period (see "Retention of your personal data")

Minors

We do not intend to collect personal data from individuals under 16 years old. Minors should therefore not provide us with personal data or submit statements of consent.

Cookies

We also use cookies, mainly to permanently optimize our website for users. For specific information about the cookies we use, please refer to our cookie policy.

Your privacy rights

To give you more control over your personal data processing, you have several rights, including those set out in Articles 15-22 of the GDPR:

Right of access (Article 15 GDPR): You have the right at any time to know whether we process your personal data, and access to such data and additional information about:

1. the purposes of processing;
2. Categories of personal data concerned;
3. Recipients or categories of recipients (especially recipients in third countries);
4. Retention period or, if not possible, the criteria for determining that period;
5. The existence of your privacy rights;
6. The right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority;
7. The source of the personal data if we received it from a third party;
8. The existence of automated decision-making.

If we cannot give you access (for example, due to legal obligations), we will let you know why.

You can also obtain a free copy of the personal data processed in an understandable form. Please note that we may charge a reasonable fee to cover our administrative costs for every additional copy you request.

• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) (art. 17 GDPR):

You can ask us in certain cases to erase your personal data. This right is not absolute. We may retain personal data when necessary for, among other things, contract performance, compliance with legal obligations, or the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims. We will inform you further in our response to your request.

• Right to rectification and completion (art. 16 GDPR):

If your personal data is incorrect, outdated, or incomplete, you may request correction or completion.

• Right to data portability (Article 20 GDPR):

Under certain conditions, you have the right to have the personal data you provided to us for contract performance or with your consent transmitted to another data controller. Where technically feasible, we will transmit it directly to the new controller.

• Right to restriction of processing (art. 18 GDPR):

You may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data if:

1. you contest the accuracy of the data (processing is restricted for a period allowing us to verify accuracy);
2. processing is unlawful and you oppose erasure;
3. we no longer need your personal data for the original processing purposes but you require them for legal claims;
4. Pending a final decision regarding your objection to processing, you may request restriction.

• Right to object (art. 21 GDPR):

Based on your particular situation, you may object to the processing of your personal data if processing is based on our legitimate interests or involves a public interest task. We will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that outweigh your interests or if processing relates to legal claims.

• Right not to be subject to automated decision-making (article 22 GDPR):

You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, which produces significant or legal effects concerning you and occurs without substantial human involvement.

Three situations where you may not exercise this right

1. if required by law (e.g. to prevent tax fraud);
2. if the decision is based on your explicit consent;
3. if necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract (each case we assess whether less privacy-invasive methods exist).

• Right to withdraw consent (art. 7 GDPR):

Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time by simple request.

Exercising your rights

To exercise these rights, you may contact us using the details under "Who are we?". To verify your identity, we request a copy of the front of your ID card with your national register number and photograph made illegible. These data are processed solely for verification and are not stored or recorded in our systems.

You may exercise these rights free of charge unless your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive (for example, if repetitive). In such cases, we have the right to charge a reasonable fee or refuse your request.

Retention of your personal data

We retain your personal data as long as necessary to achieve the intended purpose. Please note that various (legal) retention periods may require us to keep personal data longer. If no retention obligation exists, the data are routinely deleted once the purpose for which they were collected has been fulfilled.

Additionally, we may retain personal data if you have given your consent or if needed for legal proceedings. In the latter case, certain personal data are kept as evidence in accordance with statutory limitation periods, which may be up to thirty years; the standard limitation period for personal claims is ten years.

Sources of personal data

We process the data you provide to us spontaneously. Where additional data are required, you will be informed whether you are obliged to provide them, and what the consequences are if you do not. Failure to provide personal data may prevent us from delivering products or services to you.

In particular, we may receive your personal data from the following sources:

1. Our external partners and independent service providers;
2. Social media channels.

Categories of recipients

Within our organization, we ensure that your personal data is only accessible to those who require it for contractual or legal obligations.

We only disclose your personal data to third parties in compliance with legal provisions or where you have given consent. In some cases, our staff are supported in their duties by external service providers.

Furthermore, we do not disclose personal data to third parties unless required by law (for example, to public authorities or law enforcement agencies).

Specifically, categories of recipients include:

1. Public authorities or regulatory bodies where required to comply with a judgment, legislation, regulation, standard or legal procedure;
2. External (IT) service providers enabling us to offer website functionalities.

Transfers to third countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

Your personal data are only transferred to processors or controllers in third countries when legally permitted or necessary to handle a case.

Where such transfers are required, we take measures to safeguard your personal data to a high standard and ensure all transfers outside the EEA are lawful.

Security of your personal data

Security is important to us. We have implemented reasonable and appropriate technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal data against accidental or deliberate manipulation, loss, destruction, or unauthorized access.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted to us via the internet.

Complaints?

We work hard to protect your personal data. If you have any complaint regarding the way we process your data, you can notify us using our contact details under "Who are we" and we will address your complaint as soon as possible.

You may also submit a complaint to the Data Protection Authority. A list of supervisory authorities within the European Union is available at: https://www.edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_nl .

The authority overseeing our organization is the Data Protection Authority, with the following contact details:

Website:
https://www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be

Address:
Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit
Drukpersstraat 35, 1000 Brussel

☎ +32 (0)2 274 48 00

☎ +32 (0)2 274 48 35
✉ contact@apd-gba.be

Questions?

You may always contact us by phone, e-mail or mail using the contact details under "Who are we?". We are happy to respond to your questions.

Changes

To respond to feedback or reflect changes in our processing activities, we may amend this privacy policy from time to time. We invite you to consult the latest version on our website.