Privacy statement

Registering your company, and the data associated with it, is a statutory task of KVK, set out in the Commercial Register Act.

This data includes

• your name
• address details
• gender
• date of birth
• place and country of birth
• citizen service number (BSN)
• email address
• telephone number

What we use this data for

If you register a business in the Business Register, we process some data about you and your business to fulfil our statutory duties.
Your business must be registered in the Business Register, just like all Dutch companies. Based on the registration, you will receive a KVK number. This number is your unique company ID, enabling other entrepreneurs to check who they are dealing with, and allowing you to do business. Managing the Business Register is the statutory
responsibility of KVK.

Some of the personal data in the Business Register is made public and provided to third parties upon request. More information can be found under the heading 'For providing data from the Business Register'.

The Business Register lists the registered business addresses* of businesses and the private addresses of officers. The business address* is the place where a company carries out its activities. It is public, unless the business address* is shielded upon request. The private address of officers is not public except for the private address
of the keeper of books and records. As well as officers, the UBOs of companies and other legal entities are also listed.

* This includes the company’s visiting and/or postal address. 

The Business Register is a public register. Managing the Business Register is a statutory task of KVK. The register is, amongst other things, intended to make entrepreneurs findable. To know whether the company they are doing business with exists, to find new customers, or to explore the market. This stimulates the economy.

This concerns the following data:

• your name
• date of birth
• place of birth
• business name (name of your company)
• your company’s address details
• legal structure
• email address

What we use this data for

By far the most data from the Business Register is used for the provision of public services. All public authorities, such as municipalities, provinces, and regional water authorities, use the Business Register to carry out their tasks. KVK also supplies data from the Business Register to private parties in return for payment. See the heading 'With which third parties will KVK share my personal data?' for more information.
These parties use this data for compliance purposes, legal security, fraud prevention, or market analysis.

Recipients of data from the Business Register must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Telecommunications Act when using your data. This means that they are not allowed to use your data for marketing or other purposes. Almost always, recipients must inform you about their use of your data.

KVK keeps a so-called Non-Mailing Indicator and shares it with persons or companies who request your data. If you activate this Non-Mailing Indicator, all recipients of Business Register data are informed that you do not want to receive unsolicited mail or unsolicited visits to your home. Recipients of Business Register data must comply with this requirement.

If you are confronted with unwanted marketing based on Business Register data, you can file a complaint with the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), for direct marketing by email, or the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) for direct marketing by post or telephone, or any other unwanted use of your data.

KVK has a statutory duty to register and publish director disqualifications under civil law (Bestuursverboden). The courts are generally the source of this data. The law states which information must be registered and what is published by KVK in the context of a director disqualification.

The law states which personal data must be published:

• First name
• Surname
• Year of birth
• Place of birth
• Country of birth

In addition, KVK processes other personal data that is only visible to certain groups of authorised persons. For example, citizen service number (BSN), date of birth, and address.

Under European legislation, the Netherlands is required to have, manage, and centrally register information on the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of companies and other legal entities incorporated in the Netherlands (hereinafter the ‘UBO register’*). The UBO register is part of the Business Register.

The law stipulates which details of a UBO are registered (Commercial Registers Act 2007, article 15a). To give some examples:

• Name
• BSN (citizen service number, or fiscal identifcation number)
• Month and year of birth
• Date of birth
• Place of birth and nation of birth
• Nationality
• Country of residence
• Residential address
• Nature and size of the economic stake of the UBO
• Copies of documents that pertain to the details mentioned above. 

Some of this data is only accessible to a limited group defined by law. This applies at least to the following data: BSN, fiscal identification number, date, place, and country
of birth, residential address, and copies of documents. 

* See www.uboregistertrusts.nl/privacy (in Dutch) for information on the processing of personal data for the purposes of the UBO register trusts and equivalent legal constructions.

For example, when you call or email us with a question. This is part of our statutory duty to provide information and advice to entrepreneurs.

