Privacy statement

Design Museum Gent processes your personal data with respect for your privacy. 

We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as protecting your privacy and your personal data is of great importance to us. Through this Privacy Statement, we wish to explain how we process your personal data. 

The website www.designmuseumgent.be (hereinafter referred to as “the Website”) is the property of AGB Kunsten en Design – Design Museum Gent (hereinafter referred to as “Design Museum Gent” and “we”). 

Contact details 

Name: Design Museum Gent 

Address: Drabstraat 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium 

Telephone number: +32 9 267 99 99 

Email address: museum.design@gent.be 

Company number: BE 0537.520.055 

Every person (hereinafter referred to as the “User” and “you”) who uses the Website provides certain personal data. This personal data is information that enables Design Museum Gent to identify the User as a natural person, regardless of whether we actually do so. A User is identifiable as soon as it is possible to establish a direct or indirect link between one or more data elements and that User as a natural person. 

We only use and process your personal data in accordance with the Act of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data. Any reference in this Privacy Statement to the Privacy Act refers to the Act of 30 July 2018 on the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data. Any reference to the Regulation refers to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 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 (GDPR). 

Design Museum Gent respects your privacy. We always process your personal data in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation (GDPR). In this Privacy Statement, we explain which data we collect, why we collect it and what your rights are. For specific processing activities, such as receiving our newsletter or the placement of marketing cookies, we will always request your prior explicit consent. 

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Statement. Any major or substantial changes will always be clearly communicated to you. We recommend consulting this document regularly in order to remain informed about our privacy policy. 

Design Museum Gent is the controller of your personal data and determines, either independently or jointly with others, which personal data are collected, the purposes for which they are collected, and the means by which they are processed. 

To broaden our public reach and optimise our internal management, we collaborate with the other municipal museums and historic houses in Ghent. In this context, we jointly process certain personal data under the partnership known as “de Gentse musea en historische huizen”. A complete list of the participating organisations can be found in the joint Privacy Statement of de Gentse musea en historische huizen. 

This joint responsibility for processing your personal data relates in particular to: 

• the use within the museum of a shared platform together with the other museums and historic houses, through which only the museums/houses with which you have a relationship have access to your data (data specifically linked to an individual participating museum or historic house, such as your purchase history with each museum/house, are also restricted on a per museum/house basis and are never shared between the museums and historic houses); 
• our involvement as a museum in the provision of the joint website of de Gentse musea en historische huizen (www.degentsemusea.be) and the ticket shop available through that website; 
• the joint activities and campaigns carried out with the other museums and historic houses within the framework of this partnership (e.g. Museum Night or newsletters sent on behalf of de Gentse musea en historische huizen). 

For more information about our joint processing activities as an organisation participating in the above-mentioned partnership, and about exercising your rights under the GDPR in this context, we refer you to the Privacy Statement of de Gentse musea en historische huizen. 

Where appropriate, we engage external service providers to support our operational activities, including the management of this Website and the online ticket shop, the processing of payments made through the ticket shop, and the digital storage of reservation data. These external service providers may process certain data on our behalf, in which case they act as our “processor”. We only share your personal data with external service providers insofar as necessary for the relevant purpose. They may not use your data for any other purpose. Furthermore, these service providers are contractually bound to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal data through a data processing agreement concluded with them. 

In addition, we may disclose relevant personal data to public authorities, judicial bodies and regulated professionals such as accountants and solicitors in order to comply with our legal obligations, perform our tasks carried out in the public interest, or effectively defend our interests in the event of legal proceedings. 

Within the framework of our joint activities, your personal data will always remain stored within the European Economic Area (EEA). 

We may process your personal data on the following legal grounds: 

• Necessity for entering into or performing a contract 

The conclusion and performance of the agreement you enter into with Design Museum Gent in connection with a reservation or in another context, including responding to your questions regarding an activity or reservation, obtaining all relevant information required for the agreement, fulfilling our pre-contractual obligations, concluding the agreement, and communicating about the agreement once concluded. 

• Legal obligations or performance of tasks carried out in the public interest 

To comply with the legal and administrative obligations incumbent upon Design Museum Gent, to carry out its tasks in the public interest concerning the preservation and management of cultural heritage, and to comply with tax and accounting obligations. 

To meet accessibility requirements for visitors requiring assistance and to provide the necessary facilities. 

• Legitimate interests 

Improving the quality of our Website and services, and ensuring the security and user-friendliness of our Website and online ticket shop. 

Sending newsletters to existing customers regarding similar offers. An opt-out option will always be provided. 

• Consent 

In connection with portrait rights, we will request your consent before taking photographs or video recordings in which you are identifiable. 

Your explicit consent will also be requested before placing cookies that are not strictly necessary for the operation of our Website through our cookie banner. 

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you will receive these communications based on the consent you have given. 

You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us using the details below. 

