Privacy Policy

General – We protect your personal data

The Sparklr is an interactive community platform administrated by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre private foundation (AWDC). For the operation of this platform, AWDC may process personal data about users of the platform. This Data Protection Statement explains how such personal data is used and protected.

The processing of information relating to identified or identifiable natural persons (personal data) collected through this website, or otherwise received by the AWDC, is subject to EU Regulation 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation) and any national implementing or complementing rules and regulations in Belgium. The Belgian Data Protection Authority supervises compliance with the applicable data protection laws.

The Sparklr relies on various third party social networks, apps and tools, such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or YouTube. If you want to know more about how these third parties process your personal data, we refer to their respective privacy policies, statements and cookie notices that can be found on their website or via the app that you use.

Which information do we collect?

First, we receive information that you submit when registering on the platform using our registration form. This information will be stored in your profile.

If, instead, you sign up using your existing social media accounts, such as Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter or Youtube, we receive following information:

  • [User name, email address, gender, city/country, profile picture].

In addition, The Sparklr website collects certain information relating to users who visit its website and may, solely for internal purposes, track how users make use of its website. The information collected through the website includes the type of Internet browser and computer operating system used, domain name of the website from which you came, number of visits, average time spent, and the pages viewed. We may use this information to measure the use of our websites and improve their content.

Further information that we collect depends on the information that you provide to us or post on the platform. Please note that you should not submit information about underage persons without the consent of their parent or guardian. AWDC will not knowingly collect or use any personal information collected from children for any purpose whatsoever, including disclosure to third parties (unless required by law).

In some cases, your information may be complemented or updated with publicly available information to ensure your contact details and professional information are up to date.

How and why do we use your data?

Your personal data are only used to the extent that this is required to pursue the following legitimate interests:

  • to ensure the security of the Sparklr platform;

  • to improve the website’s content and compile statistics on the use of the website; and

  • to respond, comment or follow-up on questions or content that you have posted. .

If requested by you, or with your consent, we may also use information about you:

  • to organise events or activities, such as workshops, guided tours, etc.; and

  • to invite you to such events and send newsletters or updates on activities of The Sparklr.

If you have consented to such processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw such consent at any time by sending us an email at GDPR@awdc.be.

We will not use any pictures, stories or other content that you post on the platform for any purposes outside of the platform without your consent.

To whom can we disclose your data?

Please be aware that this is a public platform. Any information that you publish on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or YouTube, which links to our platform, for instance by using the “#TheSparklr”, can be copied, linked or embedded on our website and other tools or apps used by the platform (for instance, if you post a picture on your public Instagram page with our #, we can copy or link the picture on www.thesparklr.com, or post a link to your picture on Twitter). Please note that the website is publicly accessible, and as a result, the pictures that you link to our platform, will be made accessible to persons who are not registered or logged in on the platform where you made the post. Nevertheless, we will not publish any private messages on the public platform without your prior consent.

Data that are collected automatically by the website will be processed by our external website developer. In addition, professional advisors and auditors may have access to your personal data. Our service providers abide by appropriate confidentiality and other safeguards protecting your personal data under the same standards as described in this statement.

Under certain circumstances, AWDC may need to disclose personal data to public authorities for the purposes as mentioned above, including to comply with regulatory or legal requirements.

Your rights - How can you manage/access/delete your data?

You have the right to access your data, have us update outdated information or correct any errors in your data or, if necessary, delete such data or request that we restrict the use thereof, or subject to conditions set out in the law, to object to any processing of personal data on grounds relating your particular situation. If your withdraw your registration for the platform, you can request that we delete any information that we held about you for the purpose of the registration (“right to be forgotten”).

You can exercise your rights, or withdraw consent by sending an email to GDPR@awdc.be or by sending a registered letter to the legal department of AWDC, Hoveniersstraat 22, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium.

Please note that we may ask for additional information to ascertain your identity before we comply with your request. If we cannot remedy your concern, you can contact the Belgian Data Protection Authority with questions or concerns relating to the protection of your personal data.

Security and confidentiality

On both an organizational and technical level, AWDC has developed and adapted security measures, regarding personal information collected via this website, to avert unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, modification, unauthorized access or accidental communication to third parties, as well as any other unauthorized data processing. Our personnel who have access to the data have been trained to maintain te confidentiality of such information.

In any event, AWDC cannot be held liable for any direct or indirect damages resulting from the wrongful or unlawful use of your personal data by a third party.

How long do we keep your data?

Data about your browsing our website will be kept only for the duration of the session. However, cookies may last longer on your device so we can identify you upon your next visit.

Other personal data that we have will be retained for the duration that is relevant for the purpose as set out above, in accordance to internal retention periods, taking into account contractual or legal obligations and liability that we may have to keep records of our files.

Use of Cookies

For cookies used by third parties to which the platform may link, we refer to the cookie notices of these third parties:

Contact

Persons requesting any additional information, comments, complaints or disputes concerning this Data Protection Notice or concerning manner in which AWDC collects your personal data can contact us by email at GDPR@awdc.be or by sending a registered letter to the legal department of AWDC, Hoveniersstraat 22, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium.