Privacy
About Statbel
Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics – Statistics Belgium) is the Belgian statistical office. Statbel is commissioned to produce official statistics on Belgium. This is done under the responsibility of Nico Waeyaert, director-general of Statbel.
On weekdays, you can contact Statbel:
- By telephone: 0800 120 33
- By email: statbel@economie.fgov.be
Use of databases where possible
In order to produce its statistics, Statbel uses the existing administrative databases as much as possible. It is sometimes necessary to collect information via surveys. Statbel has a legal mandate to receive administrative databases and to organise surveys.
Your data are protected by statistical confidentiality
All the information collected by Statbel about individuals is protected by statistical confidentiality. These data are only used for statistical and scientific purposes. Consequently, sharing data with Statbel will never lead to administrative consequences. In order to secure statistical confidentiality, all staff members and all surveyors contracted by Statbel have signed a declaration, in which they confirm that they are aware of the obligations arising from statistical confidentiality and that they will comply with this statistical confidentiality.
Anonymous statistics
Besides statistical confidentiality, only the employees who organise surveys, or who couple administrative databases, have access to data that can identify a person (such as the national register number, name, address). In the databases of all other employees, the data are anonymised (pseudonymised) so that they cannot know excatly which person is involved.
Shared data
Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union), scientific institutions and research departments of public services can request certain data from Statbel. If Statbel shares information, it is done in such a way that it will be impossible for the person who requested the data to find out who has answered what. Moreover, Statbel imposes the condition that the information can only be used for statistical or scientific purposes. A contract also stipulates that the data cannot be passed on and that the information must be destroyed after the research.
Other statistical authorities
The statistical offices of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, in the framework of the Interfederal Statistical Institute, as well as the statistics departments of the National Bank of Belgium and the Federal Planning Bureau can also, from a legal perspective, receive non-anonymous data. This is an exception in the data exchange. However, there is one condition: that the information is necessary to fulfill their legal mandate, the production of statistics.
Privacy is guaranteed
Statbel collects information for statistical and scientific purposes only, watches over statistical confidentiality and makes every effort in its organisation to protect information as much as possible. This guarantees the privacy of citizens.
But statistics should be produced in a correct and efficient manner. Therefore, some of the rights you have to protect your privacy are not applicable. For example, you cannot look in or modify the information available to Statbel. You cannot ask Statbel to erase data or impose restrictions on data processing. Furthermore, you cannot ask Statbel to pass on information to another organisation.
Complaint or further questions about your privacy
If you think that the information collected by Statbel for statistical purposes has been used for other purposes, you can file a complaint with the data protection officer of the FPS Economy: dpo@economie.fgov.be.
You can also file a complaint with the Data Protection Authority: www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be
Should you have further questions about your privacy, you can contact us at: 0800 120 33 or statbel@economie.fgov.be
