Privacy policy (English version)

The English version of this privacy policy has been prepared by the Netherlands Institute or Human Rights for informational purposes only. In the event of inconsistency or discrepancy between the Dutch version and the English version of this publication, the Dutch version shall prevail. Date of last amendment: 01-06-2023.

Controller

The data controller and user of this privacy policy is the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights. This means that the Institute decides which personal data is processed, for what purpose and in what way. The Institute is responsible for ensuring that your personal data is handled in accordance with the GDPR. 

Processing personal data 

If you register for one of our services, such as the newsletter, human rights education and information, or fill in a report or complaint form on our website, we will ask you to provide your personal data. This is personal data within the meaning of Article 4(1) of the GDPR, such as your name, address, gender, date of birth and telephone number. 

In addition, when necessary, we also process special personal data about you when you use our services and/or because you have provided it to us of your own accord. The following special personal data (may) be used: 

• Medical data 
• Political judgments 
• Religious or philosophical beliefs 
• Racial or ethnic origin 
• Sexual orientation 

What does the Institute use your personal data for? 

Personal data is necessary for the proper and diligent implementation of the Institute's statutory tasks. These tasks are defined in the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights Act (Wet College voor de Rechten van de Mens, WCRM) and include the following activities. 

• Providing information and education about human rights; 
• Conducting research on human rights; 
• Dealing with requests for judgment on whether discrimination has taken place within the meaning of equal treatment legislation;  
• Reporting on and making recommendations on human rights; 
• Advising on (draft) legislation, regulations and policy that are directly or indirectly related to human rights. 

The Institute will only use your personal data for the purposes specified, and only the data we consider necessary or useful in that context.

Storage of your data 

The data you provide will be stored securely. The retention of e-mails, letters or telephone data is necessary for the further performance of our services, such as providing information and education. Storage takes place in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR and the Archives Act 1995 (Archiefwet 1995). 

Anonymous contact is possible 

The Institute retains data from e-mails, letters and phone calls to analyse the number of requests and reports it receives and to be able to classify and analyse them by subject matter. 
The Institute does not share data with third parties unless you have given your explicit consent for this purpose. It is also possible to contact the Institute anonymously, or to request that no personal data be stored when submitting a question or report. 

Request a judgment (complaint form) 

One of the Institute's statutory tasks is to investigate (on request) whether there has been or is discrimination within the meaning of equal treatment legislation, and to issue a judgment on the matter. Requests for judgment received via the Internet are stored on a highly secure server. The (special) personal data you enter will be used to assess whether the Institute is competent to assess your request for judgment (hereafter referred to as: complaint).  

It is not possible to submit an anonymous complaint  

To effectively perform this task, it is necessary to process your data, otherwise the Institute cannot assess whether it is competent to assess the complaint. Therefore, it is not possible to submit a complaint anonymously. 

Procedure 

If the Institute has decided it is able to assess a complaint and a procedure has been initiated, your personal data will be provided to the other party on the basis of due process-rules. The data may also be shared with an expert commissioned by the Institute to issue an opinion on your case. Parties will be notified in advance of the persons to whom their personal data will be disclosed. It is necessary to process your (special) personal data to ensure the proper and diligent assessment of your complaint. You are legally obliged to provide this data (Article 6 of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights Act (WCRM)). The Institute only processes such data as is reasonably necessary to fulfil its task. 

Judgments on the website 

The Institute publishes the judgments on its website. The names of the applicant(s) are anonymised in the judgment. The names of defendant(s) are not anonymised, unless there are compelling reasons for not doing so.  

Judgment regarding own actions 

Processing (special) personal data is also necessary for a proper assessment in cases in which organisations and companies submit a request for a judgment on their own actions. These organisations and companies may by reasoned request ask the Institute not to disclose their names in the judgment to be published. 

Research & surveys 

The Institute has been assigned the statutory task of conducting sociological, empirical research on the status of human rights in the Netherlands and uses surveys, among other things, to do so. In this context the Institute also stores (special) personal data, when necessary. The study eventually published only mentions (anonymised) data relevant to the research findings. 

Recruitment  

Data related to a job application will be destroyed within four weeks of rejection. The Institute may ask the applicant's permission to keep the data relevant to the application for six months, for the purpose of suitable vacancies that may arise in the future. For other guidelines on processing and storing job application data, please refer to the job application code of the Dutch Association for Personnel Management & Organisation Development (NVP). 

