1. Home
  2. Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Who is Farys?

Various services are provided under the Farys brand name via the Farys (ov), TMVS (dv) and Farys cvba companies.

Farys ov is an inter-municipal alliance in the form of a contracted association. Farys ov also offers the Aquadomo service line.

Farys dv is an inter-municipal alliance in the form of a service provision association.

Farys cvba is a company under public law.

Products and services of TMVS dv and Farys cvba are offered via the CREAT service centre.

In order to comply with these statutory, regulatory and contractual obligations, Farys processes your personal data in the performance of its activities. Farys acts here as a controller, in compliance with the provisions of the laws and regulations concerning data protection, including the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’), the Act of 13 June 2005 concerning electronic communication and other applicable laws and regulations.

We regard the protection of privacy extremely important and attach great value to the proper protection of your data that we process, in particular your personal data.

Via this Privacy Policy, we wish to inform you, as a client and user of our services and website(s), to respect and to give you control over the gathering, processing and use of your data as far as possible. We aim to manage and use your data safely, with respect and in accordance with good business practice. We use your personal data only for clearly described purposes.

We commit to compliance with our obligations and to respect your rights whenever we process your personal data. If you require more in-depth information on this subject, you are advised to see the website of the Committee for the Protection of Personal Privacy (www.privacycommission.be).

We invite you to take the time to read our Privacy Policy with care, together with our General Terms and Conditions and any other conditions applying to our services.

An overview of the answers to the most important questions concerning the processing of your personal data is presented below.

In concrete terms, our Privacy Policy provides information on the following topics:

Which personal data are involved?

We prefer to gather as little of your data as possible. Nevertheless, this is sometimes necessary, for example in relation to the service provision and general communications. We describe which data we keep for drinking water and treatment activities below. Fewer data are kept for CREAT, Reni and Aquadomo, with the exception of professions and positions, which are specifically kept for CREAT.

We distinguish different types of personal data (depending on the objective and the need to realise the intended objective):

Personal identification details

With these details, we can identify you or contact you. This category contains different types of data.

Surname and first name(s)

We process your surname and first name(s) because we have a contract with a person for the supply of water and want to invoice the right person for this and charge the right rates. We also prefer to address you personally rather than as ‘Dear Customer’ or by your customer number or another code.

Address details

We need your address details (postal code/(sub-)municipality, street, street number, letterbox number) firstly in order to offer you our services and, if necessary, to invoice you for these).  

Postal address

You can arrange to change certain data in relation to invoicing for services, such as the postal address. Your post will then be sent to a different address from the supply address.

Telephone and/or mobile number

We keep your telephone number so that we can call you in the event of an emergency/failure/works or to ask for missing information for a current file. We also use your mobile number to sent text messages with emergency procedures/requests for meter readings/outstanding invoices.

Professions and positions – specifically for CREAT

We process your position or department in order to be able to contact the right department right away in the event of a specific question. We also record the local person responsible, as they guarantee the further supervision of the specific file and act as a point of contact for the supplier/service provider.

National registration number/social security identification number

We process your national registration number because this is a unique number with which a person can be identified with great accuracy. At the same time, this is the key to offering you the correct rate.

Electronic identification details

E-mail address

We need your e-mail address in order to communicate with you. If required, we will send invoices only to your e-mail address. With your explicit approval, we will also use this to keep you informed of new developments and provide other information on our products and services. You can choose to deregister for this at any time (see below).

Log-in details: user name and password

These are specific data concerning the registration process on the web portal (the e-Desk is expected to be provided in the autumn of 2018) and contain information such as your acceptance of our General Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy, as well as the date and time of registration. We keep your log-in details in order to secure access to your account so that only you or people that you share these details with can log in.

Cookies

We use cookies when you open our e-mails and/or when you visit our websites or use apps. Cookies are pieces of information that are saved on your own computer or mobile device and which optimise the user convenience of our websites and apps. Then you can, for example, be identified as a visitor to our websites during a subsequent visit, so that we will be better able to adjust our websites to your wishes, preferences and convenience. The above data in combination with cookies make it possible for us to see how you use our website and services (your surfing behaviour) and where your interests lie. Please see our Cookie Policy for more information on the cookies we use and which data are gathered with these.

