Preliminary remark. We respect the privacy of our customers and visitors to our website. We therefore treat your personal data with care. With this privacy policy, we would like to inform you about how we handle your personal data when you use this site and when you use our services.
Introduction to the protection of personal data. Since 25 May 2018, a new European regulation determines your rights with regard to your personal data. The most important concepts in this new legislation (called RGPD) are data subjects, personal data and processing. The data subject is you, the natural person who visits this website or uses our services. Your personal data is any data about you: it can be your name, your e-mail address, but also the fact that you have contacted us via a contact form, or the contract you have concluded with us. What we do with your personal data is called processing. This ranges from requesting, storing, using and other various purposes.
Why do we process your personal data? We process your personal data in order to sell or rent your property, to find a property that matches your wishes and needs among the properties we rent and sell, and to keep you informed of properties that may interest you.
What is the lawful basis for processing your personal data? Any use of your personal data must have a lawful, "lawful" basis. We process your data on the basis of our legitimate interest, your consent, pre-contractual phase, performance of an agreement, and legal obligation.
Sometimes we have a "legal obligation" to ask for personal data.
For example, to draw up a sales agreement, you need your national registration number.
For certain matters, such as sending newsletters by e-mail, we ask for your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time. This can be done easily, usually by clicking on the "unsubscribe" button found in each of these emails.
We also retain data based on our "legitimate interest". This legitimate interest includes what you as a client can expect us to process as estate agents in order to do our job properly. This concerns, for example, the compilation of lists of candidate buyers or specific information of importance in the context of certain properties or clients.
Finally, we obviously need personal data to be able to execute the contract with you, such as your contact details.
What personal data do we hold about you? The personal data we hold about you depends on the relationship you have with us. We refer to this as the categories of data subjects.
| Relationship | Description |
| VISITOR | The natural person who visits the site without making himself known and without providing personal data. |
| FREE SERVICES | The natural person who uses our free services (such as personalised searches, free property valuation, contact form) without signing a contract. |
| APPLICANT-TENANT | The prospective tenant who, in the context of a specific property or in the context of the search for a rental property in general, provides us with detailed information and possibly visits one or more properties. |
| CANDIDATE-PURCHASER | The prospective buyer who provides us with information in the context of a specific property or in the context of the search for a property in general, and possibly visits one or more properties. |
| OWNER | The landlord, with whom a rental agreement is concluded. |
| VENDOR | The seller, with whom a sales mandate is concluded. |
| RESIDENT | The person who resides in a property, where that person is not the owner or seller in the transaction. |
| PROSPECT | The natural person who contacts us or whom we contact with a view to the sale or rental of a property relating to that person. |
Below we discuss the different categories of customers, how we process your personal data, whether you can object to this processing, and what the consequences are. Next, we look at the rights you have towards us as a data subject.
What personal data do we process about the visitor? If you, as a visitor to our website, do not share any personal data, we will not store any personal data. Depending on the browser settings, cookies may be placed on the user's device. See the Cookie Policy.
What personal data do we process for free services? Some of our services are completely free. In this case, we only process the data required for that service.
These services include: creating a profile, saving searches, requesting a free valuation of your property, filling in a contact form, subscribing to a newsletter. When creating a profile, the following data may be requested: identification and contact data. When registering a search, in addition to an e-mail address, the information necessary or useful for the compilation of the requested query is recorded. A free valuation of your property requires a certain investment and it is normal that we may store various personal data, such as property data, identification data, contact details, reason for the valuation request. The provision of a free estimate implies that we are allowed to collect these data. Once an estimate has been made, we retain that estimate, both on the basis of your consent and a legitimate interest, and possible liability for that estimate.
When you fill in a contact form, we will record your contact details and your question or comment and any other communication. When you subscribe to a newsletter, your e-mail address will be recorded.
Except as stated above, all processing takes place with your consent.
We retain this personal data for as long as the processing is ongoing and for 6 months or more after your last activity.
What personal data of the prospective tenant do we process? You are a prospective tenant as soon as you register with us for this purpose. The following processing operations are possible for a prospective tenant: a pre-screening allows us to complete your tenant profile. This is not an automated decision. We collect this information to enable you to visit properties that may meet your needs and not to visit properties that do not meet your needs. This personal data may include: your salary slip or other information about your income, your family situation, when you want to rent, your budget, and any information about the property you want. When a property is visited, we also make a note of it. When a lease is concluded, all the data necessary for the conclusion of the rental contract is collected and recorded.
We store this personal data with a view to possibly concluding a lease. The legal basis for the processing is therefore the pre-contractual phase. The period of retention of personal data is at least 6 months, but depends on your level of activity as a prospective tenant, and may be renewed reasonably to establish a long-term profile of the tenant. If, based on your reduced activity as a prospective tenant, we decide to stop processing your data, you can be informed in advance. If you sign a lease, we must keep the personal data for at least 10 years, according to our contractual responsibility.