Our website 

Web statistics 
The Institute's website uses web statistics. The website www.mensenrechten.nl (including the subdomains that are part of it) uses analytical and functional cookies. These cookies do not contain any personal data. Furthermore, the data is not shared with third parties.  

We use cookies to collect statistics on the use of the website. Examples include visitor numbers, popular pages and topics. The aim is to improve the website and, where possible, better tailor it to user requirements.  

We cannot trace these cookies back to a computer or individual. Therefore, we do not collect personal data through the cookies and do not use the information collected for purposes other than those described above. Certainly not for commercial purposes. 

Photos on the website 
Some photos are taken by a photographer on behalf of the Institute. The photographer or the Institute obtains permission from the person photographed. We record this in a quitclaim (portrait right). 

Sometimes, as part of a publicity campaign, you may be asked to submit or upload personal data or photos (selfies) to the website. By submitting or uploading that data, you grant consent for the Institute to use the data or photos within the scope of the relevant campaign. You can revoke that consent at a later date and have the submitted data deleted.  

Online third parties 

The Institute treats the personal data you provide with confidentially. We regularly refer to websites of other organisations. In doing so, however, we never use or share your personal data. If you access other websites via links on our website, those parties' rules for handling your personal information and privacy apply. We therefore strongly recommend that you read their privacy terms carefully. 

Retention period 

The Institute will not retain your personal data for longer than necessary for the purposes listed in this privacy notice in accordance with the guidelines in the GDPR. In addition, the Institute must comply with the rules laid out in Archives Act 1995 with regard to retention, i.e. the Selection List of the Ministry of Justice and Security and legal predecessors as of 5 May 1945, published in the Government Gazette on 12 April 2021, no. 17848. 

Sharing with third parties 

The Institute will not disclose your data to third parties unless this is necessary for the performance of its statutory tasks. We conclude a processing agreement with organisations that process your data on our behalf; this ensures the same level of security and confidentiality when using your data. The Institute continues to be responsible for this processing. 

Security 

The Institute takes appropriate measures to prevent abuse, loss, unauthorised access and other unwanted actions involving personal data. Your data will not be processed outside the EU. Personal data stored in physical form, such as in case files, is kept in a room that can be securely locked so that unauthorised persons cannot access it. 

Your rights as the data subject 

You have the right to access, amend or delete your personal data. In addition, you have the right to restrict the processing of your data. If you have consented to the processing of your personal data, you also have the right to receive that data in machine-readable form. 

Privacy request 
You can submit a privacy request for all these matters (deletion of your data, restricted processing of your data, etc.) to the Institute. You can only do so in writing and must include the reason. Send the request by e-mail or post to the Institute's privacy officer. The contact details are listed at the bottom of this webpage. The Institute will send you a response to the content of your request no later than one month after receiving the request. 

Identification  
When submitting a request, it is important that you are able to identify yourself and prove that the data you want to access, amend or delete actually belongs to you. You are not permitted to access data belonging to others. To ensure proper identification, you may be invited to appear in person at the Institute. 

For minors (under the age of 16) and those under guardianship, requests for access, amendment or deletion must be made by their legal representatives. Therefore, the Institute will direct its response to the request to the legal representatives. 

Cost 
Submitting a privacy request is usually free of charge, but fees may be charged for substantial and complex requests. 

More information 

More information on privacy legislation can be found on the central government's website. 

The Institute has a data protection officer. This (external) independent officer oversees the application of privacy legislation at the Institute and can be contacted at fg@mensenrechten.nl. 

The Institute is happy to be of assistance if you have any complaints about the processing of your personal data. If, despite this, you do not come to an agreement with us, you also have the right under privacy legislation to lodge a complaint with the privacy regulator (Data Protection Authority). 

Amendments 

The Institute may amend this privacy policy from time to time. The current version can always be consulted on this webpage.  

Questions and contact details 

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, you can contact the Institute's privacy officer by e-mail (privacy@mensenrechten.nl). You can also send a letter to the following address: 

Netherlands Institute for Human Rights 
To the attention of the Privacy Officer 
P.O. Box 16001 
3500 DA Utrecht 
The Netherlands