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Members Privacy Policy

To view our website privacy policy click here

1. General

1.1 This Privacy Policy governs the processing of your personal data by International VAT Association IVZW, with registered seat at Kleine Moerstraat 5b, 8000 Bruges, Belgium, with enterprise number 0840.204.397 (“IVA”), acting in the capacity of data controller.

If you have any remarks or questions, please contact our Secretariat at [email protected].

1.2 The terms within this Privacy Policy have to be interpreted in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU Regulation 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC).

1.3 We reserve the right to modify or amend this Privacy Policy on our own initiative. Each change or modification shall be communicated via our website.

2. General information on the processing of your personal data

2.1 When you want to apply for a membership of IVA or when you are a member of IVA, we collect basic identity information (such as your name, correspondence address, country of origin, e-mail address, telephone numbers, fax number), the content of your communication, electronic identification data (such as your IP address), information regarding your current profession (such as your address, your main business, your corporate web page, your legal representative, your contact person, number of employees), your signature, your picture, information regarding your CV, and your financial identification data (once you become a member of IVA).

2.2 Whenever you give us your business card or interact with us at an event, we collect the basic identity information you provide us with (such as your name, e-mail address, correspondence address, telephone number), information regarding your professional career (such as the company you work for, your job title (i.e. when such information is provided by you or shown on your business card)), and a picture of you.

2.3 When we lobby with governmental agencies or bodies, we process your personal identification data (such as your name), information regarding your professional career (such as the company you work for, your job title), and information regarding issues, complaints, etc. that you have.

2.4 When you want to receive newsletters, we collect your name and e-mail address.

2.5 When you register for or attend a conference or other event organised by us, we collect basic identity information (such as your name, address, e-mail address, telephone number), other general information (such as the company you work for, your location, emergency contact name and number), information about accommodation requirements (such as information about your stay), travel information, and information about your dietary requirements and allergies. When you attend a conference or other event organised by us, we may also take a picture of you.

3. Why do we process your personal data and what is our legal basis?

3.1 IVA processes your personal data to assess and decide whether to accept and collaborate with you as a member of IVA and to manage your membership in the context of our activities (organising board and general assembly meetings, organising events, accounting, lobbying, etc.).

This processing is necessary to take measures at your request for the execution and performance of a membership agreement.

3.2 IVA processes your personal data to put you in contact with other members of IVA and to interact with them (i.a. in the members list on the members’ area of the website, via e-mail, in the context of conferences and other events, on social media channels such as LinkedIn, etc.). This implies that other members will also have access to your personal data.

This processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interest and the legitimate interest of our members, i.e. to have contact and interact with you.

3.3 IVA processes your personal data to communicate with or to respond to you.

The processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interest, i.e. to be able to respond appropriately to you and to communicate with you.

3.4 IVA processes your personal data for marketing purposes, such as to send you newsletters or information on planned activities (conferences, webinars, etc.).

The processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interest, i.e. to enable the marketing and promotion of our services.

3.5 IVA processes your personal data to organise and arrange your attendance at our conferences and other events.

This processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interest, i.e. to be able to organise the event and properly arrange your attendance. However, we process information about your dietary requirements and allergies only upon your consent.

3.6 IVA may process your personal data to take pictures at our conference or other events.

This processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interest, i.e. to exhibit images of the event, such as in brochures and on our website and our social media channels. If you do not want to provide your pictures in the conference materials, IVA conference application, IVA webpage you should notify the Secretariat at [email protected] about this wish as soon as possible.

3.7 IVA processes your personal data in order to be able to defend IVA in judicial or other proceedings.

This processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interest, i.e. to defend ourselves in the event of a dispute.

3.8 IVA processes your personal data to inform any third party in the context of a possible merger with that third party, even if that third party is located outside the EU.

This processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interest and the legitimate interest of third parties, i.e. to be able to investigate or carry out normal business or merger and acquisition transactions.

3.9 IVA process your personal data to comply with its legal obligations or to comply with any reasonable request from competent law enforcement agents or representatives, judicial authorities, governmental agencies or bodies, including competent data protection authorities. Your personal data may be transferred upon IVA’s own initiative to the police or the judicial authorities as evidence or if there are justified suspicions of an unlawful act or crime committed by you through the use of the website, our social media channels or other communication with us.

This processing activity is necessary to comply with our legal obligations.

4. How long will we keep your personal data?

4.1 As a general principle, we keep your personal data for as short as possible and no longer as necessary to achieve the purposes described in Article Error! Reference source not found.. When your personal data are no longer necessary, they will be safely deleted.

We would like to emphasize that we provide the necessary appropriate safeguards for the security and integrity of your personal data.

5. Who receives your personal data?

5.1 Except for the situation described in this Article, IVA does not send your personal data in an identifiable manner to any third party without your explicit consent to do so.

5.2 IVA relies on third parties, such as IT service providers, to provide you with our membership page. These third party processors may only process your personal data on IVA’s behalf on the basis of explicit written instructions from IVA. IVA guarantees that all external processors are selected with due care and IVA obliges them to respect the security and integrity of your personal data.

5.3 IVA may also transfer your personal data to other members of IVA to ensure that you can communicate and interact with them.

5.4 If you use our social media channels to communicate with or contact us or other members of IVA, your personal data is also processed by the social media providers (such as LinkedIn). You can find more information on how social media providers process your personal data in their respective privacy policies.

5.5 In principle, your personal data will only be processed within the European Economic Area (i.e. the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). Should the aforementioned purposes require that your personal data is processed outside the European Economic Area, we ensure that your personal data will be protected to the fullest extent possible.

6. What are our quality assurances?

6.1 IVA considers and treats personal data as confidential information.

6.2 IVA will take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against the loss, alteration or unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, transmitted, stored or otherwise processed data, whether accidentally or unlawfully.

6.3 IVA will de-identify your personal data when they are no longer necessary for the purposes outlined in the purpose for processing, if appropriate.

7. What are your rights?

7.1 As a data subjects you have certain rights. Please note that not all rights will necessarily apply to you.

You have the right of access, the right to rectification, the right to erasure, the right to data portability, the right to object and the right to restriction of processing. You also have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal consequences for you or similarly affects you. In addition, you have the right to withdraw your consent. This only applies to situations where the processing is based on your consent.

7.2 To exercise your rights as described in this Privacy Policy, you can contact our Secretariat. To that end, you can submit a written request to [email protected], stating the right to which your request relates. In addition, you have to add a copy of your valid identity card on which the validity date and your signature are clearly visible, in order to prevent illegal or fraudulent requests. As soon as your request is received by our Secretariat, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt. Your request will then be dealt with within a reasonable period of time. If you are still dissatisfied, you have the right to contact the supervisory authority.