Electronic localisation details

Farys can gather anonymous or aggregated data of a non-personal nature, such as the browser type or IP address, the control programme used by the user or the domain name of the website from which the user navigated to this website or from which it leaves it. We keep your IP address in order to be able to provide you with an overview of the IP address from which your account was logged into or from which changes were made. This address is also used to protect your account more effectively against unauthorised access from other locations. This enables Farys to continually optimise the website for the users.

Financial identification details

We process your payment details via the services of our bank and any online payment platform.

Personal identification details

For correct invoicing, it is necessary to know the number of persons domiciled at each consumption address.

Audiovisual recordings

Visual recordings

In and around our offices and buildings, you will also be filmed by our security cameras. These images are saved only with a view to the security of goods and persons and to prevent break-ins that our clients and we ourselves may suffer (we notify the presence of cameras with pictograms that show our contact details).

Audio recordings

In order to monitor our performance or in the interests of coaching and training of our employers, or in the context of difficult conversations, the operator may decide that calls from our call centres may be recorded. This is always notified at the start of the call.

Contract details

A unique file is created for each customer, with a unique customer number, which enables us to assist you faster and to have a full overview of your data.

Sensitive details

In compliance with the law, we do not process any sensitive details, including details on your racial or ethnic origin, political views, sexual preferences and health.

Legal details

We have no interest in any legal knowledge of a person in relation to an offence. Only sanctions and court decisions relating to payment patterns are relevant and will be followed/updated to support the person and to guarantee the income of Farys in the general interest. A very concrete example is a person who is placed under a collective debt settlement arrangement, which does involve legal proceedings for structural debt problems.

What Farys use these details for

Information on our general operations are freely available to everyone. With this website, we aim to make information available to the public on our activities and the services that we offer. We also aim to give our (future) customers access to our services in a fast and simple way via the website.

We use all information that we receive from you in a preparatory phase only in order to provide you with the requested information in the manner that you require. When you ultimately become a customer of Farys, we will also use these data in order to be able to identify you, for our administration, for drawing up invoices, in order to contact you, etc.

The personal data that you provide to Farys are recorded in a customer management system and are processed for the following purposes:

  • Account management,
  • Invoicing,
  • Handling requests for information,
  • Handling complaints,
  • Meter readings,
  • Debtor management,
  • Technical service provision,
  • …

The personal data gathered will only be processed in accordance with these purposes. If the personal data are used for new purposes, you will be informed of this in advance.

Farys processes the personal data in the general interest and in accordance with numerous statutory provisions in order to be able to perform the statutory tasks mandated to Farys. These statutory provisions (including the General Water Sales Regulations) are presented in an overview on the Statutory provisions web page.

The personal data are kept in strict confidence and are only notified to institutions with which we have contracted a processor’s agreement. The confidential handling of these data is always included in these processor’s agreements.

These institutions are only deployed to perform one aspect of our service provision and they only possess the information necessary to perform their specific tasks.

Your rights concerning the processing of your personal data

You have certain rights in relation to the processing of your personal data. If you exercise these rights, we will handle your request within a month, except in cases where this would require an unreasonable effort on the part of Farys.

‘Rights of the data subject’ procedure

For the exercise of these rights and in order to prevent unauthorised disclosure of your personal details, you must provide us with proof of your identity. We therefore ask you to attach a copy of the front of your identity card to your written or electronic dated and signed request to Farys and to send this

  • Via the web form
  • By e-mail to dpo@farys.be or
  • By post to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.

In order to logistically process your request, we have drawn up a web form that you can view at our website. We recommend that you use this form in order to avoid potential delays in handling your request. Bear in mind that this term will only begin when we have received your request in writing and all the information required to meet your request is available to us.

