Privacy policy

Privacy Statement
This Privacy Statement governs the manner in which Ardena collects, uses, maintains and discloses information. This privacy statement applies to all information and services offered by the Ardena website and complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Personal information that we may collect
We may collect personal information from users in a variety of ways in connection with activities, services, features or resources we make available on our site. We will collect personal information from users when they interact with us. Users can always refuse to supply personal information, except that it may prevent them from engaging in certain site related activities. Ardena interprets the submission of personal information through forms on the website as consent from the user to process the provided information. When you contact us we may collect and store personal information about your interactions with us.

Below you will find an overview of the personal data that we may process:

• First and last name
• Sex
• Company Name
• Address data
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• IP address
• Location data
• Information about your activities on our website
• Data about your surfing behaviour across different websites (for example because this company is part of an advertising network)
• Internet browser and device type

Non-personal information
We may collect non-personal information about users whenever they interact with our site. Non-personal information may include the browser name, the type of computer and technical information about user’s means of connection to our site, such as the operating system and the Internet service providers utilized and other similar information.

How do we use your personal information
We may use the personal data listed above for the following purposes:

• Respond to your questions and inquiries
• Recruit personnel
• Perform website analysis
• Comply with our legal requirements

What is the legal basis for our use of your personal information?

• When you are an online visitor we use your consent to perform analytical and statistical analysis of your website and its visitor;
• When you are an applicant we use your consent and our legitimate interest in the process of recruitment;
• When we deliver services to you or we have concluded a contract with you, we rely upon performance of a contact to use your personal information;
• In other instances, we may need to collect and use your personal information for compliance with a legal obligation that we may be subject to.

How we protect your information
Ardena uses appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure that the personal data we process is protected from unauthorized access, use, alteration, disclosure or destruction of your personal information, username, password, transaction information and data stored on our site.

Please note that no data transmission or IT storage system can be 100% secure and we cannot fully guarantee the security of personal data.

Sharing your personal information
We may share personal data:

• if required to do so by law and/or regulations;
• with the third parties stated in the Informed Consent Form you signed, such as the sponsor of the study you are a participant in, or medical institutions;
• with service providers that carry out functions or services on our behalf that enable our operations. This includes our IT applications and systems, website analytics and search engine providers. This also includes the protection and securing of our systems and services.

We do not sell, trade or rent your data to another entity unless Ardena or part of it is sold.

Data retention
We will retain your personal data for as long as is necessary in order to fulfill the purposes for which we have collected your personal information, including any legal requirements. When the personal information is no longer needed for its original processing goal, and there are no further legal requirements, we will delete your personal information.

How to exercise your Privacy Rights

You have the following rights with regard to your Personal Information:

• Right to access information: You have the right to see and get a copy of personal data about you that we maintain;
• Right to rectification of inaccurate personal information: ask us to make corrections of inaccurate or incomplete Personal Data about you;
• Right to erasure (deletion) of personal information: concerning you where:
• the personal information is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed;
• you withdraw your consent and there are no other legal grounds for the processing;
• you exercise your right to object (see below) and there are no compelling legitimate grounds for the processing;
• the personal information has been unlawfully processed; or
• the personal information have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation applicable to us.
• Right to data portability: to transmit that data to another controller;
• Right to restriction of processing (i.e., data will be blocked from normal processing but not erased) where:
• you contest the accuracy of the personal information, for a period enabling us to verify the accuracy;
• the processing is unlawful and you oppose the erasure of the personal information and requests the restriction of their use instead;
• we no longer need the personal information for the purposes of the processing but they are required by you for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
• you exercise your right to object (see below) pending the verification of whether our legitimate ground override yours
• Where processing is based on your consent or on a contract, the right to data portability: You have the right to receive data you have provided to us in a machine-readable format and the right to transmit that data to another controller without hindrance from us.
• Where processing is based on your consent, the right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of the processing prior to such withdrawal.

Please note that even after you have chosen to withdraw your consent, we may be able to continue to process your personal information on some limited circumstances.

• Right to object to the processing of personal information based on our legitimate interests, provided that there are no compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that would override your interests, rights and freedoms or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.
• Right to object to the processing of personal information based on automated decision-making, provided that it is necessary for entering into or the performance of a contract, or there are no compelling legitimate interests grounds for the processing or it is based on your explicit consent.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights above, please contact us using the information in the section ‘Contacting Us’ at the end of this Privacy Statement.

