Study · Belgium 2026
Privacy notice
Who is responsible
Jean-François Serpieter, independent, Rue de la Lasne 18, 1380 Lasne, enterprise number BE 0785.595.476, runs this study under the name TheHives and is the controller of your data. Contact: jf@thehives.eu.
What is collected, why, and for how long
| Data | Purpose | Legal basis | Kept until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your answers to the multiple-choice and number questions | The study's aggregated results | Your consent (GDPR, art. 6(1)(a)) | 31 December 2027, so that the next edition can be compared with this one |
| Your free-text answer, if you write one | Short extracts may be quoted in the results, after a manual review, with anything identifying removed and never next to a sector or any other group | Your consent | 31 March 2027 |
| Your e-mail address, if you give it | Sending you the results | Your consent | Deleted within 7 days after the results are sent on 7 December 2026 |
| Your e-mail address and the record of your consent, if you tick the separate contact box and confirm it by e-mail | Contacting you about TheHives' work | Your consent | Until you withdraw it, and at most 3 years after our last exchange |
| Technical data (IP address, browser type) in the hosting provider's logs | Security of the service and protection against abuse | Legitimate interest (art. 6(1)(f)) | 30 days |
So that a mistake can be repaired, the database is backed up every week, in Belgium. Data that is deleted also disappears from these backups no later than 14 weeks afterwards.
Your answers are stored without your name, your e-mail address, your IP address or the time you sent them, and in a random order. Only the version of the questionnaire is stored with them. No identifier links them to your e-mail address.
We also count how many people answered in English, French or Dutch, and how many took under 3 minutes, 3 to 5 minutes, and so on, to check the announced duration. These counts hold totals only, kept apart from the answers, and cannot be linked to yours.
Who receives the data
Google Cloud (hosting and database, in Belgium, region europe-west1) and Google Workspace (sending e-mails) act as processors under Google's data processing terms. Nobody else receives your data. It is never sold and never used for advertising.
Your data is stored in the European Union. Where Google processes data outside the European Union, its data processing terms include the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
Cookies and tracking
This site sets no cookies and uses no analytics or tracking. Fonts are served from this site. While you fill in the form, your answers are kept in your browser tab (session storage) so that a reload does not lose them; this copy disappears when you close the tab and is never sent anywhere else. Your e-mail address is not kept there.
Your rights
You can ask for access to your data, its rectification, erasure, restriction or portability, object to its processing, and withdraw your consent at any time without affecting what was done before. Write to jf@thehives.eu. Because answers are stored without any identifier, they cannot be found afterwards, and so cannot be deleted one by one.
You can also complain to the Belgian Data Protection Authority: Autorité de protection des données, rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels, www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be.
No automated decisions
No decision about you is taken by automated means.