Privacy policy

resolut. as data controller

The legal entity behind resolut. (www.resolut.law) is resolut. BV, which has its registered office at Langenberg 16, 3294 Diest, Belgium (VAT number BE 0756.986.119). resolut. can be reached on info@resolut.law or on +32 (0)2 400.00.02. For ease of reference, we will just refer to ourselves as resolut. in this privacy policy.

resolut., as data controller, is responsible for the processing of any personal data you provide us with, under the applicable privacy laws.

In the interests of transparency and completeness, we point out that we, as a law firm, rely on the services provided by our lawyer-collaborators, who, in view of their special status as lawyers, provide services on a self-employed and strictly independent basis. In providing their services to us as a firm and to our clients, these individuals will therefore act as joint data controllers together with resolut. However, we have agreed with our lawyer-collaborators that resolut. will be responsible, within the framework of the applicable privacy legislation (General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR), for informing data subjects and responding to any requests in this regard. In cases of the aforementioned joint responsibility, this privacy statement is also fully applicable.

 

Personal data collected, purpose and duration of the processing

1. When you visit our website

When you just visit www.resolut.law, we make use of cookies on our website, as explained in our cookie policy.  Since we only use cookies which are essential for the functioning of the website, you don’t have to except these cookies. 

2. When you contact us regarding a (legal) matter or when you’re involved as a client or (opposing) party in the context of our (legal) services

Since we’re lawyers, we’re of course bound by a general confidentiality obligation.  Therefore we will treat all information you provide us with or that we receive about you as part of a file, with the utmost confidentiality.  The personal data we process from our clients and from involved (opposing) parties depends to a large extent on the type of file we are handling for our client.

• Typically, this includes the possible processing of:
• Contact information (e.g. name, phone number, (professional) address and email address);
• Identification data (e.g. national registration number);
• Personal details (e.g. age, gender, date of birth, profession);
• Family data (e.g. marital status, information about family or household members);
• Financial data (e.g. data on income, possessions, indebtedness, assets and liabilities company or association, solvency data, wage data, status under social security, etc.);
• Payment and billing data (e.g. bank account number, invoices);
• Images and sound (e.g. as evidence, in expert assessments or factual determinations); and
• Judicial data (e.g. data or judgments in civil, administrative or criminal proceedings).

resolut. may thereby also process personal data that fall under the special categories of personal data (e.g. health data) within the meaning of the GDPR, or that relate to criminal convictions and offenses. These data are processed only if this is necessary for the purpose of legally enforcing and defending the client's interests within the meaning of Article 9(2)(f) of the GDPR or because it’s necessary for the defense of the client's interests within the meaning of Article 10, §1, 2° of the Law of July 30, 2018 on the processing of personal data.

With respect to clients, we will use your personal data to enter into or terminate the agreement with you, to answer your questions, and to provide you with information and advice in legal and business matters, as well as to assist you in litigation (e.g.  answering (quote) questions, fulfilling pre-contractual obligations, formation of legal services agreement, scheduling meetings, execution of the specific legal assignment for which you have engaged us, follow-up and handling of file, etc.). This processing is based on your consent and/or the necessity for the performance of the agreement we have with you.

With respect to involved (opposing) parties, we will use your personal data to take all necessary measures to provide the specific legal services for which our client has engaged us and for the realization of its legal claims, whether or not in the context of an ongoing dispute (e.g. sending notices of default, attempting mediation or conciliation, drafting writs of summons, applications and submissions, examining your financial situation or that of your company in the context of a merger or acquisition or recovery of unpaid invoices, counseling in the context of negotiations, etc.). This processing is based on the legitimate interest of our client, or that of resolut.

Finally, we may also use certain of your data (i) to comply with our own legal obligations incumbent upon us as a law firm (e.g. in the areas of data protection, anti-money laundering, UBO-register or in the deontological or tax/accounting fields); and (ii) to defend our own legal rights. Where appropriate, we base the possible processing of your personal data on (i) the specific legal obligation in question or (ii) our legitimate interest.

We retain the personal data you provide us with in the context of the legal services we render for a period of minimum 5 years and maximum 10 years after you have last contacted us regarding our legal services and/or after our agreement for the provision of legal services has ended. This pursuant to our legal obligations in this regard, and to safeguard our evidence in the event of a possible dispute or in light of our professional liability. Moreover, in certain files, long (contractual or non-contractual) limitation or expiration periods must be taken into account.

3. When you apply for a position with us

If you apply for a position with us –whether you contact us through the portal on our website or by e-mail or otherwise-, you will probably provide us with personal data in your cover letter and your CV (such as: your name and address, contact details, your grades, which schools you went to, previous jobs, etc.). 

We will only use your personal data to assess whether resolut. wishes to enter into an employment, internship or cooperation agreement with you, and for this purpose we base ourselves on the necessity for the establishment of the agreement. Your data will be processed for the entire period of the selection and recruitment procedure.

If you’re not chosen for the position, we will delete your data no later than 4 weeks after the end of the selection process, unless we have your explicit consent to include your data in our recruitment reserve. In the latter case, we will retain your contact information, cover letter and resume for a period of up to 2 years after the last application. This allows us to contact you during that period in connection with any job opportunities that may interest you.  If you subsequently want us to delete this information earlier, you can of course contact us so that we remove the information from our database.

4. For direct marketing purposes

resolut. may use your personal data for direct marketing purposes if you give your consent (for example if you subscribe to a newsletter or enroll for an event or study day) or based upon legitimate interest if we have entered into an agreement with you. 

We don’t want to spam you and we understand if you would rather not receive any marketing communications.   If that is the case, you can always let us know or you can unsubscribe from our mailing list using the link you can find at the bottom of each newsletter. 

