PETCONNECT (GEKCO GROUP BV) – PRIVACY POLICY
BRIEF SUMMARY:
We take our commitment to protecting your privacy seriously!
That is why we have prepared a summary of our Privacy Policy especially for you. You can read this summary in under 2 minutes, so you’ll be up to speed in no time on how we process and protect your personal data.
If you’d like to find out more, we’d be delighted if you’d read the full Privacy Policy. It explains everything in detail.
To whom does this Privacy Policy apply?
This Policy applies to any person from whom PetConnect may collect, use, share or otherwise process Personal Data, and more specifically:
- Visitors to the PetConnect website (www.petconnect.social);
- Subscribers, being all persons who take out a subscription via the PetConnect website;
- (Representatives of) business partners who collaborate with PetConnect in connection with PetConnect’s business activities;
- (Representatives of) suppliers of goods or services, IT suppliers, consultants, solicitors, accountants and other third parties who are in contact with PetConnect;
- Job applicants applying for a position at PetConnect;
- All other individuals whose personal data PetConnect may process, with the exception of those using the application developed by PetConnect, for whom a specific privacy statement is made available and communicated via the PetConnect application.
What information do we collect about you?
- When you contact us or enter into a contract with us as a (prospective) subscriber, business partner or supplier, we may collect and process your contact details (such as your (employer’s/company’s) name, email address or telephone number); financial details (such as bank account numbers and transaction details) and contractual details (such as the date and type of our agreement).
- If you apply for a role at PetConnect, we will collect the information you provide to us, such as identification details, your CV and cover letter.
- If you contact us via any medium, we collect information about the communication you have had with PetConnect, including content-related and technical data.
- When you complete the Early Believers initiative contact form on our Website, we collect and process your data in order to respond to your enquiry.
- Finally, we use cookies to collect information about your use of our Website.
Why do we collect this information?
- To respond to your enquiries and ensure they are followed up.
- To be able to offer you subscription packages.
- To establish and/or maintain our contractual relationship.
- To provide you with the information you have requested and to carry out our business activities.
- To assess your job application.
- Finally, to improve our Website.
Who has access to your personal data?
- Only those members of the PetConnect team who need your data in order to provide the services.
- In addition, there are a number of suppliers and service providers who offer services to PetConnect and to you, relating to (IT) support, maintenance, hosting, computer security or other specific services, who may have access to certain Personal Data. These parties are at all times legally obliged to safeguard your privacy and will only process Personal Data in accordance with our purposes.
- Finally, third parties may be commissioned to process Personal Data. However, they may only do so for the purposes mentioned above, on our behalf and after signing a data processing agreement.
What rights do you have?
- You may ask PetConnect at any time to access, correct or delete your Personal Data. To do so, please send an email to socials@petconnect.social and follow the procedure set out in Article 5.7 of the full Privacy Statement.
- You may also request a copy of all the information we have collected about you at any time by sending an email to the same address.
What do we do to protect your personal data?
- PetConnect implements appropriate security measures at both a technical and organisational level.
- PetConnect may use your data to improve our services. Nevertheless, PetConnect will always use this data in a manner that complies with the GDPR, utilising advanced software and solutions.
If you would like to know more, we invite you to read the full Privacy Statement below, which sets out everything in greater detail.
PETCONNECT – PRIVACY POLICY
FULL PRIVACY POLICY
Version 2.0 – january 2025
Article 1 – GENERAL
- GEKCO Group BV (hereinafter “we”, “us”, “our”, “PetConnect”), with its registered office at Hendrik van Veldekesingel 150/192, 3500 Hasselt, registered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number 1009.321.226, assumes responsibility for processing your Personal Data as the “Data Controller”, including the use of the PetConnect Website (www.petconnect.social) (hereinafter: “Website”).
This Privacy Statement may be updated from time to time. The most recent version is the one available on our Website.
