Frequently asked questions about the Business Register

The Business Register contains details of individuals in the following roles:

• The owner of an eenmanszaak.
• A maat (partner) in a maatschap.
• A besturende vennoot (managing partner) of a CV.
• A sole shareholder.
• A UBO (ultimate beneficial owner).
• A vennoot (partner) in a VOF.
• A member of a rederij.
• A director of a legal entity (e.g. a BV, stichting, or vereniging).
• A member of the board of supervisors.
• A supervisory director.
• An authorised person.

For eenmanszaken, VOFs, and maatschappen, the Business Register contains the following details: name, residential address, date of birth and place of birth. For partners, it also includes the dates on which they took up and ceased their role.

Furthermore, the register also contains personal details of officials of a legal entity. This includes: name, residential address, date of birth and place of birth.

Company details in the Business Register sometimes also contain personal information. This may include the KVK number, the trading name, or email address (if it includes the owner’s name), the business address (if it is the same as the home address) or a telephone number.

Find out which details you can restrict access to, so that not everyone can see them.

Please note: the data of legal entities (a BV or NV, stichting, vereniging, onderlinge waarborgmaatschappijen, or coöperaties) are not considered personal data by GDPR. For example: the KVK number, trade name, business address, telephone number, and email address of the legal entity Klusbedrijf Jansen BV are not personal data.

This remains the case even if the residential address of the owner, Mr Jansen, is the same as the BV address, or if the BV’s telephone number is the same as his personal mobile number.

The list below contains data that directly identifies individuals, such as name and date of birth. However, it also includes ‘indirect personal data’. This refers to data that allows you to identify an individual within a few steps. An example is the KVK number of an eenmanszaak (legal structure), where the business address is the same as the private address.

Public information:

• name
• date of birth
• KVK number
• legal structure
• visiting address (if the same as the home address)
• trade name (if it contains a person’s name)

Not public:

• citizen service number (BSN)
• gender
• place of birth
• country of birth
• home addresses of officials (except for the custodian of books and records)
• protected visiting addresses
• telephone numbers

The home addresses of officials listed in the Business Register are not public. The only exception is the home address of the keeper of books and records. This is someone who, after the end of the legal entity (such as a BV, NV, or stichting), has to keep the business records for up to 7 years. For example, the balance sheet, financial statements, stock and payroll records, articles of association, and invoices of a business that no longer exists.

Note that sometimes the home address of a person is the same as the visiting address of a business. Yet the Business Register Act 2007 (Handelsregisterwet) considers the home address and the visiting address to be different things. According to the law, the visiting address must be public, even if it discloses a residential address.

Eenmanszaken (sole proprietorships) can have their visiting address shielded in the Business Register. Other businesses and organisations can only hide their visiting address if there is a threat. Your visiting address will then no longer be visible to anyone searching for your details.

Would you prefer your company or organisation’s business address not to appear in the Business Register? For eenmanszaken, this is always possible. For other businesses or organisations, this is only possible if there is a risk of harm. For BVs and NVs, there must be a ‘specific risk’. Read more about restricting access here.

No, that is not possible. KVK is not permitted to share a list containing information about who has requested an extract from the Business Register regarding your business or organisation. That would compromise that person’s privacy.

No, that is not necessary. KVK complies with the Commercial Register Act 2007 (Handelsregisterwet). This states that KVK is a ‘data processor’ when it comes to additions and changes to the Business Register. As a result, we do not have to sign a processing agreement with anyone who registers in the Business Register.

There are various ways to ensure that you get less unwanted advertising. For example, you can protect your address from advertising post and door-to-door sales. We call this the NMI (Non-Mailing Indicator). Send an email to handelsregistermail@kvk.nl. Please include the following details in your email:

• The name of the business or organisation, or the KVK number.
• The name of the person authorised to make registrations, changes, and deregistrations in the Business Register on behalf of your business or organisation.
• Whether you wish to enable or disable this protection.

Read how to find out what else you can do to ensure you receive less unwanted advertising.

Businesses or organisations are not allowed to post your personal information online without your permission. If this happens, ask it to remove your data. If it does not do so, you can complain to the Dutch Data Authority Authority.