Comments and/or complaints

If you have any reason to believe that we have not handled your request or have not done so correctly, please first take this up with our Data Protection Officer (DPO) via dpo@farys.be in a manner that enables us to investigate the options in consultation with you.

You can also always request mediation via our internal ombudsman function. The internal ombudsman function guarantees an objective and independent approach and broad knowledge of Farys. You can contact us via this web form.

If you do not agree

For the record, we note that if Farys do not respond to your request, reject it or if our response does not meet your expectations, you always have the right to submit a complaint to the Flemish Supervisory Committee (VTC): This can be done by means of the complaints form to be found on the VTC website, to be completed and returned to the VTC via e-mail (contact@toezichtcommissie.be) or by post (Koning Albert II-laan 15, 1210 Brussels). The VTC will then act in terms of its mediation mandate. Accompany your request with the necessary documentary evidence.

Right of access

You have the right of (free) access to the data that concern you personally. You may ask us:

  • Whether we process your personal data;
  • Why we process these;
  • Which categories of personal data we process;
  • Which categories of third parties we share your personal data with;
  • What the origin of the processed data is; and
  • Which logistics we use if we process certain personal data automatically.

You can exercise this right:

  • Via the web form
  • By e-mail to dpo@farys.be or
  • By post to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.

Right of rectification, erasure and restriction

You always have the right at any time to rectify, supplement or erase your personal data, or to restrict its further processing.

The right of erasure of data can only be accepted in certain cases. Farys will consider when the erasure of data is possible on a case-by-case basis. If Farys erase (certain) data, this can lead to restricted service provision.

In order to keep your data up to date, we will in any event ask you to report every change to us (such as a change of address or renewal of your identity card). We provide for a regular pop-up in the e-Desk that asks you to update your contact details.

You can exercise this right:

  • Via the web form
  • By e-mail to dpo@farys.be or
  • By post to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.

Right of data portability

You always have the right to receive your personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, customary and machine-readable form or to provide for these data to be transferred to a different controller, if the processing is based on consent or on a contract.

You can exercise this right, if applicable:

  • Via the web form
  • By e-mail to dpo@farys.be or
  • By post to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.

Right to object

You have the right to lodge an objection to the processing of data. Farys will assess in each specific case whether it can meet this objection.

You can exercise this right:

  • Via the web form
  • By e-mail to dpo@farys.be or
  • By post to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.

Right to withdraw consent

You always have the right to withdraw consent for the processing of personal data for the personal data that were obtained on the basis of your explicit consent. This withdrawal does not prejudice the legitimacy of the processing that has taken place on the basis of the consent prior to its withdrawal.

As soon as you withdraw your consent, Farys will erase these personal data.

You can exercise this right:

  • Via the web form
  • By e-mail to dpo@farys.be or
  • By post to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.
Which personal data we share with third parties

Under certain conditions, the data can be transferred to third parties, always with maximum respect for privacy. Some of these third parties work on our instructions or are deployed to perform an aspect of our statutory duties and/or service provision, for example for the performance of work on private land, for invoicing and customer administration, for dispute management, etc.

We always contract a processor’s agreement with these third parties that process data of Farys in order to guarantee the privacy of our customers. They only receive the information that is necessary for the performance of their specific tasks. The confidential handling of these data is always included in these processor’s agreements.

The data are not disclosed to third parties other than those referred to in this Privacy Policy. In order to ensure the best possible service provision, we can pass on personal data to the following categories of recipients:

  • Legal service providers;
  • Service providers concerning customer affairs (including the print partner, De Stroomlijn, Doccle, OCMW);
  • Other government services (VMM, Flemish Ombudservice);
  • Technical service providers.

We will not sell, circulate or rent your personal data to third parties without your consent or unless we are required to do so by law.

In the event of a court investigation or a police inquiry, data can be transferred in accordance with the GDPR without your prior consent. This will always take place under the supervision of the judicial and police authorities, and your data will never be transferred for other (e.g. commercial) purposes.

