Privacy policy

For the operation and benchmarking on our platform, as well as the creation of a global database, Biocheck.UGent processes personal data on the basis of your explicit consent. If you wish to withdraw your permission for the use of your personal data for additional advice, you can always do so by contacting us at info@biocheckgent.com.

The personal data you provide will be processed by us with the utmost attention and care in order to realise a global biosafety database with benchmarking.

These activities are carried out by Biocheck.UGent, affiliated with Ghent University. The questionnaires concerning cattle (veal calves, beef cattle, dairy cattle) were developed in cooperation with the University of Liège.

Ghent University and Biocheck.UGent act as joint controllers of the data processing. 

For questions, remarks or suggestions you can contact someone of the Biocheck.UGent team by sending an e-mail to info@biocheckgent.com.

For further questions about the various rights and obligations in terms of privacy, or if you believe that your personal data are being processed unfairly and/or incorrectly by Biocheck.UGent, please contact the Data Protection Officer at UGent via privacy@ugent.be.

 "Personal data" are data containing information about an identified or identifiable natural person. 

In light of your participation in our activities, the following data are kept: your professional experience (part of the questionnaire), your name and e-mail address if explicitly indicated in the questionnaire, identification data of your account on the platform.

Biocheck.UGent does not process any special categories of personal data ("sensitive data") that reveal racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical convictions, or trade union membership, nor does it process genetic data, biometric data with a view to the unique identification of a person, or data concerning health, or data concerning a person's sexual behaviour or sexual orientation.

The employees of Biocheck.UGent have access to your personal data on a strict "need-to-know" basis. This means purely to perform general analyses or to provide advice (after specific consent by the user in question). Data collected in the framework of an application programming interface (API) connection with a partner, will only be shared anonymously with the Biocheck.UGent team, according to the contractually agreed conditions. This access is therefore only valid for the purposes mentioned in this privacy statement.

Biocheck.UGent will ensure that your data is not passed on to third parties, except when you have given your prior consent or when the access, use, retention or disclosure of your personal data is reasonably necessary (e.g. to comply with applicable regulations, to detect technical or security problems, to protect the rights, property or safety of Biocheck.UGent.

Your personal data will be processed and stored in our benchmarking database for ten years. After this period, your data will be anonymised and all personal data will be deleted. 

Biocheck.UGent takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against any form of loss or unlawful processing, as described above, access to your data is limited and the data are daily backed up to a separate and secure server within the EU.

When we collect and use your personal data, you enjoy a number of rights which you can exercise as set out below. Please note that if you wish to exercise a right, we may ask you for proof of identity. We do this to prevent a breach related to your personal data, for example, because an unauthorised person is acting on your behalf and exercising a right over your name.

1. You have the right to access your personal data, which means that you can ask us to provide you with information about the personal data that we hold about you. You can also request a copy of your personal data. Please note that you must specify the processing activities for which you want access to your personal data. 
2. You have the right to request that we correct your personal data if you can prove that the personal data we are processing about you is incorrect, incomplete or out of date. Please indicate the context in which we use your personal data so that we can assess your request quickly and accurately.
3. If we have requested and obtained your consent to collect and use your personal data, for example to send you newsletters, you always have the right to withdraw this previously given consent.
4. You may request us to remove your personal data if they are no longer necessary for the purposes for which we have collected them, if it was unlawful to collect them or if you successfully exercised your right to withdraw your consent or your right to object to the processing of your personal data. If any of these circumstances apply, we will delete your personal data immediately, unless legal obligations or administrative or judicial orders prohibit us from deleting your personal data.
5. In the following circumstances, you may ask us to limit the processing of your personal data:
   • while we assess your request to correct your personal data;
   • while we assess your objection to the processing of your personal data;
   • if such processing was unlawful, but you prefer a restriction to deletion;
   • if we no longer need your personal data, but you need them for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
6. If we process your personal data for the purposes of our own legitimate interests, in other words, you have not given us your consent and we do not need it for the performance of a contract or to comply with legal obligations, you have the right to object to our processing your personal data. If our interest relates to direct marketing, we will comply with your request immediately. For other interests, such as our security interests, we will ask you to describe the specific circumstances giving rise to the request. In this case, we will weigh your circumstances against our interests. If this consideration leads us to believe that your circumstances outweigh our interests, your personal data will not be processed further.
7. If we have collected your personal data on the basis of your consent or because it was necessary for the performance of a contract with you, you have the right to obtain a copy from us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. This right only applies to the personal data you have provided us with.

When making a request, always indicate the context in which we have obtained your personal data so that we can process your request quickly and diligently. Your request must also be dated and signed, and be accompanied by a digitally scanned copy of a valid ID card proving your identity. We will promptly notify you of the receipt of this request. If the request turns out to be justified, we will inform you as soon as possible and no later than 30 days after receipt of the request.

If you repeatedly make the same request and cause significant inconvenience, we may refuse these successive requests or charge you a handling fee. We may also deny you the right to access your personal data, or only grant you partial access, if such access could disproportionately harm the rights and freedoms of others, including Ghent University.

If you have a complaint about the processing of your personal data, you can contact the Data Protection Officer of Ghent University at privacy@ugent.be. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can file a complaint with the competent data protection authority, i.e. the Belgian Data Protection Authority and/or the Flemish Supervisory Committee.

This privacy statement can be modified to remain in compliance with the applicable regulations. 

If the privacy statement is amended, this will be announced in our newsletter and the link to the amended privacy statement will be included in the newsletter.