Should we make any changes, we will notify you of the amendments via our Website. - In our Privacy Policy, the term ‘Personal Data’ refers to any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. PetConnect may collect, use, share or otherwise process Personal Data relating to individuals who fall into one of the following categories:
- Visitors to the PetConnect website (www.petconnect.social) (hereinafter “Visitors”);
- All persons who take out a subscription via the PetConnect website (hereinafter “Subscribers”);
- (Representatives of) business partners who collaborate with PetConnect in connection with PetConnect’s business activities (hereinafter “Business Partners”);
- (Representatives of) suppliers of goods or services, IT suppliers, consultants, solicitors, accountants and other third parties who are in contact with PetConnect (hereinafter “Suppliers”);
- Job applicants applying for a position at PetConnect (hereinafter “Job Applicants”);
- All other individuals whose Personal Data PetConnect may process, with the exception of those who use the application and services developed by PetConnect, for whom a specific privacy notice is made available and communicated via the PetConnect application (hereinafter “Other Individuals”).
- The collection and processing of Personal Data are subject to strict conditions. PetConnect acts in accordance with:
- the European Regulation 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 on the protection of Personal Data (hereinafter “GDPR”); and/or
- all (future) Belgian laws implementing this Regulation or relating to the processing of Personal Data.
- By accessing or using the Website, you are deemed to have accepted this Privacy Policy in full and without reservation. This means that you are aware of how PetConnect collects, uses and processes your Personal Data in accordance with the provisions of this Privacy Policy and for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
- This Privacy Policy applies only to the pages on our Website and to the services provided by PetConnect. It does not apply to the pages and websites of third parties to which PetConnect may refer or provide a link, and whose privacy policies may differ. PetConnect is therefore not responsible for the data contained on or processed by third-party websites..
- PetConnect reserves the right to amend this Privacy Policy where necessary. The most recent version of the Privacy Policy will always be published on the PetConnect website.
Article 2 – PERSONAL DATA COLLECTED
PetConnect may process the following categories of personal data:
| Category | Relevant Stakeholders | Details | Context |
| Category 1: Your (professional) identification and contact details | Subscribers Business partners Suppliers Job applicants Other individuals | First name, surname, telephone number, email address, address and country; Information about your employer or company, such as company name, business address, billing details and VAT number; Where applicable: information about social media, such as your (company) username(s) on social media; Information about our/your communications, such as content, IP address and technical data. | By contacting us by telephone, email or another communication channel; By taking out a subscription with us; By entering into (or intending to enter into) a business relationship with us (for example, when you enter into a contract with us as a business partner, supplier, etc.); By providing your business card; Via social media (for example, when you follow us or contact us on LinkedIn). |
| Category 2: Contractual data (insofar as it relates to personal data) | Subscribers Business partners Suppliers | Information relating to agreements you have entered into with PetConnect (e.g. date and type of agreement, financial details and other personal data relating to the agreement). | By taking out a subscription with us; By entering into an agreement with us. |
| Category 3 Your details as an applicant | Job applicants | First name, surname, telephone number, email address, address, photograph and country, as well as any other means of identification you provide to us; CV and cover letter. | By applying for a role at PetConnect. |
| Category 4 Your communications via our business partner or website | Visitors Subscribers Business partners Suppliers | Information about your communications with PetConnect, whether via our website or as a result of our business relationship, including technical details and content. | By contacting us by telephone, email or other means of communication; By entering into (or intending to enter into) a business relationship with us and communicating with us in that context. |
| Category 5 Data from the Early Believers initiative contact form (hereinafter “Contact Form”) | Visitors Subscribers | Information you share with us when you complete the contact form: Whether you are interested in the Early Believers initiative as a dog sitter, dog parent or both; first name, surname, telephone number, email address and country. | By filling in the contact form on our website. |