5. When you supply services to resolut.

If you supply services to or work together with resolut., it may occur that you provide us with certain personal data such as your contact information (e.g. name, address, (professional) e-mail address, telephone number, etc.) and payment and billing data. resolut. will only use this information in the context of entering into, implementing or terminating the specific agreement with you as our business partner or within the framework of our legal obligations and this on the basis of the agreement you have entered into with resolut. or the specific legal obligation in this regard.  We keep this information for as long as is necessary for the proper and efficient management of our cooperation. After the termination of our agreement, we will retain your information for a period of maximum 10 years in light of any possible disputes or our potential liability.

6. Origin of your personal data

For clients, business partners and job applicants, we primarily obtain your data directly from you. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that in specific circumstances we may obtain some of your data indirectly from public sources (e.g. CBE search) or from third parties (e.g. through the company where you work, through retrieval of judgments and rulings from courts and tribunals). If you’re acting as counsel for a concerned party, we may obtain your information through court documents or through your firm. For job applicants, we may additionally consult your profile on professional social media channels.

For concerned (opposing) parties, we may obtain some of your data directly from you (e.g. direct consultation with a view to reaching an amicable solution). In addition, we may also obtain your data to a large extent from public sources (e.g. the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, the Central Register of Notices of Seizure, the Belgian Official Journal, publications on the website of the National Bank of Belgium, or via other publicly accessible information) or from third parties, including our client, your own counsel, or other parties involved in a case. We will only request and include your information in our files to the extent relevant and necessary in light of a specific assignment we are performing for our client.

 

Protection- and retention measures

We take measures to ensure that your personal data remains personal and confidential. resolut. works hard to protect your personal data from unlawful destruction, loss, alteration or unauthorized access or disclosure.  For example, we take measures in our organization to ensure that access to your data is limited to those employees or appointees who need access to help us process it.  We have also taken appropriate technical measures to prevent the loss or any form of unlawful processing of your personal data.

Your data will be preserved at resolut. as far as possible within the European Economic Area (EEA). However, it’s possible that in certain cases and to a limited extent, when using ancillary software tools, your data may be processed outside the EEA. This will only occur in or from countries that the European Commission has confirmed as providing an adequate level of protection for your data, or where other measures have been taken to ensure the lawful processing of your data in these third countries.

 

Transfer to third parties

resolut. will never sell your personal data to another party. The resolut. website may contain links to and from the websites of third parties. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies. Please consult these privacy policies before transferring any personal data to such third parties. 

resolut. does make use of some external data processors, for example for billing and time tracking, for accounting purposes, and for IT-security and website maintenance purposes.  resolut. has entered into a data processing agreement with each of these external data processors which obliges them to treat your personal data confidentially and to only process your personal data based on our instructions and for the relevant purposes for which this data was shared.  Consequently, the data may not be used for other purposes and the data processors will also have to take adequate precautions to prevent the loss or unlawful processing of your data.

In other cases, resolut. will not pass on your data to third parties, except where strictly necessary in the light of the above-mentioned purposes (e.g. for a specific file), or if we are required to do so by law. Such transfers will always take place with due regard for the principle of proportionality and after careful consideration in light of the specific case. For example:

• If you’re a client or concerned party, we may have to transfer your personal data to your opposing party or his counsel, whether or not at your request or in the context of complying with our deontological information obligation.
• To the extent required for the efficient defense of our client's interests or our own interests in the context of any possible legal dispute, we may share data with public authorities, judicial authorities and practitioners of regulated professions (e.g. bailiffs, notaries, accountants, outside lawyers and databases regulated by law).
• If we’re legally or deontologically required to share data with the authorities or if we need to share data to comply with an enforceable request from the authorities, we will share the data requested by the authorities, which may include your personal data.
• If another company decides to buy all or part of the shares of resolut. or if resolut. merges with another company, we may of course have to transfer your data to that company.  That company will then assume all obligations under this privacy policy.

 

Your rights

You have the right to access your data and you may request that we send you an overview of the personal data processed about you.  This right also includes the possibility of requesting further information regarding the processing of your personal data. If you believe that your personal data has been processed incorrectly or incompletely, or you believe that such processing was unnecessary, you may also ask us to amend, supplement or delete your personal data from our databases. Under applicable privacy laws, you also have the right to restrict processing, the right to data portability and the right to object to processing.  Where resolut. processes your personal data on the basis of your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Do you have other privacy concerns or want to exercise your rights? If so, contact us by sending a letter to resolut. BV, Langenberg 16, 3294 Diest, or an e-mail to info@resolut.law.

When you make a request to exercise your rights, if there is any doubt about your identity, we will ask to verify it. In this case, we will request that you transmit documents that allow us to identify you beyond a reasonable doubt, such as a copy of the front of your identity card. We do this to prevent your information from falling into the wrong hands. It’s sufficient that such copy clearly shows your name and date of birth. You may delete the other data.

The exercise of your rights is in principle free of charge. However, if your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge you a reasonable fee in light of the administrative costs incurred by us. In the same case, however, we may choose not to comply with your request. You will be informed of the reasons for this.

In any event, we will inform you of the action taken on your request within a period of 1 month from its receipt. In case of complex or multiple requests, this period can be extended to 3 months.

We do our best to answer all your questions as quickly as possible and are always open to feedback.  If you should nevertheless feel dissatisfied with the way we handle your privacy (requests), you can always lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority.  You can find the contact details of the Belgian Data Protection Authority on its website:  www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be.

 

Changes

We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement. The most recent version is available on our website at all times. The date on which this privacy statement was last modified can be found at the top. In case of a substantial change to the privacy statement, we will directly inform the data subjects on whom this may have an impact, if possible.