Under certain conditions, data must be transferred to administrative government bodies authorised to collect tax and social insurance claims.

Can your personal data be used for direct marketing purposes?

The use of personal data for direct marketing purposes only occurs with your unambiguous and explicit consent. In general, we inform you of products or services of the Farys or of other information that we believe will probably interest you. In this way, we guarantee you excellent service provision for your Farys products and services.

You always have the right to contest the use of your personal data for direct marketing purposes, without stating your reasons (‘opt-out’). If you do not want your data to be processed for direct marketing purposes, you can notify this:

  • Via the web form
  • By e-mail to dpo@farys.be or
  • By post to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.
Which measures do we take to protect the security and confidentiality of your personal data?

Farys takes and enforces appropriate administrative, technical and organisational measures to protect your rights and freedoms. These security measures serve to adequately secure the data and to keep these secured against loss or any form of careless, inexpert or unlawful use or processing or access, taking account of the nature of the data to be protected, the risk of processing, the state of the art and the costs of implementing the measures.

We make every effort to protect your personal data and privacy, both at our offices and in our network.

Our employees are trained to handle confidential data correctly. For privacy-sensitive projects, an estimate is also made on the level of security and the protection of personal data. For the security of your data, we employ specific persons who supervise compliance with the law. We also employ specialised persons who guarantee the security of our network, our infrastructure and our information systems. Furthermore, we use all sorts of technical measures to protect your personal data, such as security with a password, hard disk encryption software, firewalls, antivirus, intrusion and anomaly detection and access controls for our employees. If a data leak occurred with adverse consequences for your personal data, you, as a customer, will be personally notified in the circumstances provided for in law.

The number of employees in our company who have access to your personal information is limited, and they are selected with care. These employees are granted access to your personal information insofar as they need that information in order to be able to perform their duties properly.

Farys considers it important to notify users that the website can contain links, hyperlinks or references to other sites that Farys does not check and to which this Privacy Policy does not apply. Farys is not liable for the contents of these sites or for offers, products or services referred to on them. Read their privacy policies concerning the protection of your personal data with care.

Which privacy policy applies to the website?

It is possible to use the Farys website without sharing your personal data. However, it is possible that access to certain parts or functions of our website (= customer zone) will be reserved for visitors with an account connected to a user name and password.

With public access, a limited number of data relating to your surfing profile may be stored in the customer system or in a central data system. This takes place on the basis of cookies. For additional information on this, we refer to our Cookie Policy.

How long we keep your personal data

We may not keep personal data for longer than is necessary in order to realise the objective for which we gather them. The term for keeping data may therefore vary per objective and can sometimes be very short.

  • Recordings by security cameras in and around the Farys buildings are kept for a maximum of one month.
  • In order to comply with our statutory obligations (in order to meet our book-keeping and fiscal obligations) we are required, for example, to keep your invoice details for a maximum of seven years.
  • We are legally required, for example, to keep certain data as evidence in disputes, for a maximum of 10 years following the cancellation of your contract. Naturally, access to these archived data is limited.
  • We will not keep data for which no statutory term for saving the data applies for longer than is strictly necessary for the realisation of the objectives set out in this Privacy Policy.
Do you have general questions regarding our Privacy Policy?

You can always contact us for additional general information on this Privacy Policy and contact us for all general questions concerning your rights and/or the processing of personal data, or for other general questions relating to personal data.

You can call us on +32 (0)78 35 35 99 or use our web form or contact us by e-mail, at dpo@farys.be, or by letter to Farys, Attn. DPO, Stropstraat 1, 9000 Gent.

For the exercise of your rights, however, we specifically refer to the procedure described under the heading ‘Your rights concerning the processing of your personal data’.

Keep informed of changes

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example due to changes in our package of tasks that have an influence on the processing of personal data. We request you always to consult the most recent version of this Privacy Policy on our website(s).

Last update: 6 March 2023

 

Not found what you were looking for?

Contact us

More Info

Cookie policy