| Categorie 6 Information about your visit and use of our website | Visitors Subscribers | When you visit our website, the servers you access automatically record certain data by setting cookies | Through the use of cookies (see Article 8 – Cookies). |
Artikel 3 – DOELEINDEN VAN DE VERWERKING
PetConnect verzamelt en verwerkt uw Persoonsgegevens alleen als we een specifiek doel en een wettelijke basis hebben om dit te doen. Bovendien gebruiken we uw Persoonsgegevens enkel voor de volgende doeleinden:
| Categorieën | Rechtsgrond(en) | Doeleinden |
| Categorie 1 Uw (professionele) identificatie- en contactgegevens | Naargelang het doeleinde: Noodzakelijk voor de uitvoering van de overeenkomst die we met u zijn aangegaan of overwegen aan te gaan of Op grond van uw toestemming of Op grond van ons gerechtvaardigd belang (afhankelijk van de specifieke omstandigheden) | Persoonsgegevens worden door PetConnect verwerkt om onze diensten te verlenen onder de vorm van een abonnementsformule, onze zakelijke activiteiten uit te voeren, de contractuele relatie die wij mogelijk met u hebben te beheren, uw vragen te beantwoorden, informatie te verstrekken, u te adviseren over onze diensten, enz. Afhankelijk van de specifieke omstandigheden zullen sommige van deze verwerkingsactiviteiten noodzakelijk zijn voor de uitvoering van een contract dat wij met u hebben gesloten of zullen sluiten. Andere zijn noodzakelijk om onze gerechtvaardigde belangen te behartigen. Tot slot zullen we, indien wettelijk vereist, uw voorafgaande toestemming vragen voordat we bepaalde Persoonsgegevens van u verwerken. |
| Categorie 2 Contractuele gegevens (voor zover het Persoonsgegevens betreffen) | Noodzakelijk voor de uitvoering van de overeenkomst die we met u zijn aangegaan of overwegen aan te gaan | Contractuele gegevens worden door PetConnect verwerkt om de commerciële en contractuele relatie die wij met u hebben te beheren (bijvoorbeeld voor betalings- en factureringsdoeleinden of in verband met het aanbieden van abonnementen). |
| Categorie 3 Uw gegevens als Sollicitant | Naargelang het doeleinde: Noodzakelijk voor de uitvoering van de overeenkomst die we met u zijn aangegaan of overwegen aan te gaan of Op grond van onze gerechtvaardigde belangen of Op grond van uw toestemming | Gegevens van Sollicitanten worden door PetConnect verwerkt om uw sollicitatie te beoordelen en een wervingsbeleid te voeren. Afhankelijk van de specifieke omstandigheden zullen sommige van deze verwerkingsactiviteiten noodzakelijk zijn voor de uitvoering van de overeenkomst die wij overwegen met u aan te gaan. Andere zullen noodzakelijk zijn voor het behartigen van onze gerechtvaardigde belangen in verband met de verbetering van ons wervingsbeleid en -proces. Tot slot zullen we, indien wettelijk vereist, uw voorafgaande toestemming vragen voordat we bepaalde Persoonsgegevens van u verwerken. |
| Categorie 4 Uw communicatie via onze zakenrelatie of Website | Naargelang het doeleinde: Noodzakelijk voor de uitvoering van de overeenkomst die we met u zijn aangegaan of overwegen aan te gaan of Op grond va uw toestemming | Uw communicatie kan door PetConnect worden verwerkt indien dit noodzakelijk is in verband met de uitvoering van de overeenkomst die wij met u zijn aangegaan of overwegen aan te gaan, waaronder het aanbieden van abonnementen. PetConnect kan uw communicatie ook verwerken op basis van de toestemming die u heeft gegeven door actief contact met ons op te nemen via onze Website. |
| Categorie 5 Gegevens van Contactformulier | Noodzakelijk voor de uitvoering van de overeenkomst die we met u zijn aangegaan of overwegen aan te gaan | PetConnect zal uw gegevens met betrekking tot het Contactformulier verwerken zodat u kan deelnemen aan dit initiatief en we u hieromtrent kunnen contacteren. |
| Categorie 6 Informatie over uw bezoek en het gebruik van Onze Website | Naargelang het doeleinde: Op grond van uw toestemming of Op grond van onze gerechtvaardigde belangen | Informatie over uw bezoek aan en gebruik van onze Website wordt door PetConnect verwerkt om: de beschikbaarheid en het gebruik van de Website te faciliteren; de inhoud van de Website te analyseren, aan te passen en te verbeterenuw ervaring op de Website te personaliserende beveiliging van onze Website te onderhouden en te verbeteren;statistieken te genereren. Raadpleeg voor meer informatie Artikel 8 – Cookies. |
3.2 Direct marketing
If PetConnect has obtained your Personal Data directly from you in connection with the provision of our products or services, PetConnect may use your Personal Data to send you promotional material by email about similar services that we may offer. This is based on PetConnect’s legitimate interest. Other promotional material relating to non-similar services that we may offer will only be sent to you if you have given us your prior consent to do so.
