Privacy Policy

1 – Purpose of the controller’s privacy policy

In accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 27 April 2016, this privacy policy aims to provide explanations to those whose data is processed.

This privacy policy explains, among other things:

  • which personal data EQUANS processes;
  • why (for what purposes) EQUANS processes your personal data;
  • the legality of the processing operations (the legal grounds);
  • your rights;
  • the obligations of EQUANS.

2 – Controller

“Controller” means any entity that determines the purposes and means of the processing it carries out. EQUANS BELUX NV and all its subsidiaries or branches act as controller(s) for the personal data under their respective control (hereinafter referred to as “EQUANS”). EQUANS BELUX NV may represent its subsidiaries and their respective branches in their role as controller. EQUANS BELUX NV and its subsidiaries and their respective branches may have their tasks and responsibilities performed by another entity within the holding company without prejudice to what is included in the relevant legislation.

EQUANS BELUX NV’s company number is: BE0774666348.
Address: Koning Albert II laan 19, 1210 Brussels.
Contact email address: [email protected]
Tel.: +32 (0)2 370 31 11

3 – Scope of the privacy policy

This privacy policy applies to all of our (current, former and future) customers or natural persons who work for or on behalf of our professional customers and/or suppliers, to all visitors to the EQUANS website(s), and to all other persons who contact us. This privacy policy applies to the processing of your personal data following the use of the EQUANS website and the services that EQUANS provides.
Insofar as your personal data has been provided by our professional customers and/or suppliers, they bear some of the responsibilities imposed by law (such as informing you that we process your data).

EQUANS may also process your personal data as a subcontractor (as a processor) for one of its partners, who in that case is responsible for the processing. In such a case, we refer to the privacy policy of the partner in question.

EQUANS may amend its privacy policy when necessary (for example, if circumstances change (amendments to our services, legislation, etc.). The most recent and valid version of this policy shall be made available on the website. We will notify you of any changes through our website and other communication channels as appropriate. This privacy policy states which version it is and from when it is applicable.

If you do not wish to provide your personal data, yet this is necessary for us to provide you with information or to enter into a contractual relationship with you, we will not be able to (i) provide you with more information about our services and products, (ii) to offer you our services or products, or (iii) to enter into a contractual relationship with you.

4 – A number of concepts

Personal data is defined as unique information from or about you that makes it possible to identify you. You can identify a person directly (for example, with an identifier such as name or identification number) or indirectly (for example, with one or more specific physical, physiological, genetic, psychological, economic, cultural or social factors that characterise the identity of the person).

Examples of personal data include your name, address, email address, IP address and bank account number.

The processing of personal data is any operation (or set of operations) relating to personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organising, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, dissemination, erasure or destruction of your data.

The controller is a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body that, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

A processor is a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body that processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

5 – Which personal data about you does EQUANS process?

Categories of the processed personal data

  • Identification data: first name, surname, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth
  • Electronic identifiers: IP address (PC, tablet or smartphone), cookies (see cookie policy), etc.
  • Contract data, such as which contracts you have concluded with EQUANS, their start and end dates, the price and any indexation parameters, and purchase and contact history
  • Information about your use of our products and services, such as how you use our online services
  • Professional data, such as the position and title of our professional customers and/or suppliers
  • Financial data, such as bank account number and payment history
  • Traffic and location data
  • Consumption data, measurement data, (technical) data relating to your connection(s), installations, technical infrastructure and other data relevant to the provision of installation and maintenance services insofar as these make you identifiable
  • Other data provided to EQUANS (as part of dealing with complaints, faults or other contact requests)
  • Details of other products and/or services

Categories of data subjects (persons whose personal data EQUANS processes)

  • Website visitors
  • Current, former and future (professional) customers as well as their employees and representatives
  • Suppliers and their employees and representatives

6 – Purposes of the processing of your personal data

This paragraph has been included to inform you as best as possible about the purposes of the processing of your personal data and the legal grounds for us to carry out this processing. The list of purposes and legal grounds below is not exhaustive.