We may charge you a reasonable fee in the case that you request additional copies of your personal information or make excessive requests. If we are unable to honour your request, or before we charge a fee, we will inform you of the reasons why. Insofar as is practicable and required under law, we will notify third parties with whom we shared your personal information of any request for correction, deletion and/or restriction to the processing of your personal information. Please note that we cannot guarantee third parties will follow up on our notification and we encourage you to contact those third parties directly.

Changes to this privacy statement
Ardena has the discretion to update this privacy statement at any time. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We encourage users to frequently check this page for any changes to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this privacy policy periodically and become aware of modifications.

Cookie Statement
If you have any comments or questions about this cookie statement or the collection and use of your personal data, please contact our data protection GDPR@ardena.comArdena (“Ardena”) respects your right to privacy. Your ability to make informed choices about the use of your information is important to us. This cookie statement details which cookies we or other parties can place on your device and how we and other parties use this information within Ardena.

What are cookies?
A cookie is a small piece of text that is sent to a visitor’s browser. The browser provides this piece of text to the device of the originating visitor when this visitor returns. There are different kinds of cookies.

• Necessary cookies
  These cookies are necessary for our website to be able to display the website to you, for example to have our website respond to the device and display what is being used.
• Statistical cookies
  These cookies gather anonymous information about the amount of visitors that our website serves in order to help us understand trends and customer needs.
• Analytical cookies
  These cookies gather anonymous information about how a webpage is being used, for example what webpages are the most effective and what webpages garner the most interest. We do this by using Google Analytics.
• Third-party and Marketing cookies
  These cookies are placed by third parties and/or advertising agencies to either display tailored advertisements on a website or track users across different websites. We always ask consent from you before placing these cookies on your device.

Furthermore, a “persistent” cookie may be used to help save your settings and customizations across visits. Most Web browsers are initially configured to accept cookies, but you can change this setting so your browser either refuses all cookies or informs you when a cookie is being sent. Also, you are free to delete any existing cookies at any time. Please note that some features of the Site may not function properly when cookies are disabled or removed.

Why do we use cookies?
Our site uses cookies to enhance user experience. The collected information is used to improve the usability and quality of our website.

We only use necessary cookies, analytical and statistical cookies. This means that we use cookies to automatically collect certain technical information when you make use of the Site, such as your IP address, the type of your mobile device or computer you use to access the Site, details of your operating system and browser and other information regarding the configuration of your computer or device.

We also use a tool called “Google Analytics” to collect information about the use of the Site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit this Site, what pages they visit when they do so, and what other sites they used prior to coming to this Site. Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit the Site, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information. We use the information we get from Google Analytics only to improve our Site and Services. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this Site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use located at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html and the Google Privacy Policy located at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

Do we share information that is gathered by cookies?
We do not actively use cookies to track your information or share your web activity on our site with third parties.

We will not share your Personal Information with third parties without your explicit permission, except when required by law, regulation, subpoena or court order or as otherwise set forth herein.

Which cookies can be placed on my device, and for what period are they active?
The following cookies can be placed on your device (depending on your preference and your consent)

Consent and Control
Before Cookies are placed on your computer or device, you will be shown a prompt requesting your consent to those Cookies. By giving your consent to the placing of Cookies you are enabling Us to provide the best possible experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, deny consent to the placing of Cookies unless those Cookies are strictly necessary; however certain features of Our Site may not function fully or as intended. You will be given the opportunity to allow and/or deny different categories of Cookies that We use. You can return to your Cookie preferences to review and/or change them at any time.

In addition to the controls that We provide, you can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all Cookies or only third-party Cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.

The links below provide instructions on how to control Cookies in all mainstream browsers:

Browser: Link:
Google Chrome https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en-GB
Microsoft Internet Explorer https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/278835
Microsoft Edge https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/microsoft-edge
Safari (macOS) https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/safari/ibrw850f6c51/mac
Safari (iOS) https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201265
Mozilla Firefox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-Cookies-website-preferences
Android https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en

Changes to this Cookie Statement
We may alter this Cookie Statement at any time. If We do so, details of the changes will be indicated at the bottom of this page. Any such changes will become binding on you on your first use of Our Site after the changes have been made. You are therefore advised to check this page from time to time.

In the event of any conflict between the current version of this Cookie Statement and any previous version(s), the current provision and in effect shall prevail unless it is expressly stated otherwise.

Last updated: March 2021

Contacting us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, the practices of this site, your dealings with this site or if you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us. If you consider that our processing of your personal data infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority within your country.

Our contact details are:

Ardena Holding NV
Kleimoer 4, B-9030
Mariakerke, Belgium

00 32 (0) 9 267 65 00
Or mail to privacy@ardena.com

Last updated: March 2021