PetConnect may also pass on some of your Personal Data to its Data Processors for direct marketing purposes relating to PetConnect’s services.
You may opt out of receiving such emails or post at any time, free of charge and without giving a reason, by clicking the unsubscribe button at the end of a promotional email or by sending an email to socials@petconnect.social.
3.3 Statistical purposes
Your data may be used in aggregated form for statistical purposes.
3.4 Disclosure to third parties
PetConnect treats Personal Data as confidential information and will not disclose or communicate it to third parties under any circumstances or for any purpose other than those set out in this Privacy Statement, or as required by law.
PetConnect may disclose your Personal Data to third parties to the extent necessary to carry out our business activities, including but not limited to suppliers and service providers offering services relating to IT support, hosting, computer security or other specific services. Under no circumstances will these third parties disclose your Personal Data to other third parties, except in the following situations:
- The disclosure of your Personal Data by these third parties to their suppliers or subcontractors is necessary for them to carry out their business activities;
- Such third parties are obliged under applicable laws or regulations to provide certain information or documents to the competent authorities.
In the event of non-payment or deliberate misuse, PetConnect may disclose your Personal Data to authorised persons or bodies as required by law.
PetConnect will not sell, rent, distribute or otherwise make your Personal Data commercially available to third parties, except as set out in this Privacy Statement, or where you have given your explicit prior consent.
In the event of a full or partial reorganisation or transfer of PetConnect’s business, where PetConnect reorganises, merges, transfers shares, ceases trading or goes into liquidation, your Personal Data may be transferred to new entities or third parties. PetConnect will do its utmost, where reasonably possible, to inform you in advance that PetConnect will transfer your Personal Data to a third party.
3.5 Legal obligations
In exceptional circumstances, we may be required to disclose your Personal Data as a result of a court order or to comply with other binding laws or regulations. We will make reasonable efforts to inform you of this in advance, unless this is subject to legal restrictions.
Article 4 – DURATION OF PROCESSING
PetConnect will retain your Personal Data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes set out in Article 3 of this Privacy Statement, including for as long as it is essential for the contractual relationship between you and PetConnect.
PetConnect may also retain your Personal Data to comply with legal requirements, including requirements to retain your Personal Data beyond the termination of the contractual relationship between you and PetConnect. This includes applicable limitation periods for invoicing, payment, accounting, tax and regulatory compliance. Consequently, the retention periods set out below may be deviated from if such a legal obligation applies.
