Privacy policy

1. Introduction

Brussels Expo appreciates your interest in our products, services and website. We want you to know how we collect, process and store your personal data, and we try to do this in a way that respects your rights. We also want you to be aware of these rights. Please read this privacy policy carefully. If you have any questions about the processing of your data, please contact us at privacy@brussels-expo.com.

2. What is the legal framework?

Although we aim to offer guarantees that exceed the applicable legal framework in this area, we have taken organizational and technical measures to comply with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27/04/2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (hereinafter "RGPD").

3. What notions will help you understand this policy?

• Data subject: a natural person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, by a piece of information. This is the person whose personal data is collected and processed by or on behalf of the data controller. In this case, it is any natural person whose personal data we process: our visitors, people who fill in contact forms on one of our websites, people who buy a ticket for an event organized on our site or a parking ticket, any other person whose personal data is communicated to us, etc.
• Personal data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (= the data subject). This definition is broad, since data is considered personal when it can be used to identify a natural person, either directly (surname, first name, photo, etc.) or indirectly (e-mail address, customer number, employee number, etc.). When we refer to "data" in this privacy policy, we mean personal data.
• Processing: any operation or set of operations, whether or not performed using automated processes, applied to personal data or sets of data. Here too, the definition is broad. Any handling of personal data constitutes processing: collection, consultation, storage, transmission, modification, deletion, etc.
• Data controller: the natural or legal person, public authority, department or other body that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data. This is the person who decides why your data is collected and processed. This is your contact and the person who will be held responsible for compliance with current data protection standards.
• Sub-processor: natural or legal person, public authority, department or other body that processes personal data on behalf of the controller. The processor does not decide why a processing operation is carried out, but performs it on behalf of the controller.

4. Who we are

The Brussels Exhibition Center ASBL, abbreviated "Brussels Expo", has its registered office at B-1020 Brussels, Place de Belgique 1. VAT : BE 0406.655.573.

Each person or entity processing personal data must determine whether they are processing the data in their capacity as data controller or data processor. This distinction is particularly important when it comes to processing personal data. At this point, we feel it would be useful to present our activities and vision, as well as our relationship with our partners.

Our mission is to foster and develop a hub of meetings and exchanges with a view to promoting economic, commercial, industrial, scientific, cultural and leisure activities, notably through the territory and various buildings granted to us by the City of Brussels. To this end, we develop all useful or necessary activities, in particular all services directly or indirectly related to the organization of trade fairs, congresses, symposia, exhibitions, concerts, festivals and other events. As part of our mission, we also strive to constantly improve the customer's experience when visiting our site. It is in pursuit of these objectives that we build our business, surrounded by a number of partners.

As part of our commitment to offering a varied catalog of activities, we also aim to provide a comprehensive service to event organizers, attracting eclectic events of interest to both the general public and specific groups. More broadly, and given our special position, we carry out important work in coordinating events and overall strategy to achieve our core mission. We also have decision-making power in the choice of events we organize, and we strive to adopt a strategy consistent with our desire to develop the sites entrusted to us.

This particular position gives rise to one observation: when a data subject orders an admission ticket to an event, he or she is linked both to Brussels Expo and to the organizer of the event he or she wishes to attend. These two distinct entities are therefore both data controllers as defined above.

For this reason, and for your full information, we invite you to read our privacy policy and that of the organizer of the event you wish to attend.

5. What does our privacy policy cover?

The purpose of this privacy policy is to inform you about the data we collect, how it is processed and why. Through this policy, we wish to inform you of our commitments and your rights with regard to the protection of your personal data.

Our policy covers all personal data collected by Brussels Expo in the context of all its activities, i.e.: trade fairs, congresses, symposia, exhibitions, concerts, festivals and other events via one of the following means:

• Website brussels-expo.com;
• Website bsf.be;
• Website ing.arena.brussels ;
• Website la-madeleine.be;
• Personal data collected when you take part in a survey or competition;
• Personal data collected when you buy or obtain a parking ticket on the Brussels Expo parking platform: https: //parking.tickets.brussels-expo.com;
• Personal data collected when you buy or obtain a ticket for an event via the Brussels Expo ticketing service (i.e. links created specifically for each event and referring to the ticketing platform in one of the following forms of URL xxx.tickets.brussels-expo.com or xxx.ticketlive.be or any other URL referring to the Brussels Expo ticketing service).

By communicating personal data to us by one of these means or by any other means, you undertake to provide us with accurate information about yourself.

6. What are our data protection principles?

Your personal data and privacy are important to us. Your trust in us is a priority. We strive to handle your data lawfully, transparently, fairly and responsibly. We make every effort to adopt appropriate organizational and technical measures to protect your data. Finally, we strive to collect as little data as possible in order to fulfill our purposes.

