Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy describes how AW LAW collects and uses personal data. It also describes the rights you have and control you can exercise in relation to it.

The data controller is Ann Witters BV (Belgium, 3110 Rotselaar, Kwikstaartweg 76, RPR/VAT BE 0473.776.803).

The following principles apply on the processing of your personal data:
Lawfulness, fairness and transparency: data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner.

AW LAW takes the protection of your personal data very seriously and applies adequate measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of your data.

How do we collect your personal data, what and why?
We may collect information about you:

• directly from you, such as the information you provided to us;
• from other sources, such as your (former) employer or colleagues;
• from publicly available sources such as LinkedIn or the corporate website of the organization you are working for.

The categories of personal data provided may include:

• Identification data such as name, seks, e-mail address, phone number, postal address, IP-address, browser type, internet service provider, device identifier, your login information, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform (e.g. when visiting our website).
• Information we collect from third parties or public sources (e.g. companies register, the Belgian State Gazette and other public sources, in the course of client due diligence , social media platforms, introductions, etc.).
• Personal information provided to us by or on behalf of our clients or generated by us in the course or providing services to them, which may include special categories of data.

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• Service provision: providing advice and services that you request from us and/or defending our Client’s interests;
• Business relationship: keeping you informed about legal developments by sending you legal updates and other communications or notifications we believe may be of interest to you;
• Client legal compliance: Compliance with legal, regulatory and ethical obligations (e.g. tax and accounting purposes, anti-money laundering compliance, provision of legal services to clients and representation in court, etc.);
• Website monitoring and security: To improve our website or to keep our website and IT systems safe and secure;
• Regulatory: compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations as a law firm including auditing and reporting requirements;
• Managing suppliers: who deliver services to us;
• Legitimate interest: We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you in a timely manner and we will upon request explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

We generally keep your information as needed to provide our legal services and to deal with claims. Typical retention periods will range from 5 to 10 years.

Your personal data may be shared with the following third parties:

• You, as the Client;
• Opposing counsels, courts, any other parties in cases you are involved with;
• Law enforcement bodies and our regulators: or other competent authorities in accordance with legal requirements or good practice;
• Suppliers providing services to us;
• Third party data processors and service providers who assist us with maintaining the website and office services including our IT systems and IT support services, client reception and telephone answering services and data or file storage/back up services.

Cookies are small text files that are saved on a computer or other device during a visit to a website. Cookies are usually used to allow websites to function optimally and to track actions of the visitors of the website, or for example to store your login details.
You can deactivate or remove these cookies in the browsers.

Cookies are placed on this website by third parties. These are, for example, advertisers and/or social media companies. Below an overview:

We do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), except with your explicit consent.

You have a right of access and update your personal data, as well as a right to data portability, a right to rectification, a right to object and a right to be forgotten.
The above rights are not absolute and we may be entitled to refuse requests, wholly or partly, where exceptions under the applicable law apply.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time with a competent supervisory authority. The Belgian supervisory authority can be contacted at:

Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit
Drukpersstraat 35
B-1000 Brussel
tel.: +32 (0)2 274 48 00