Retention periods:
| Category | Retention Period |
| Category 1: Your (professional) identification and contact details | We retain your (professional) identification and contact details from Category 1 for as long as is necessary to communicate with you, i.e. never for longer than two (2) years after the initial request or contact. In the case of a contractual relationship, we will not retain your identification details for longer than is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice, which may be up to seven (7) years after the end of the contractual relationship. |
| Category 2 Contractual data (insofar as it relates to personal data) | We retain your contractual data for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Statement, i.e. for seven (7) years following the end of the contractual relationship. |
| Category 3 Uw gegevens als Sollicitant | We do not retain your data as a Job Applicant for longer than six (6) months following the last substantive contact with you as a Job Applicant. |
| Category 4 Your communications via our business relationship or Website | We retain your communications via our business relationship for as long as is necessary to communicate with you, i.e. never longer than two (2) years after the first request or contact. In the case of a contractual relationship, we retain your communications via our services for no longer than seven (7) years after the end of the contractual relationship. |
| Category 5 Data from the Contact Form | We do not retain your data for any longer than is necessary to communicate with you regarding the Early Believers initiative, and certainly not for longer than two (2) years after the end of our communications regarding the Early Believers initiative. |
| Category 6 Information about your visit and use of our website | With regard to cookies, please refer to the Cookie Policy. |
5.1 Right of access and inspection
You have the right at any time to view your Personal Data and the use we make of it, or to request information from us regarding your Personal Data. Requesting a copy of your Personal Data is an example of this.
5.2 Right to rectification, erasure and restriction
You are free to decide whether or not to provide us with certain Personal Data.
You always have the right to request that we correct or complete your Personal Data if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
You may also request that the processing of your Personal Data be restricted if you believe your data to be inaccurate and subsequently notify us of this, if the processing is unlawful, if the data is no longer necessary, or if you have lodged an objection.
In addition, you have the right to request that PetConnect erases your data insofar as we are unable to anonymise it, unless we are obliged to retain it pursuant to a legal obligation to which we are subject.
However, if you refuse to provide certain Personal Data, or if you ask us to erase it, we may no longer be able to provide our services in the best possible way.
5.3 Right to object
You also have the right to object to the processing of your Personal Data where you have serious and legitimate grounds for doing so.
You also have the right to object to the use of your Personal Data for direct marketing purposes. In this case, no specific grounds will be required.
5.4 Right to data portability
You have the right to request that your Personal Data processed by us be provided to you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or to have it transferred to other data controllers.
5.5 Right to withdraw consent
You have the right, without any detriment, to withdraw your prior consent to the processing of your Personal Data, where the processing of your Personal Data is based on your consent.
5.6 Automated decisions and profiling
You have the right to request that we do not subject you to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or significantly affects you.
5.7 Exercising your rights
You can exercise your rights by contacting us,
by email at socials@petconnect.social
or by post to,
GEKCO GROUP BV – PetConnect
Hendrik van Veldekesingel 150/192
3500 Hasselt
5.8 Right to lodge a complaint
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority, which is the data protection authority responsible for PetConnect:
Data Protection Authority
Drukpersstraat 35, 1000 Brussels,
Tel +32 (0)2 274 48 00, Fax +32 (0)2 274 48 35,
Email: contact@apd-gba.be
This does not affect your right to bring a claim before a civil court. If you are from or work in an EU Member State other than Belgium, you may also lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority. You can find a list of national supervisory authorities within the EU on the following webpage: https://ec.europa.eu/justice/article-29/structure/data-protection-authorities/index_en.htm.
If you suffer damage as a result of the processing of your Personal Data, you may bring a claim for compensation.
Article 6 – SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
PetConnect takes the protection of your Personal Data seriously and takes appropriate measures at a technical, organisational and physical level to prevent the destruction, loss, falsification, alteration, unauthorised access or accidental disclosure of your data to a third party, as well as the unauthorised processing of this data.
Should we determine that a breach of your Personal Data has nevertheless occurred and this gives rise to a high risk to your rights and freedoms, PetConnect will inform you of the breach that has taken place, including a description of the potential impact and a recommendation to mitigate the possible adverse consequences of the breach.
However, PetConnect shall not be liable for any direct or indirect damage arising from the incorrect or unlawful use of your Personal Data by a party other than PetConnect.