Name: Design Museum Gent 

Address: Drabstraat 10, 9000 Ghent 

Telephone number: +32 9 267 99 99 

Email address: museum.design@gent.be 

Design Museum Gent undertakes only to collect and process data that are relevant and necessary for the purposes for which they are processed. A non-exhaustive list of personal data that may be processed includes: 

• Contact details 
• Reservation details 
• Contract, payment and invoicing details 
• Personal particulars 
• Photographs and video recordings 
• Identification details 

Health data: in very limited cases, we may process your health data in connection with a reservation, or such data may be indirectly inferred from your reservation. We only process such data where you have specifically provided it (e.g. as a note with your reservation), in order to provide the necessary facilities during your visit (e.g. wheelchair access), to adapt the activity accordingly (e.g. guided tours for people with hearing impairments), or where required by law. 

Electronic identification and usage data 

These data are collected when you register on the Website and when you use our services. Additional personal data may be collected at a later stage. These data are necessary to provide our services. We also use cookies to recognise Users, offer a personalised user experience, remember technical preferences (such as language settings or user profiles), and detect and correct any errors on the Website. For more information about the use of cookies, please refer to our Cookie Statement. 

Whenever you visit the Design Museum Gent Website, certain anonymous data are collected for statistical purposes. Such data are necessary to optimise the use of our Website. By visiting the Design Museum Gent Website, you consent to the collection of these anonymous statistical data. 

Design Museum Gent collects personal data in order to provide every user of our website with a safe, optimal and personalised user experience. 

We process your personal data for the following purposes: 

• reserving tickets 
• processing ticket payments 
• processing orders 
• providing and improving the products offered, and offering personalised and specific products based on the information and data provided 
• handling questions, requests and complaints 
• sending newsletters 
• improving the performance and appearance of this website and ensuring its security 
• compiling statistics on the use of this website 

The user always provides their personal data to Design Museum Gent themselves and can therefore exercise a certain degree of control over it. If certain data are incomplete or appear to be incorrect, Design Museum Gent reserves the right to temporarily or permanently postpone certain expected actions. 

We take strict technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data against access by unauthorised persons, unlawful processing, misuse, damage, loss and destruction. 

These measures include, among others: 

• training relevant staff to ensure that they are aware of our data protection obligations when handling personal data
• administrative and technical controls to restrict access to personal data to what is necessary 
• technical security measures, including passwords, multi-factor authentication, firewalls, antivirus software and encryption 

Although we take appropriate security measures as soon as we receive your personal data, the transmission of data via the internet (including by email) is never completely secure. Consequently, we can never fully guarantee the security of personal data transmitted to us. 

Your personal data will not be retained for longer than is necessary for the purposes described above. 

Data relating to the performance of an agreement concluded with us or obtained in the context of our services are retained (i) for as long as necessary for the relevant activity, service or collaboration; (ii) for the legally required retention period; or (iii) for the limitation period during which legal proceedings may be initiated. 

You have various rights regarding the data we process about you. If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out below, please contact us using the contact details provided under section 9 of this Privacy Statement. 

• Right of access and copy 

You have the right to access your personal data and obtain a copy of them. This right also includes the possibility of requesting further information about the processing of your data, including the categories of data processed and the purposes for which they are processed. 

• Right to amendment or rectification 

You have the right to have your data corrected if you believe that we hold inaccurate information about you. 

• Right to erasure (right to be forgotten) 

You have the right to request that we erase your data without undue delay. However, we may not always be able to comply with such a request, for example where we still require the data for the performance of an ongoing agreement or where we are legally obliged to retain certain data for a specified period. 

• Right to restriction of processing 

You have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your data. This means that processing will be temporarily suspended until, for example, the accuracy of the data has been verified. 

• Right to withdraw your consent 

Where processing is based on your consent (see section 3.4 above), you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us. 

• Right to object 

You have the right to object to the processing of your data where such processing is based on legitimate interests (see section 3.3 above) or on the public interest. Such an objection must be duly reasoned. 

• Right to data portability 

You have the right to receive the data you have provided to us, based on your consent or for the performance of an agreement, in a commonly used electronic format. This enables the data to be transferred easily to another organisation. You also have the right to request that we transfer your data directly to another organisation where this is technically feasible. 

• Right to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority 

If you believe that we are processing your data incorrectly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority. You may do so with the supervisory authority in the EEA Member State where you habitually reside, where you work, or where the alleged infringement took place. 

The contact details of the Belgian Data Protection Authority are: 

Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA) 

Drukpersstraat 35 

1000 Brussels 

contact@apd-gba.be 

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Flemish Supervisory Commission or the Belgian Data Protection Authority. 

If you wish to exercise your rights, you must send a written request together with proof of identity by registered post to Design Museum Gent, Drabstraat 10, 9000 Ghent, or by email to museum.design@gent.be. 

We request proof of identity, such as a copy of the front of your identity card, to prevent your personal data from falling into the wrong hands. It is sufficient that your name and date of birth are clearly legible on such a copy. All other information may be blacked out. 

The exercise of your rights is, in principle, free of charge. However, if your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a reasonable fee in light of the administrative costs incurred. In such cases, we may also decide not to comply with your request. You will be informed of the reasons for this where applicable. 

We will always inform you of the action taken on your request within one month of receiving it. In the case of complex or numerous requests, this period may be extended to three months. If so, you will be informed of the extension of the response period.