This concerns the following data

• identification data
• questions that you have asked
• contact history (when there was contact, with which department, via which channel)
• information from a submitted complaint
• email correspondence
• contact details of your social media accounts (if we want to answer a question you have asked via social media)

What we use this data for

• To be able to answer questions you have asked, we record the original question, any explanation, and any actions taken subsequently. We can also serve you better if we know what previous contact there has been. If we have arranged an appointment with you, we will also record this.
• In case of a complaint or complex question, information about the content is kept to ensure that your question is answered correctly. We also use this data to learn from and to improve our service.
• We respond to questions or other comments on social media.

To provide you with the best possible service, KVK continuously improves its products and services. For example, because we want to know what you think about our products and services and what can be improved next time. Your cooperation is always based on consent.

This concerns the following data

• identification data
• questions that you have asked
• contact history (when there was contact, with which department, via which channel)
• information from a submitted complaint
• email address
• email correspondence
• contact details of your social media accounts

We record the content of the contact you have had with us, for example, by recording telephone calls and chats. We also store and read cookies when visiting the website. More information can be found on our cookie page.

What we use this data for

• To better understand who uses our products, when they do so, and how often. With this information, we can make improvements so that our products better meet the needs of entrepreneurs.
• To get a better understanding of our customer groups, which helps us to better identify who is relevant to our products.
• To measure and evaluate customer satisfaction by means of customer satisfaction surveys by email, to determine which of our services and products are valued and which ones need improvement.

This concerns the following data

• name of the entrepreneur
• email address
• telephone number
• date of birth
• gender
• postal address and postcode of the company

What we use this data for

• We like to keep you informed about our products or services.
• When we do this by email, we ask for your consent to do so (opt-in email).
• For example, you can subscribe to our newsletter and email subscriptions.
• To make emails as relevant to you as possible, we ask you a few questions to get to know you better. We also link your KVK data, favourite subjects, and preferences to your newsletter profile, so that we do not send you information on topics that do not interest you.
• Every email subscription/newsletter you receive includes an option to unsubscribe.
• In some cases, we will also contact you by post or telephone, for example, to invite you to a seminar or event, or to make you aware of products and services you have indicated an interest in.
• Whenever we contact you by post or telephone, we always give you the option to opt out of this means of contact.
• We further analyse your data to understand the needs of entrepreneurs and tailor our services accordingly.

Good to know

We will not use your email address for marketing purposes unless you have given us your consent. You can stop marketing by email, post, or telephone at any time using the method indicated in the communication. This information relates only to KVK’s own marketing. Third parties sometimes use data from the Business Register for marketing purposes. See the heading 'For providing data from the Business Register' for more details.

This concerns the following data

• identification data (name, address, date of birth, etc.)
• identity documents
• photos and camera recordings

What we use this data for

• Visitors at the office or at an event organised by KVK will only be allowed access after registration, and should report to and identify themselves at the information desk.
• Security cameras are situated at every KVK entrance, filming visitors.

This concerns the following data:

• IP address
• details of visits to our websites (times of visits, pages viewed, keywords)
• devices used (PC, laptop, smartphone, tablet)
• personal data processed in cookies

What we use this data for

• Your IP address is processed by default when you visit websites. KVK only uses the IP address to allow you to participate in a survey (for example, testing a new website) or to participate in events.
• By monitoring visits to, and use of the website, we can improve your user experience by making it easier to navigate between pages. Based on your search behaviour, we can also better tailor the information displayed to your needs.
• By making sure that the website responds to the device used, all content (text, images, video) is displayed in optimal form.
• In addition to your browsing behaviour on our website, cookies help to further personalise the information offered. Cookies can also be used to store your personal preferences.

KVK places different types of cookies on your computer. Cookies are small text files that websites place on your computer when you visit the site. Placing cookies may involve the processing of personal data if the information in the cookie can be traced back to a person. For example, by using your IP address. We place cookies to make
the site work properly, to carry out statistical analysis, and to better serve you.

For more information about the cookies we place, see our cookie page.