Privacy statement Westport Notarissen

Privacy statement Westport Notarissen N.V.

This statement provides information on how our firm handles personal data processed in the context of its activities and services.

Our services

Our firm only requests your personal data for the following purposes:

  • to draft notarial deeds or to perform other assignments;
  • to execute commissions and/or instructions for consults and/or other services;
  • to comply with legal duties and obligations, or
  • for the purposes for which you have given explicit consent.

Your data will not be processed for other purposes without your consent.

Rules on personal data in notarial deeds

If our firm draws up a notarial deed containing your personal data, the notary must adhere to legal rules and regulations. These have an impact on the processing of personal data:

  1. The notary must include certain (personal) data in the deed. Your data will therefore be processed on grounds of a legal obligation. By law, each notarial deed and copies thereof must mention certain personal data of all parties appearing in the deed. The notary must provide (certified true) copies to the parties mentioned in the deed.
  2. The notary must retain the signed deed with your personal data in perpetuity.
  3. As soon as the deed has been signed by the notary, it becomes an official document. From that point onwards, nothing more may be changed, even if the personal data is incorrect. If changes are required, the notary must make a new deed stating the amendment.
  4. The notary is obligated to check certain (personal) data in the Personal Records Database (“Basis Registratie Personen), the Chamber of Commerce (“Kamer van Koophandel”) and the Land Registry (“Kadaster en de Openbare registers”).
  5. The notary must verify your identity. In order to do so, the notary must request a valid identity document from you. The notary is one of the few parties who is allowed to make a copy of your identity document with all of the data on it. The notary verifies identity documents through the Verification Information System (“VIS”).
  6. By Dutch law, your personal data is covered by the notary’s legal professional confidentiality obligation. Unauthorised persons will not acquire access to the data.

Consultancy and other services

For other processing of personal data by our office, the following applies:

  • The “retrieval, collection, consultation, use and storage of personal data for the purpose of executing and retaining notarial deeds” has the following purposes and related legal ground:
    • Drawing up and executing notarial deeds
  • The “collection, recording and use of personal data for the creation of a registry for the purpose of acquisition and/or newsletters, etcetera” has the following purposes and related legal ground:
    • Marketing and acquisition
  • The “collection, recording and use of personal data for the creation of a registry for customer relationship management of business contacts in the chain” has the following purposes and related legal ground:
    • Informing and facilitating cooperation in the chain/process
  • The “transmission of drafts and file documents to third parties with the consent of clients” has the following purposes and associated legal ground:
    • Informing third parties at the request of clients
  • The “recording, consulting for authenticating and/or legalising signatures” has the following purposes and associated legal ground:
    • Confirming the authenticity of the signature upon request.
  • The “providing of personel data for the purpose of registration of personal data or deeds in registries” has the following purposes and related legal grounds:
    • Accessibility.

Source of processed personal data

If our firm processes your personal data that we have not acquired from you, this will always be done in the context of the commission/instruction given to us. The source of that data could be one of the following:

  • Public registers, including the Land Registry and Chamber of Commerce.
  • Real estate agent or other advisor or counterparty (such as a lawyer or tax advisor) in connection with an agreement in which you are one of the parties.
  • Public sources (world wide web).

Transmission of your personal data

Our firm will only transfer your personal data to others (third parties) in case of a statutory obligation or if it is imperative for performance of the assigned work.

Our firm provides personal data to the following recipients:

  • Land Registry;
  • Chamber of Commerce;
  • Other register holders;
  • Tax and Customs Administration;
  • KNB (The Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries);
  • Fellow notaries;
  • Your other advisors;
  • Lawyer contacted by us to collect invoices;
  • Processors of personal data (external suppliers such as ICT-service providers) with which Westport Notarissen N.V. a processing agreement has concluded.

In order to provide our services, it may be necessary for us to provide your personal data to a recipient in a country outside the EU. In that case, Westport Notarissen N.V. will ensure that such a transmission of data is in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

Retention of your personal data

Your personal data will not be retained by our firm longer than necessary for the purpose for which they were collected, for the performance of legal duties and the fulfilment of legal obligations or the execution of agreements (e.g., to comply with limitation periods). Statutory retention periods such as those prescribed by the Notarial Act (“Wet op het Notarisambt”) and the Public Records Act (“Archives Act”) are applicable. Notarial deeds are retained in perpetuity.

Your rights with regard to personal data processed by us

If your personal data is processed by our firm, you may exercise the rights set out below on the grounds of the General Data Protection Regulation (“Algemene Verordening Gegevensbescherming”).

You can do this by submitting a (preferably written) request via the contact details (mentioned in this privacy statement). Before we grant your request, we will first verify your identity by means of a valid identity document.

Right of access of the data subject

You can always enquire which personal data our firm processes, for what purpose and the duration of the retention of the personal data. Please note that there may be a legal ground that prevents us from granting your request; we will review your request and inform you accordingly.

Right of rectification

If you believe that certain data has not been processed correctly, you have the right to request rectification thereof. If this concerns information contained in a notarial deed, rectification is not possible and a new deed will have to be drawn up as an addendum to the incorrect deed.

Right to erasure (right “to be forgotten”)

If you wish for your personal data to be deleted, you may submit a request to this effect. The notary may not remove any data contained in a notarial deed.

Right to restriction of processing

If you wish to restrict the processing of personal data by our firm (in anticipation of your request for rectification of your personal data, an objection to processing or because you do not want data to be deleted despite the fact that processing of that data is unlawful), you may submit a request to this effect.

Right to data portability

If your personal data are not processed for a notarial deed and you want to transfer the personal data to another service provider, you can submit a request to this effect. Such a transfer is not always possible, however, as legal notarial obligations may preclude it.

Right of objection

If we use your data for direct marketing purposes, you can object to this processing.

Possible restrictions on the exercise of your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

Our firm makes every effort to comply with your rights under the General Data Protection  Regulation (“Algemene Verordening Gegevensbescherming”). However, these rights may conflict with other legal provisions, such as the ones in the  Notarial Act (“Wet op het Notarisambt”).  If the notary is unable to comply with one of the aforementioned requests for this reason, you will be informed of this in writing.

Processing of personal data with reguard to job applications

When applying for a job on our website, we will ask you to upload your data. This data is kept by our HR advisor for a maximum of four weeks after completion of the apllication process.

Google Analytics and cookies

Our website might use Google Analytics and cookies. Cookies are text files that a website places on your device (for example: PC, tablet or smartphone). It ensures that you remain logged in while visiting the website. Google Analytics is a web analysis service that keeps statistics about website visits. Through cookies, Westport Notarissen gets insight into its website visits (for example: visitor numbers as well aspopular pages and topics). With this, Westport Notarissen can better tailor its offered services to the needs of its website visitors. You can delete cookies yourself. You can also disable cookies via your browser.

Complaints about the processing of your personal data by our firm

If you have any complaints about the processing of personal data by our firm, please contact us via international@westportnotarissen.nl. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority. For this you can visit their website.