At the same time, you also bear joint responsibility for safeguarding your privacy, for example by not allowing third parties to access your confidential communications.
Article 7 – APPLICABLE LAW AND COMPETENT COURT
This Privacy Policy shall be governed by, interpreted and enforced in accordance with Belgian law, which shall apply exclusively.
The courts of the judicial district of Ghent, Ghent division, shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any dispute arising from the interpretation or implementation of this Privacy Policy.
Article 8 – COOKIES
8.1 What are cookies and why do we use them?
A “cookie” is a small file sent by PetConnect’s server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. The information stored in these cookies can only be read by PetConnect and only whilst you are visiting the Website.
The PetConnect Website uses cookies and similar technologies to distinguish your usage preferences from those of other users of the Website. This helps us to provide you with a better user experience when you visit or use our Website and also enables us to optimise our Website.
8.2 Types of cookies
There are many different types of cookies, which can be categorised by their function, origin or retention period. Below, we first provide a general description of the types of cookies that may be used on the PetConnect website. We then provide a detailed overview of the various cookies used on our website.
| Type | Function |
| Essential/Strictly necessary cookies | These cookies are necessary for the Website to function and cannot be disabled in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions taken by you, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. They are necessary for effective communication and make navigation easier (for example, returning to a previous page, etc.). |
| Functional cookies | These cookies enhance the user-friendliness of the Website by remembering your choices (e.g. language preference) and offer improved functionality and personalisation to visitors. For example, these cookies ensure that certain settings are personalised at your request. If you do not accept these cookies, this may affect the performance and functionality of the Website and may restrict access to content on the Website. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have incorporated into our pages. |
| Performance/Analytical cookies | These cookies collect data on the use of the Website, such as the number of visitors, the time visitors spend on a web page and any error messages. They help PetConnect to improve the performance of the Website. These cookies do not identify you as an individual. |
| Tracking cookies | These cookies track user actions and are used to identify visitors across different websites. This makes it possible to collect user information. This information can, in turn, be used to build a profile of visitors’ interests and subsequently display personalised adverts to that specific user. |
| First & Third Party cookies | First-party cookies are cookies sent from our servers or domains, from which the requested service is provided. Third-party cookies are cookies sent to your browser from a server or domain not managed by PetConnect, but by a partner organisation. Only these third parties have access to these cookies and the information collected by them. If you would like to know more about these cookies, please refer to the policies provided by these parties on their respective websites. Please note that we have no control over the content of these policies or the content of these third-party cookies. |
8.3 Overview of Cookies
| Name cookie | Domain name | Cookie type | Description | Retention period |
| gclid | petconnect.social | / | / | 1 month |
| wpEmojiSettingsSupports | petconnect.social | Essential/Strictly necessary cookie | WordPress sets this cookie when a user interacts with emojis on a WordPress site. It helps determine if the user’s browser can display emojis properly. | Session |
8.4 Your consent
On your first visit to our Website, you will be asked to accept or refuse non-essential cookies. By giving this consent, you agree to the various types of cookies we use.
8.5 Managing cookies
You can refuse or block these cookies by changing the settings in your browser. Disabling cookies may mean that you are unable to use certain features of the Website.
You can find more information on how to configure your browser via the following links:
Google Chrome
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=nl
Safari
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19214?locale=en_US
Microsoft Edge
Currently, some browsers offer a ‘do not track’ or ‘DNT’ option that sends a signal to the websites visited to indicate a visitor’s tracking preference. PetConnect does not currently respond to these signals, as no common industry standard for DNT has been adopted by industry groups, technology companies or regulators. Third parties that place cookies on our Website may or may not take any action in response to this signal.
Please bear in mind that changing these settings may cause a website to no longer function as expected.
Further information about cookies can also be found via the following link:
http://www.allaboutcookies.org/
Further information about behavioural online advertising and online privacy can be found via the following link:
http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/