data protection declaration

Basic information on data protection

This privacy policy is intended to inform users of this website about the nature, scope and purpose of the collection and use of personal data by the Ombudsman Service of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

The ombudsman service takes your data protection very seriously and treats your personal data confidentially and in accordance with the statutory provisions.

This includes the right to privacy, which is guaranteed by Article 22 of the Belgian Constitution and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In particular, your data will be treated in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 27, 2016.

Verantwortlicher für die Verarbeitung von Daten

Data protection officer

Purposes for which the personal data is collected
Personal data is collected for the purpose of performing the tasks described in Article 3 of the Decree of May 26, 2009 establishing the Office of the Ombudsman for the German-speaking Community. The tasks are as follows:

• to investigate complaints about the functioning and official acts of the administrative authority of the German-speaking Community, the local administrative authorities of the municipalities of the German-speaking Community and institutions with a mandate in the public interest of the German-speaking Community and to mediate in existing conflicts;
• Complaints that do not fall within the remit of the ombudswoman should be forwarded immediately to the competent authorities;
• Requests by the Bureau of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community for investigations into the functioning and official acts of the authorities and bodies listed in the first point;
• Support for complaints against authorities and institutions subject to language legislation;
• Examination of reports from staff members of administrative authorities of the German-speaking Community and local administrative authorities of the municipalities of the German-speaking Community who, in the performance of their duties, have become aware of abuses, irregularities, irregularities or criminal offenses within the administrative authority in which they work. Examination of information from employees, self-employed persons, shareholders of a company, persons belonging to the management or supervisory body, members of that company, volunteers, paid or unpaid trainees, persons working under the supervision and management of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, persons whose employment relationship has since ended; persons who are in the process of being recruited or who are in pre-contractual procedures. This information must relate to the handling of public procurement, environmental protection, public health, consumer protection, protection of privacy and personal data, security of network and information systems, financial interests of the European Union, EU internal market rules, Union rules on competition and state aid, internal market rules in relation to actions that violate corporate tax rules, agreements aimed at obtaining a tax advantage contrary to the objective or purpose of the applicable corporate tax law.

This data is processed on the basis of Art. 6 (1) e of the GDPR.

In this sense, all personal data are treated according to the following principles:

• Lawfulness and fairness of processing: This means that personal data is only processed in the manner specified at the time of collection and only to the extent on which the persons may rely; there is no covert or secret processing of data;
• Purpose limitation: This means that the personal data is only processed as specified at the time of collection and only to the extent on which the persons may rely; there is no covert or secret processing of data;
• Proportionality: The scope of the collection and processing must be limited to what is necessary for the purposes of the processing;
• Accuracy and up-to-dateness: Every reasonable step will be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay;
• Time limit: The data will be stored in a form which permits the identification of data subjects only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which they are processed; Personal data may be stored for longer insofar as the personal data is subject to the implementation of appropriate technical and organizational measures required by the above-mentioned General Data Protection Regulation to protect the rights and freedoms of data subjects. General Data Protection Regulation to protect the rights and freedoms of the data subject, exclusively for archiving purposes in the public interest or for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes;

Integrity and confidentiality
Processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorized or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical and organizational measures.

The personal data provided by the user when submitting a complaint, a request for information or an opinion are processed exclusively by the Ombudsman Service of the German-speaking Community in order to respond to the user's request and to fulfil the tasks assigned to him by the Decree establishing the Office of an Ombudsman for the German-speaking Community of 26 May 2009 and its amendments of 31 March 2011 and 7 March 2016.

Personal data will only be transmitted to the person responsible for processing the applications. This data may also be disclosed to persons outside the Ombudsman Service if this is necessary to process the complainant's request. For example, in the event of a complaint, the decree requires that the institution or authority concerned be informed. Complaints which do not fall within the competence of the Ombudswoman of the German-speaking Community can be forwarded to the competent address after consultation with the complainant.

The user's personal data will under no circumstances be processed for commercial purposes.

Other recipients of personal data
Your data is provided via a web application on the Internet. The website is hosted by kinamo.be Hessenstraatje 2 in Antwerp. The host receives the above-mentioned data as a processor. Your data is encrypted according to the current state of the art by means of complete and uninterrupted end-to-end encryption with an AlphaSSL SHA256 certificate.

Handling contact data

The personal data provided by the user when submitting a complaint, a request for information or an opinion will be processed exclusively by the Ombudsman Service of the German-speaking Community in order to respond to the user's request and to fulfill the obligations imposed on it by the decree creating the Office of the Ombudsperson for the German-speaking Community of May 26, 2009.

Personal data will only be transmitted to the person responsible for processing the applications. This data may also be passed on to persons outside the ombudsman service if this is necessary for processing the complainant's request. For example, the decree stipulates that the institution or authority concerned must be informed in the event of a complaint. Complaints that do not fall within the remit of the Ombudsperson of the German-speaking Community can only be forwarded to the relevant address with the prior consent of the complainant.

Dealing with access data

You can visit this website without providing any personal information. However, in order to improve our online offering, we collect (without personal reference) the access data to this website and store these as 'server log files' on the website's server.

The following data is logged in this way:
- the visited website
- the IP address
- date and time
- amount of data sent in bytes
- the source from which you came to the page
- the UAS (= User Agent String) of your browser

By anonymizing the data, it is not possible to draw conclusions about your person. The server log files are stored for a maximum of 90 days and then deleted.

This data is processed on the basis of Art. 6 (1) f of the GDPR. The data is stored for security reasons, e.g. to be able to clarify cases of misuse. If data must be retained for reasons of proof, it is exempt from deletion until the incident has been finally clarified.

Cookies
This website does not use cookies.

Transfer of personal data to a third country
There are no plans to transfer your personal data to a third country or an international organization unless the Ombudsman Service is actively requested to do so by you.

rights of the user
As a user, you have the right to request free information on what personal data has been stored about you. You also have the right to have incorrect data corrected and to have your personal data processed or deleted. If applicable, you may also assert your right to data portability. If you believe that your data has been processed unlawfully, you can lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority. https://www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be/burger/acties/klacht-indienen

Unless your request conflicts with a legal obligation to store data, you have a right to have your data deleted. Data stored by us will be deleted if it is no longer required for its intended use and there are no legal retention periods. If deletion is not possible because the data is required for legal purposes, data processing will be restricted. In this case, the data will be blocked and not processed for other purposes.