7. What data do we collect, how do we process it and why?

7.1 We do not process sensitive data relating to a natural person's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, health or data concerning sex life or sexual orientation. We do not process genetic or biometric data. Should it be envisaged to process "sensitive" data, you will be duly informed beforehand.

7.2 The purchase of tickets is reserved for legal entities and individuals with the legal capacity to enter into a contract or, where applicable, who have received the necessary authorization from their parents or guardian (or any person exercising parental authority).

7.3 The data we collect and process is that which you voluntarily transmit to us or to one of our subcontractors or partners. For certain operations relating to orders, you may be required to transmit data concerning you to third-party partners through their own services, more specifically when making payments. We will not have access to this data, as its collection and processing are governed by the terms and conditions specific to these parties. Please consult their terms and conditions before disclosing your personal data.

• • Data collected : when you wish to order an access pass for the first time to an event organized on one of our sites, we offer you the choice of ordering with or without creating an account. In both cases, we collect the following information:
  • Civil status: Mandatory identification data
  • Last name, First name: mandatory identification data
  • Language: data required to facilitate communication with you
  • E-mail address: mandatory data enabling us to communicate with you by e-mail and send you electronic tickets.
  • Telephone number: Mandatory information to enable us to contact you in the event of a problem relating to the event. This information will not be used for any other purpose.
  • Date of birth: obligatory data that enables us to verify the age of our customers and avoid selling to minors. This data is also essential to our main objective, which is to develop our sites by gaining an overall view of the age range of people attending each of our events, in order to adapt our strategy and programming.
  • Etc: the reasons for any additional data requests will be given at the time of data collection.
  • When you purchase or obtain a parking ticket on our platform, the following data is also collected: surname, first name, e-mail address and zip code.
  • Goals Our main mission is to develop our sites and the Heysel plateau, in particular by organizing events. As part of our corporate purpose, we collect and process the above-mentioned data in order to carry out our various missions and offer an experience and service tailored to your expectations. This information is also essential for your identification and the performance of our contractual relationship. The processing of this data enables us to send you a personalized or non-personalized ticket by e-mail, as well as communications concerning the event. It also enables us to promote our activities and inform you of our offers and agenda. Finally, it enables us to evaluate events organized as part of our global strategy: age of visitors, location, satisfaction survey, etc.
  • Processing The personal data collected are, depending on the case :
  • Used to create an account in your name (except for quick purchases)
  • Used to issue an event access ticket
  • Used to issue a parking ticket allowing your vehicle to be parked in one of our parking lots.
  • Inserted in a structured database
  • Used for various security purposes when you visit one of our sites.
  • Communicated to the organizer of the event for which you have ordered an admission ticket, who processes this data in his capacity as separate data controller.
  • Kept for evaluation purposes in order to improve our services
  • Where applicable, your data is used in our direct marketing campaigns (= sending out our diary, offers and promotions, etc.) if you have not objected to this.
  • Used to generate statistics to improve our global event strategy
• Used to send you a satisfaction survey after the event to evaluate your experience and improve our services.

7.4 Data collected during an event: in the event that Brussels Expo installs Wifi sensors and visual sensors in order to track, after encryption, the movements of visitors during an event, you will be informed of this processing when you enter the event by means of an information panel. This processing is based on the legitimate interests of Brussels Expo, the organizers and exhibitors, and our visitors. These interests overlap. The aim is to improve the quality of the event by better managing the crowds. This may mean shorter waiting times in queues, facilities adapted to visitors' needs, better visibility for exhibitors, better communication of information to visitors based on the number of visitors at specific locations, etc. This processing is carried out, among other things, using third-party equipment.

In this case, the data collected are, on the one hand, the Mac addresses of your mobile device, which are almost immediately encrypted, and, on the other hand, images via visual sensors which do not allow a visitor to be identified, as the images are blurred and gray. Please note that the collection of this data does not allow you to be identified. This data is encrypted, aggregated and used to produce a statistical report enabling us to better understand visitors' movements and respond to their needs and those of the organizers/exhibitors.

You can, of course, object to this processing by entering your MAC address on the following website: https://smart-places.org/mobile-location-analytics-opt-out/about-mobile-location-analytics-technology/

Please note that some mobile devices use a technology that involves the regular modification of the MAC address. Our opt-out system should allow you to opt-out of your device despite this MAC address change. In any case, you can avoid tracking by simply switching off your Wifi.

