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 FPS Chancellery of the Prime Minister when:
• You surf on the pages of the website ‘Belgium. Embracing openness’. In your browser, those pages begin with '(www.)embracingopenness.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 Act of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons as regards the processing of personal data.
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 situations listed in the table below, personal data is collected and processed automatically.
Situations Data collected and processed Storage duration
You visit one or more pages IP address. 12 months
You contact us through an electronic form or e-mail 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. 3 months
The data will be deleted after the mentioned duration. In exceptional cases, such as in the context of legal proceedings, your personal data may be stored for a longer period.
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, website from which you came, pages you viewed, duration of each page view, list of files downloaded, date and time of access, browser used, platform and/or operating system installed on your computer.
3) Use of cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookies are essential for the website to function properly and cannot be turned off in our systems. They are usually set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as logging in, filling in forms, or accessing secure areas. Without these cookies, the website may not be able to provide certain services or features and its performance may be affected. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. Therefore, consent for these cookies is not required, and they are always enabled by default.
Performance Cookies
Performance Cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, such as which pages are visited most often and whether visitors receive error messages from web pages. These cookies do not collect information that identifies a visitor; all information collected by these cookies is aggregated and anonymous. The purpose of these cookies is to improve the functioning of the website and to provide a better user experience for visitors. These cookies may be set by the website or by third-party service providers. Consent for these cookies is required, and visitors can choose to enable or disable these cookies in the cookie banner or through their browser settings. However, disabling these cookies may result in a less optimized user experience on the website.
Targeting Cookies
Functional Cookies are used to provide enhanced functionality and personalization on a website. These cookies may be set by the website or by third-party service providers. Functional cookies can remember user preferences and choices, such as language preferences, font size, or customized settings. They can also provide features like live chat support or embedded multimedia content. The information collected by these cookies is usually anonymous and does not track browsing activity outside of the website. Consent for these cookies is required, and visitors can choose to enable or disable these cookies in the cookie banner or through their browser settings. However, disabling these cookies may result in a less personalized and functional user experience on the website.
Social Media Cookies
Socialv Media Cookies are used to enable social media sharing and engagement on a website. These cookies may be set by social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or by third-party service providers. Social media cookies allow visitors to share content from the website on their social media profiles or to connect with the website's social media pages. They may also be used to track the effectiveness of social media marketing campaigns. The information collected by these cookies may be used by social media platforms to personalize and target advertising to visitors across their network. Consent for these cookies is required, and visitors can choose to enable or disable these cookies in the cookie banner or through their browser settings. However, disabling these cookies may limit the functionality of social media sharing and engagement on the website.
This site uses the following cookies:
Cookies needed for the proper functioning of the site:
Name Storage duration Content Purpose
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.
klaro 12 months Cookie preferences Save your choice from the cookie consent banner.
Matomo statistical cookies:
_pk_id 28 days Analyse of website visits.
_pk_ref 6 months Analyse of website visits.
_pk_ses 50 minutes Analyse of website visits.
4) 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.
5) 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
FPS Chancellery of the Prime Minister
Courtesy of the Data Protection Officer
Rue Ducale 4
1000 Brussels
6) 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
7) Contact
For more information about our data protection policy, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at: dpo@premier.fed.be