1. Introduction
1.1 This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of our website visitors and service users; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.
1.3 We use cookies on our website. Insofar as those cookies are not strictly necessary for the provision of our website and services, we will ask you to consent to our use of cookies when you first visit our website.
2. How we use your personal data
2.1 We may process data about your use of our website and services (“usage data“). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is our analytics tracking system. This usage data may be processed for the purposes of analysing the use of the website and services. The legal basis for this processing is consent and our legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving our website and services.
2.2 We may process your account data (“account data“). The account data may include your name and email address. The source of the account data is you or your employer. The account data may be processed or the purposes of operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of our website and services, maintaining back-ups of our databases and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is consent or our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business or the performance of a contract between your employer and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
2.3 We may process your information included in your personal profile on our website] (“profile data“). The profile data may include your name, address, telephone number, email address, profile pictures, gender, date of birth, educational details and employment details. The profile data may be processed for the purposes of enabling and monitoring your use of our website and services. The legal basis for this processing is consent or our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business or the performance of a contract between your employer and us and/or taking steps, at you request, to enter into such a contract.
2.4 We may process your personal data that are provided in the course of the use of our services (“service data“). The service data may include your name, address, telephone number, email address, profile pictures, gender, date of birth, educational details and employment details. The source of the service data is you or your employer. The service data may be processed for the purposes of operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of our website and services, maintaining back-ups of our databases and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is consent or our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business or the performance of a contract between your employer and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
2.5 We may process information that you post for publication on our website or through our services (“publication data“). The publication data may be processed for the purposes of enabling such publication and administering our website and services. The legal basis for this processing is consent or our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business or the performance of a contract between your employer and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
2.6 We may process information contained in any enquiry you submit to us regarding goods and/or services (“enquiry data“). The enquiry data may be processed for the purposes of offering, membership acquisition, or marketing. The legal basis for this processing is consent.
2.7 We may process information relating to our customer/ membership relationships, including membership contact information (“membership relationship data“). The membership relationship data may include your name, your employer, your job title or role, your contact details, and information contained in communications between us and you or your employer. The source of the membership relationship data is you or your employer. The membership relationship data may be processed for the purposes of managing our relationships with members and members’ representatives, communicating with members and members’ representatives, keeping records of those communications and providing and/ or promoting our services to members and members’ representatives and/or potential members. The legal basis for this processing is consent or our legitimate interests, namely the proper management of our membership relationships.
2.8 We may process information relating to transactions, including the payment of membership fees or fees for participation to events, that you enter into with us and/or through our website (“transaction data“). The transaction data may include your contact details, your card details and the transaction details. The transaction data may be processed for the purpose of supplying the services and keeping proper records of those transactions. The legal basis for this processing is the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract and our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business.
2.9 We may process information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters (“notification data“). The notification data may be processed for the purposes of sending you the relevant notifications and/or newsletters. The legal basis for this processing is consent or the performance of a contract between your employer and us and/or taking steps, at your request.
2.10 We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us (“correspondence data“). The correspondence data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. Our website will generate the metadata associated with communications made using the website contact forms. The correspondence data may be processed for the purposes of communicating with you and record-keeping. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business and communications with users.
2.11 We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.
2.12 We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, or obtaining professional advice. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks.
2.13 In addition to the specific purposes for which we may process your personal data set out in this Section 2, we may also process any of your personal data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.
2.14 Please do not supply any other person’s personal data to us, unless we prompt you to do so.
3. Providing your personal data to others
3.1 We may disclose your personal data to our members, contractual partners, and stakeholders insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes, and on the legal bases, set out in this policy.
3.2 We may disclose your personal data to our insurers and/or professional advisers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice, or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
3.3 We may disclose your personal data to our suppliers or subcontractors, contract insofar as reasonably necessary for improving our website’s functions, monitoring our website’s visits, measuring and improving our communications’ outreach, and facilitating the exchange and collaboration among our members and stakeholders.
3.4 Financial transactions relating to our website, services, and events may be handled by our payment services providers. We will share transaction data with our payment services providers only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing your payments, refunding such payments and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds.
3.5 In addition to the specific disclosures of personal data set out in this Section 3, we may disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
4. International transfers of your personal data
4.1 In this Section 4, we provide information about the circumstances in which your personal data may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
4.2 We have members, stakeholders, and contractual partners outside the EU, in the European Union, European Neighbourhood Countries, the USA, and Israel. The European Commission has made an “adequacy decision” with respect to the data protection laws of each of these countries. Transfers to each of these countries will be protected by appropriate safeguards.
4.3 You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through our website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.
5. Retaining and deleting personal data
5.1 We retain your information for the period of time needed for Water Europe to pursue legitimate business interests, conduct audits, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.
6. Amendments
6.1 We reserve the right to review this Privacy Policy at any time. Where appropriate or required by law, we will notify you about the new privacy Policy by posting appropriate notice on our website or by e-mail (to the extent that we have your e-mail address). We will indicate above the date on which this Privacy Policy was last modified. Your continued use of our services or website and participation in Water Europe events constitutes your agreement to the revised Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the new Privacy Policy, you must discontinue.
7. Your rights
7.1 In this Section 7, we have summarised the rights that you have under data protection law. Some of the rights are complex, and not all of the details have been included in our summaries. Accordingly, you should read the relevant laws and guidance from the regulatory authorities for a full explanation of these rights.
7.2 Your principal rights under data protection law are:
- the right to access;
- the right to rectification;
- the right to erasure;
- the right to restrict processing;
- the right to object to processing;
- the right to data portability;
- the right to complain to a supervisory authority; and
- the right to withdraw consent.
7.3 You have the right to confirmation as to whether or not we process your personal data and, where we do, access to the personal data, together with certain additional information. That additional information includes details of the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned and the recipients of the personal data.
7.4 You have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you rectified and, taking into account the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.
7.5 In some circumstances you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay. Those circumstances include: the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw consent to consent-based processing; you object to the processing under certain rules of applicable data protection law; the processing is for direct marketing purposes; and the personal data have been unlawfully processed. However, there are exclusions of the right to erasure. The general exclusions include where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
7.6 In some circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Those circumstances are: you contest the accuracy of the personal data; processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure; we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of our processing, but you require personal data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; and you have objected to processing, pending the verification of that objection. Where processing has been restricted on this basis, we may continue to store your personal data. However, we will only otherwise process it: with your consent; for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person; or for reasons of important public interest.
7.7 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only to the extent that the legal basis for the processing is that the processing is necessary for: the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of any official authority vested in us; or the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. If you make such an objection, we will cease to process the personal information unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
7.8 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes (including profiling for direct marketing purposes). If you make such an objection, we will cease to process your personal data for this purpose.
7.9 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes on grounds relating to your particular situation, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.
7.10 To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal data is:
- consent; or
- that the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract,
and such processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data from us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. However, this right does not apply where it would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.
7.11 If you consider that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do so in the EU member state of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement.
7.12 To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal information is consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.
7.13 You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal data by a written notice to us.
8. Our details
8.1 This website is owned and operated by Water Europe.
8.2 We are registered in Belgium under registration number 893.349.907, and our registered office is at Boulevard A. Reyerslaan 80, 1030 Brussels Belgium.
8.3 Our principal place of business is at Boulevard A. Reyerslaan 80, 1030 Brussels Belgium.
8.4 If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or if you wish to exercise your rights under applicable data protection laws, please feel free to contact us through our website www.watereurope.eu or through email watereurope@watereurope.eu, including the word GDPR in your email’s subject line. You can also write to us at: The European Technology Platform for Water, 80 Boulevard A. Reyerslaan, 1030 Brussels, Belgium.