1.Privacy and GDPR

1.1 Legislation

Since 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been in force. This regulation is in line with the law of 8 December 1992 on the protection of privacy.
The GDPR emphasises transparency and citizens’ control over the processing of their personal data. We make every effort to comply with these legal provisions and inform you of the measures we take.
REGULATION (EU) 2016/ 679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL – of 27 April 2016 – on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (europa.eu)

1.2 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

1.2.1 Collection of your personal data

You can browse our website without having to provide any personal information. You may be asked to provide information via our contact form to facilitate our response to one of your questions or requests (contact request or brochures).
We do not store any of your information unless you subscribe to our newsletter. In this case, when you enter your data, we store it in an internal file (database).

1.2.2 Processing of personal data

We respect and protect your personal data:
– We do not pass on your personal data to other companies.
– You have the right to request a copy of your personal data at any time to check the accuracy of the information stored and/or to correct or update it. You can also request that your personal data be completely deleted.
The Comines-Warneton Tourist Office, which is responsible for processing the data collected on this website, is available to answer any questions you may have at info@visitcomines-warneton.be.

1.2.3 Use of your personal data

We use your personal data solely for the following purposes:
– To respond to your requests (contact requests or brochures).
– To compile statistics on the origin of requests received via the website.
– Inform you of promotional offers, new products or suggestions for discoveries concerning equipment, sites, operators, events and other organisations or organisers with a tourist or cultural focus, and only if you have subscribed to our newsletter or made a specific request following one of our operations at a trade fair or during a competition, for example.
Under no circumstances will your data be transferred or sold to a third party. This guarantees you protection against any form of commercial ‘spamming’ or other malicious use of your data (spam, etc.).

1.2.4 Retention of your personal data

For the purposes of processing services, your data is retained for as long as you are registered with our services. It can be deleted upon request.
The Tourist Office may not disclose the personal data collected in any way without the prior consent of its owner, unless required to do so by a court of law or to comply with its obligations under common law.

1.2.5 Collection and analysis of non-personal statistics

As with all websites, our server automatically collects non-personal data such as the date and time, operating system, keywords used to find us, etc.
We use these statistics to improve our website by adapting it to users’ needs.
These statistics do not constitute an invasion of your privacy.

1.2.6 Rights enshrined in the GDPR

The rights enshrined in the GDPR are as follows:
– Right to information: You have the right to know the identity and contact details of the data controller and, where applicable, those of the Data Protection Officer, the purposes of the processing, the recipients of the data collected, any transfer outside the European Union, the retention period, etc.
– Right of access to personal data: You have the right to consult your personal data and obtain a copy of it, subject to a fee that may not exceed the administrative cost of printing.
– Right to rectification: You have the right to request the rectification of any inaccurate or incomplete data.
– Right to erasure: Subject to certain conditions set out in Article 17 of the GDPR, you have the right to request the erasure of your data as soon as possible. However, several exceptions set out in this article may justify a refusal of your request.
– Right to restriction of processing: In certain cases, you have the right to request that the use of some of your data be suspended or restricted to certain processing operations, temporarily if necessary. Your data will simply be stored for the time necessary to restrict processing. This right is subject to several exceptions provided for in Article 18 of the GDPR.
– Right to withdraw consent: If the processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time, without this affecting the lawfulness of the processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
– Right to data portability: Only if the processing is carried out on the basis of your prior consent or for the performance of a contract and the processing is carried out using automated processes, you have the right to request the recovery of the data you have provided for personal use or to transmit it to a third party of your choice, in a machine-readable format, where technically possible.
– Right to object: At any time, for personal reasons, and provided that the processing is based on the exercise of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority, you may object to the processing of your personal data. However, certain exceptions provided for in Article 21 of the GDPR may justify the refusal of your request.

1.2.7 How to exercise your rights?

You may exercise your rights under the GDPR:
– by post to the following address: Place Sainte-Anne, 22, 7780 Comines
Please provide your full name and contact details (including your email address if you wish to be contacted by email) so that we can verify the validity of your request.
– by email to info@visitcomines-warneton.be
Please provide your full name and contact details (including your email address if you wish to be contacted by email) so that we can verify the validity of your request.

1.2.8 Right of appeal

If you believe that the Comines-Warneton Tourist Office has not respected your rights and/or has not processed your personal data in accordance with the GDPR, you can lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority, whose contact details are as follows:

Data Protection Authority
Rue de la Presse 35
1000 BRUSSELS
Telephone: +32 (0)2/274.48.00
Email: contact@apd-gba.be
Website: www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be

2. Use of cookies

2.1 Introduction

By informing you about how we manage cookies, we comply with the law of 10 July 2012 containing various provisions on electronic communications (referred to as the Telecoms Law) and transposing European Directive No. 2009/ 136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on new constraints and obligations for publishers and owners of websites regarding the information to be provided to visitors, as well as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 14 April 2016 adopted by the European Parliament and applicable since 25 May 2018.

2.2 What are cookies?

A cookie is a small file that records information about a visitor’s behaviour on a website. Although it is generated by the website’s server, it is automatically stored on the visitor’s computer, smartphone or tablet hard drive.
There are two types of cookies: temporary and permanent. Temporary cookies are deleted as soon as the web browser is closed. Permanent cookies are stored on the hard drive of the connected computer.

2.3 How do I change my cookie settings?

To change your cookie settings, you must go through your web browser settings.
Here are links to resources for the main web browsers:
– Google Chrome
– Internet Explorer
– Mozilla Firefox
– Safari

2.4 Which cookies are used by the Comines-Warneton Tourist Office?

To improve the user experience on our website, we use two types of cookies: preference cookies and analytical cookies.
– Preference cookies: when visiting a website, these cookies are used to store information about the type of browser used and any additional browser software installed. They also store preferences selected when customising the website, if the website allows this, such as location, language or preferred fonts. These preferences are stored using persistent cookies. Visitors will not have to set their preferences each time they visit the site.
– Analytical cookies: these help us learn more about how visitors interact with our content so that we can improve the presentation of our websites. They collect information about how visitors use our websites, the website from which the user came, the number of visits each user makes and the length of time a user spends on the website.

2.5 Is any personal data transmitted, such as a name, address, etc.?

Cookies only record technical data, including your IP address, which may be considered personal data, as well as data on how you use our websites. Cookies do not record data such as your surname, first name, address, national registration number, etc.