  • Management of the website
  • Contact form on the website
  • Provision of services
  • Administration, invoicing and accounting
  • Informing you about EQUANS’ products and services
  • Improving our products and services
  • Contact centres
  • Protecting the rights, property and safety of EQUANS
  • Compliance with legal or regulatory obligations
  • The application, conclusion and/or execution of a contract for installation or maintenance services, the provision of Software as a Service solutions
  • Procurement, personnel coordination, planning and project management
  • Management and administration of information relating to maintenance, faults and repairs to installations or technical infrastructure for the provision of services
  • Collecting and processing data from customers, leads and prospects for (direct) marketing purposes, including the provision of information about other relevant products and/or services
  • Handling questions, complaints and disputes

 

7 – Legal grounds

EQUANS processes data based on the following principles:

a)    Consent, such as when you sign up for the email newsletter
b)    Execution of a contract if you use our services and you are a party to the contract
c)    A legal obligation: we must retain certain financial data from the tax authorities, but we also have to store data about our installation, inspections and so on
d)    A legitimate interest: we may store certain customer data in order to be able to approach you in a targeted manner or to analyse our services

8 – Who can we share your personal data with?

Your personal data will only be communicated to the following third parties in order to achieve the purposes stated in the previous paragraph:

  • Our contact centres
  • Our partners (e.g. installers of products related to energy and energy efficiency)
  • The companies and intermediaries we rely on for the management of our claims (such as the collection or transfer of claims)
  • Companies that are part of EQUANS SAS, to the extent that the processing is carried out by one of the companies entitled to do so
  • The competent authorities
  • Our processors (e.g. IT processors)

The staff working for said third parties only have access to the data that is strictly necessary for the performance of their task, and the data is kept confidential under contractual conditions.

The above list of third parties is not exhaustive.

9 – Transfer of your personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”)

When we work with third parties located in countries outside the EEA where the level of protection for your personal data is insufficient, we impose contractual obligations on them that have been approved by a competent authority (we do this by making use of the standard contractual clauses issued by the European Commission), which ensures adequate protection of your personal data.

 

10 – For how long do we retain your personal data?

Your personal data will not be retained for any period longer than is necessary for us to achieve the purposes for which it was collected. The retention period may therefore differ depending on the objective. As an example, we must keep your invoicing data for 7 years to meet accounting and tax obligations. We store your contract data for up to 10 years after termination of your contract out of legal necessity in order to be able to use certain data as evidence in case of disputes. The personal data of potential customers or the natural persons associated with said customers is kept for 12 months after obtaining this personal data. However, the data may be kept longer if the potential customer becomes an EQUANS customer. The above list of retention periods is not exhaustive.

 

11 – Security of your personal data

EQUANS has an internal privacy and security policy.

EQUANS provides the necessary technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss or unauthorised modification.

EQUANS makes every effort to protect its network as much as possible against unauthorised access and to guarantee the confidentiality of its customers’ personal and company data.

12 – What are your privacy rights?

12.1 – Right to access

You have the right, at any time, to ask us whether or not we process your personal data, and if so, to view said data and receive information about:

a)    the purposes of the processing;
b)    the categories of personal data concerned;
c)    the recipients or categories of recipients (particularly recipients in third countries);
d)    if possible, the retention period or, if this is not possible, the criteria for determining that period;
e)    the existence of your privacy rights;
f)    the right to file a complaint with the supervisory authority;
g)    the source of the data (if we obtain personal data through a third party); and
h)    the existence of automated decision-making.

This information is provided to you as part of this privacy policy.

You also have the right to receive a copy of the processed data in a readable format.

12.2 – Your right to rectification of personal data

You have the right to have incomplete, incorrect, inappropriate or outdated personal data rectified.

 

12.3 – Your right to erasure (the “right to be forgotten”)

In the following cases, you have the right to have your personal data deleted without undue delay:

a)    the personal data is no longer required by EQUANS for the purposes for which it was collected or otherwise processed;
b)    you object to the processing of your personal data and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for (further) processing by EQUANS;
c)    your personal data has been processed unlawfully;
d)    your personal data must be deleted in order to comply with a legal obligation;
e)    you have withdrawn your consent and there is no other legal basis on which the processing of personal data can take place.

Please note that we cannot always delete all requested personal data (for example, when processing the data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims), because we have a legal obligation to keep certain documents up to date or because we still need them for an existing contractual relationship. We will provide you with more detailed information in our response to your request.