You have a right of access and an effective right to rectify objectively incorrect data. No specific personal data is stored (such as race, religion, sexual orientation, health status...) unless you explicitly request it.
What personal data of the prospective buyer do we process? You are a prospective buyer as soon as you log in to us for this purpose. We process the following personal data for a prospective buyer: we record your name, e-mail address and mobile phone number. We record your wishes and requirements for the property you are looking for, as well as any other information you provide to us about your circumstances or that we think may be relevant to finding a suitable property. If you visit a property, we record this as an activity related to that property. The seller, who has access to the activity report via an online profile, sees that a visit has taken place. If you make an offer, we will keep your offer and the seller's response. If an offer or counter-offer is accepted, all the legal data required to establish a compromise can be collected and kept (such as a copy of your identity card). The compromise is also saved. If you have shown a serious interest in a property or have visited a property, and if we end our mission without selling the property, the seller will receive a list of all (serious) potential buyers by registered mail. This list contains your name, e-mail address and a partially masked mobile phone number. We will pass on your details to the seller for a compelling legitimate interest, in particular because of the contractual conditions in the mandate. This means that you cannot object to being included in the list. The following precautions are taken in this context: the seller is prohibited from contacting you on the basis of this list, and he is also prohibited from informing anyone that you are on this list, and from passing on this list. After 6 months, the seller is obliged to delete the list and any copies or scans in his possession.
In addition, we may pass this list on to an estate agent who takes over the mandate, or with whom we work.
Apart from what has been indicated above, processing is carried out on the basis of your consent and our legitimate interest in being able to offer you a better service. Your data is kept for a minimum of 2 years. If you make a binding offer, sign a promise to purchase or a compromise, we must retain personal data for at least 10 years for our contractual liability. By default, we keep your data for a period of 30 years, but after 10 years you can request the deletion of your data.
You have a right of access and an effective right to rectify objectively incorrect data. To this end, you must provide us with proof of your identity, the correct information and, where appropriate, sufficient evidence of this correctness. No specific personal data is stored (such as race, religion, sexual orientation, health status...) unless you explicitly request it.
What personal data of the landlord do we process? In the context of a tenancy agreement, we keep all the data necessary for the execution of the tenancy agreement, such as the property details, your identity and contact details. We also retain additional information we obtain about the property or other information relevant to a tenant for your property. Please note that the GDPR prohibits the processing of any personal data relating to race, religion, sexual orientation or health status, so any other relevant information we store cannot relate to such data.
Personal data is kept for the purpose of executing the rental agreement. Personal data is kept for at least 10 years, taking into account the legal obligations in this area and our contractual responsibility. By default, we keep your data for a period of 30 years, but after 10 years you can request the deletion of your data.
If you ask us to draw up an EPC or an electrical certificate of conformity, the necessary personal data will be passed on to our partner. If a rental agreement is concluded, the data required to draw up the lease will be retained.
If you decide to publish your property on one or more property portals, we will only send the details of the property to that portal site, and no other contact details or details about you.
What personal data of the seller do we process? In the context of a sales mandate, we keep all the data necessary for the execution of the mandate, such as the data of the property, your identity and your contact details. We also keep additional information that we obtain about the property or other information that may be useful to a prospective buyer of your property. Personal data is kept for at least 10 years, taking into account legal obligations in this area and our contractual responsibility. By default, we keep your data for a period of 30 years, but after 10 years you can request the deletion of your data.
If you entrust us with obtaining an EPC or electrical compliance certificate, the necessary personal data will be transmitted to our partner. If a compromise is concluded, the data necessary to prepare the compromise will be retained. If you decide to publish your property on one or more property portals, we will only send the details of the property to that portal, and no other contact details or details about you.
See below for important information on your possible responsibilities as a seller.
What personal data of the resident do we process? In the context of a sale or rental mandate, we keep all the data necessary for the execution of the mandate, including the resident's contact details. We keep this data until the end of the mandate. This data is then deleted if you have no further relationship with our agency.
What personal data of the prospect do we process? We distinguish between the prospect who contacts us and the prospect we contact. If you contact us with a view to a possible mandate, we will retain your identity, your contact details, the information we obtain about your property and any other information that enables us to assess your property and the context or reason for your contact. We do this on the basis of a legitimate interest, in particular the efficient handling of that contact without obligation. We keep the data you give us by default for 2 years.
We may also contact you if we learn that you intend to put your property up for sale or rent. The contact details you provide may be stored in accordance with the GDPR. If you wish to have further contact with us, we will process your personal data in the same way as we do for people who contact us spontaneously. If you no longer wish to be contacted by us, or only after a certain period of time (e.g. three months), we will take your request into account.