8. On what basis do we process your data?

• Performance of a contractBy purchasing a ticket on our website, you are entering into a contractual relationship that justifies the collection of your personal data for the purpose of fulfilling the contract: to send you your ticket, to give you access to the event and/or to one of our parking lots, as the case may be, to provide you with information relating to the event, to manage the venue, etc. We use your personal data for the purpose of fulfilling the contract.
• Legitimate interest It is in our legitimate interest to process your personal data for purposes beyond the scope of the contract binding us. It is in our legitimate interest to promote our activities in order to achieve our mission. We endeavor to process your data on the basis of our legitimate interest in a responsible manner and by minimizing the risks of violation of your privacy. For example, we undertake to contact only people who have already purchased a ticket for one of the events organized on our site, and we offer you the possibility of objecting to this type of processing at any time and in an easy manner. To ensure that our direct marketing campaigns do not violate your right to privacy, we have carefully considered and weighed our legitimate interest against the risk of violating your privacy in order to assess the legitimacy of our interest. You may object to this processing at any time.
• Legal obligation We may need to process your data in order to comply with a legal obligation under European Union or Belgian law. You cannot object to this processing.
• ConsentWe may ask for your consent to certain processing of your personal data. You may withdraw your consent at any time.

9. How do we protect your data?

We have put in place the technical and organizational measures necessary to protect your data and proportionate to the risks of violation of your rights. Our security measures are regularly evaluated and adapted to guarantee a high level of protection at all times.

10. With whom do we share your data?

We undertake not to transmit or sell your personal data to third parties other than our subsidiaries, our subcontractors or our direct partners whose intervention is necessary to achieve the aforementioned purposes.

As part of the organization of an event, we share your personal data with :

• • The organizer of the event for which you have ordered an admission ticket. The event organizer is also responsible for processing your personal data. We will only pass on your personal data to the organizers of events for which you have ordered an admission ticket, and we will make the organizer's privacy policy available to you when your data is collected.
  • Subcontractors : We have hired companies to help us organize our business. These companies only process your personal data on the basis of our express instructions. We make every reasonable effort to ensure that our subcontractors process your data in accordance with applicable legal standards. Access to your personal data is limited to the data they strictly require to perform their tasks. All our subcontractors are located in the European Economic Area and are subject to the aforementioned legal standards on data protection.

Your personal data will only be sent to a third country if the event organizer has its registered office in a third country, without a representative in the European Union. At the date of publication of this charter, all the organizers with whom we collaborate have an establishment within the European Union. You will be informed of any transfers outside the European Union when you order your event pass.

11. How long do we keep your data?

The duration of data retention depends on the processing carried out. Brussels Expo will keep your data for a period of 5 years from the last purchase made, with the exception of processing based on our legitimate interests (5 years from the last contact) and processing justified by legal obligations to which we may be subject. We do not store your payment details.

12. What are your rights?

You are the master of your data. We do our utmost to ensure that your rights are respected. For better management of your personal data, you can :

A right to information: The right to be informed, transparently and clearly, of the processing of your personal data and of your rights in this respect. We strive to achieve this by publishing this charter and by being at your disposal for any further information you may require.

A right of access: you have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you is being processed by us and to access this data as well as all information relevant to its processing.

A right of rectification: When you discover that your personal data is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to complete or rectify it, if necessary, by sending us a supplementary declaration.

A right to erasure: Under certain circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete your personal data.

The right to restrict processing: In certain situations, you have the right to obtain the limitation of the processing of your personal data to simple conservation.

A right to object: where the processing of your personal data is based on the legitimate interests of Brussels Expo, you have the right to object to such processing at any time.

A right to portability: Where the processing of your personal data is based on your consent or on a contract and is carried out using automated processes, you have the right to request this data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. You may request that this data be communicated to another data controller.

We endeavor to respond to your requests to exercise your rights as quickly and efficiently as possible. Please note, however, that in certain situations described in the relevant legal regulations, we have the right to refuse the exercise of certain rights where the situation justifies it. In such cases, we will endeavor to inform you of the reasons for our refusal, so that you can understand why we cannot respond favorably to your request.

You can exercise your rights by sending an e-mail to privacy@brussels-expo.com.

Important: before providing us with your personal data, please bear in mind that in the event of a request to exercise a right, we are obliged to communicate your personal data. To this end, our power to verify the identity of the person making the request is limited. In accordance with our principle of limiting data collection to that which is strictly necessary for the fulfillment of our purposes, we endeavor not to collect more data for the verification of your data than is already in our possession. We therefore consider that any request to exercise your rights emanating from your account or registered e-mail address is sufficient proof of your identity. We invite you to register with an e-mail address of your own and to take care to protect this address.

13. Where can you file a complaint in the event of a violation?

If you have any problems, please contact us at privacy@brussels-expo.com so that we can help you. In any event, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority. Moreinfos at https://www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be.

14. Update to our privacy policy

Our privacy policy may be expanded or adapted in the future, e.g. in the event of new developments. We recommend that you consult this privacy policy regularly.

Date of last update: 06/09/2023