12.4 – Your right to the restriction of processing

You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data if one of the following applies:

a)    you dispute the accuracy of the personal data: the use of the data will be restricted while EQUANS checks the accuracy of the personal data;
b)    the processing of your personal data is unlawful: instead of deleting your data, you request its use be restricted;
c)    EQUANS no longer needs your data for the original processing purposes, but you need the data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims: instead of deleting your data, its use will be restricted to the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
d)    as long as a decision has not yet been taken on the exercise of your right to object to the processing, you request that the use of your personal data be restricted.

When processing is restricted, personal data, with the exception of the storage of data, will only be processed with the consent of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, to protect the rights of another natural or legal person, or reasons of public interest.

12.5 – Your right to portability of personal data

You are entitled to recover your personal data. This is only possible for personal data you disclose, pass on or make available to us in any way either actively or passively, directly or indirectly. This right can only be exercised if your data is processed on the basis of your consent or a contract and if such processing takes place using automated processes. In all other cases, you cannot invoke this right (for example, when the processing of your data is based on a legal obligation or a legitimate interest).

There are two aspects associated with this right:

a)    you can ask EQUANS to recover the personal data concerned in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable form; and
b)    you can ask EQUANS to transfer the personal data concerned directly to another controller. You are responsible for the accuracy and security of the (email) address that you provide for the transfer. EQUANS has the right to refuse such a transfer if it is technically not possible.

12.6 – Your right to withdraw your consent

Insofar as processing is based on your consent, you also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.  However, the withdrawal only has consequences for the future and does not affect the validity of any processing operations carried out with your consent before the date of withdrawal.

In the event of withdrawing your consent, we can only continue the processing insofar as another legal basis applies.

 

12.7 – Your right to object to the processing of your personal data

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data based on your particular situation if the processing takes place in the context of the legitimate interest of EQUANS or the public interest.

EQUANS will cease processing your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling and legitimate grounds that outweigh yours, or where the processing of the personal data is related to the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (e.g. filing of a request to a court).

13 – Practical information

13.1 – How do I exercise my privacy rights?

If you have any questions about the use of your personal data to which this privacy policy applies, you can contact us at [email protected].

In order to exercise your right of access, and to prevent any unauthorised disclosure of your personal data, we may ask you to provide proof of identity. In the event of doubt or uncertainty, we will first ask you for additional information.  If it is not possible to verify your identity in any other way, we may also ask you to provide us with a copy of the front of your identity card.

The rights described above may be exercised in accordance with the regulations and restrictions provided for in law. The text of the General Data Protection Regulation therefore takes precedence over what is stated in the description of the rights described above.

13.2 – Are there costs involved?

You can exercise your privacy rights free of charge, unless your request would be manifestly unfounded or excessive (such as it being of an excessively repetitive nature). In such a case, we have the right and option, in accordance with privacy legislation, to:

a)    charge you a reasonable fee (which will take account of the administrative costs of providing the requested information or communication and the costs associated with taking the requested measures); or
b)    refuse to comply with your request while indicating the reasons for doing so.

13.3 – In what format will I receive an answer?

When you submit your request electronically, the information must be provided electronically if possible, unless you request otherwise. In any case, we shall provide you with a concise, transparent, readable and easily accessible answer.

13.4 – When will I receive an answer?

We will respond to your request as soon as possible, and in any case within one month of receipt of your request. Depending on the complexity of the request and the number of requests, this period may be extended by two months if necessary. In the event of an extension, we will notify you within one month of receipt of the request.

13.5 – What if EQUANS does not comply with my request?

EQUANS has a designated data protection officer (DPO). If you believe your privacy question or request has not been handled properly, or if you would like to receive more information about this privacy policy, you can submit a written request to the DPO. The DPO can be contacted:

By letter: FAO Data Protection Officer
Koning Albert II laan 19 , 1210 Brussels, Belgium
By email: [email protected]

You also have the right to submit a complaint to the supervisory authority; in Belgium this is the Data Protection Authority (APD/GBA).

Website:
https://www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be

Contact details:
Data Protection Authority
Drukpersstraat 35, 1000 Brussels
+32 (0)2 274 48 00
+32 (0)2 274 48 35
[email protected]