What if you belong to two categories of people simultaneously? It is possible that over time you will belong to more than one category of people involved. For example, a prospective buyer may later become a seller. In this case, your personal data will be processed according to both categories, possibly with several legal bases. The longest retention period will be used.
What about data from third parties, such as portal sites? Properties for sale and for rent can be published on portal sites. Real estate portal sites contain criteria for searching, collecting and saving your details. With your permission, a portal site gives us your contact details and information about the property you are interested in.
You will immediately receive an e-mail from us confirming that we have received your details and information about the property you are interested in. This e-mail may contain an invitation to consent to automatically receive messages from similar properties.
We can also automatically send you a series of properties similar to the one you have requested information about (many customers appreciate this service). You can always unsubscribe with a click.
Historical data. Historical data is personal data held on our database prior to 25 May 2018, when the GDPR came into force. For those individuals with whom we have a mandate or for whom we have a legal obligation to retain personal data, we will of course retain that data. For other personal data, which is kept on our database either on the basis of consent or on the basis of our legitimate interest, it is generally difficult, if not impossible, to know on what basis we are keeping that data. A company has two ways of dealing with this.
A first solution is to send an e-mail to everyone in the file asking them to renew or confirm their consent to use personal data. In this case, only the personal data of those who have actually agreed will be kept. A second way is to consider the processing of personal data as a legitimate interest. In this case, the data subject has the possibility to object to the processing at each contact; this objection will stop the processing. Each of these ways of working can be combined with a cleansing operation of old customer data.
We have opted for the second way of processing historical data. It goes without saying that you always have the right to request the deletion of such historical personal data (in the absence of legal obligations and ongoing contracts).
Your responsibilities as a seller. It is possible, for several reasons, that the sales contract you have entrusted us with ends without the sale of your property. In this case, at the end of our mission, you will receive a list of candidate buyers who have visited your property or who have expressed a serious interest. This list contains the personal data of these candidate-buyers, in particular their first and last name, e-mail address and mobile phone number (possibly partially masked).
Even as an individual, you have obligations under the GDPR in relation to this list and are responsible for it. You are allowed to save and consult the personal data on this list for 6 months after receipt. You are not permitted to disclose this personal data to anyone or in any way, or share it with anyone else, unless you contact an estate agent with whom you wish to work. You are also prohibited from actively seeking contact with these people. After 6 months you are obliged to destroy this list, together with every copy, scan and photo in your possession.
Contact. If you have any questions or requests concerning the processing of your personal data, you can contact us at the following address
Direct-immo
Blvd.G.Wahis 272 (Place Meiser)
1030 Brussels
info@direct-immo.be
Your rights as a data subject. As a data subject, you have a number of rights relating to your personal data. You have a right of access to your personal data. This means that you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you. Please note that we have one month to respond to your request and we may ask you for proof of your identity before we respond to your request. You also have the right to rectification. This means that you have the right to correct incorrect personal data. In this case, we may ask you for proof of the accuracy of the data you provide. You also have a right to erasure of data. This means that you can request that your personal data be deleted. Please note that this is not always possible, especially if we have a legal obligation to retain personal data, if you have entered into a contractual relationship with us, or in other exceptional situations. The right to erasure of data cannot be used to terminate an existing contract. You may also object to certain processing, including processing that we carry out on the basis of our justified (non-compelling) interest. You may also withdraw your consent at any time for processing operations for which you have given your consent. With regard to both opposition and withdrawal of consent, we will cease processing if there are no other legal grounds for processing. Finally, you always have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority(www.privacycommission.be).
Security. Your personal data will be treated confidentially. It will also be protected in a manner appropriate to the risk involved in processing it and, where necessary, stored and secured in accordance with specific legal requirements.
Transfer to third parties. We will only pass on your personal data to third parties once we have obtained your consent, on the basis of a legal obligation or a judicial or administrative decision or as indicated above in the context of the execution of the contract.
Social media and other third parties. We have no influence on the social media and other third party services that are used on our website, and therefore accept no liability. When you use your social media profile, the relevant social media provider processes your personal data in accordance with its policy. We have no influence on this policy. We encourage you to read their personal data policy carefully.
Direct Marketing. "Direct Marketing" means any direct communication between us and you, which is intended to inform you about our products and services or to update your customer profile and which are not e-mails sent as part of personalised searches that you have saved. You can always object to the use of your personal data for direct marketing by contacting us for this purpose.
Changes to this Privacy Policy. We strive to maintain this privacy policy. However, for a variety of reasons, it may occasionally be necessary to change the content. Therefore, we invite you to consult this page regularly.
Disclaimer of this Privacy Policy. It is possible that some features have not yet been fully implemented or have been implemented differently from what is described here. We accept no responsibility for this. In any case, this does not affect your rights under the GDPR which you can exercise from 25 May 2018.