Privacy statement
1. Introduction
PwC NL is strongly committed to protecting personal data. This Privacy Statement describes why and how we collect and use personal data and provides information about individuals’ rights. It applies to personal data provided to us, both by individuals themselves or by others such as companies and institutions that we provide services to and in that context, provide us with information about their employees or business relationships. We may use personal data provided to us for any of the purposes described in this privacy statement or as otherwise stated at the point of collection.
The following definitions apply in this Privacy Statement:
"PwC NL" (and "we", "us", or "our") refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers B.V. based in Amsterdam, and also to PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V., PricewaterhouseCoopers Belastingadviseurs N.V., PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory N.V., PricewaterhouseCoopers Deelnemingen B.V., PricewaterhouseCoopers Compliance Services B.V., PricewaterhouseCoopers Pensions, Actuarial & Insurance Services B.V. PricewaterhouseCoopers IT Services (NL) B.V., PricewaterhouseCoopers Academy Netherlands VOF and PricewaterhouseCoopers Certification B.V. as far as they: (1) are a contracting party for the purpose of providing or receiving services, (2) posted a position for which you are applying, or (3) have a role or relationship with u.
Applicable laws and regulations: all international, European, national, regional or local laws, regulations, treaties, decisions, statutes, sentences, court orders, codes of conduct, guidelines or any other requirements of any relevant government institution or supervisory authority, to the extent relevant and applicable in the Netherlands.
Terms in this Privacy Statement (such as "personal data" and "processing") have, in whatever conjugation, the meaning referred to in the Applicable laws and regulations. In addition, the above words have the meaning described in this Privacy Statement.
This Privacy Statement applies to PwC NL and the following PwC NL websites:
Our international network:
The PwC network is a worldwide network of independent member firms that operate locally in countries throughout the world. PwC NL, as each member firm in the PwC network, is a separate legal entity and a separate controller for personal data. For further details, please see https://www.pwc.nl/en/onze-organisatie.html.
We would like to note that the international and regional or practice-related websites that fall within PwC.com are provided by other entities within the PwC network and not by PwC NL. This Privacy Statement does not apply to these websites or to other websites that may be linked to this website. We recommend that visitors carefully read the privacy statements of each of these other websites before they provide any personal data.
Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable living person. When “you” or “your” is used in this Statement, we are referring to the relevant individual who is the subject of the personal data. PwC NL processes personal data for numerous purposes, and the means of collection, lawful basis of processing, use, disclosure, and retention periods for each purpose may differ. We do not store your personal data for longer than necessary for the purposes for which we process your personal data, unless we are required to retain your personal data for longer under applicable laws and regulations.
When collecting and using personal data, our policy is to be transparent about why and how we process personal data. To find out more about our specific processing activities, please go to the relevant sections of this Statement.
Use of Personal Data
2. Security
We take the protection of all data we hold very seriously. That is why we have taken appropriate technical and organizational measures to guarantee a risk-adjusted security level. We adhere to internationally recognised security standards and our information security management system relating to client confidential data is independently certified as complying with the requirements of ISO/IEC 27001:2013. We have a framework of policies, procedures and training in place covering data protection, confidentiality and security and regularly review the appropriateness of the measures we have in place to keep the data we hold secure.
3. When and how we share personal data
We will only share personal data with others when we are legally permitted to do so. When we share data with others, we put contractual arrangements and security mechanisms in place as appropriate to protect the data and to comply with our data protection, confidentiality and security standards.
We are part of a global network of member firms and, as well as other professional service providers, we use third parties located in other countries to help us run our business. As a result, personal data may be transferred outside the countries where we and our clients are located. This includes to countries outside the European Union and to countries that do not have laws that provide specific protection for personal data. We have taken steps to ensure all personal data is provided with adequate protection and that all transfers of personal data outside the EU are done lawfully. Where we transfer personal data outside of the EU to a country not determined by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data, the transfers will be under an agreement which covers the EU requirements for the transfer of personal data outside the EU, such as by the European Commission approved standard contractual clauses.
4. Personal data held by us may be transferred to:
Other PwC-member firms
For details of our PwC-member firm locations, please click here.
PwC NL may share personal data with other PwC-member firms where necessary for administrative purposes and to provide professional services to our clients (e.g. when providing services involving advice from PwC-member firms in different territories).
PwC NL stores personal data on our or other PwC-member firm servers. IT support and services are provided by the following entities: PricewaterhouseCoopers IT Services, PwC IT Services Ltd, PwC IT Services Europe GmbH en PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia.
Our business contacts are visible to and used by other PwC-member firms to learn more about a contact, client or opportunity they have an interest in (please see the Business contacts section of this Privacy Statement for more information about our processing of this type of data).
Third party organisations that provide applications/functionality, data processing or IT services to us
We use third parties to support us in providing our services and to help provide, run and manage our internal IT systems. For example, providers of information technology, cloud based software as a service providers, identity management, website hosting and management, data analysis, data backup, security and storage services. Further details are provided via the following link.
Third party organisations that otherwise assist us in providing goods, services or information
On certain client engagements, we may engage or otherwise work with other providers to helps us provide professional services to our clients.
Our clients
Where we need to process personal data to provide professional services to our clients, we may share personal data in our deliverables (such as the reports we create).
Auditors, insurers and professional advisers
We may provide personal data to our external auditor(s) ( BDO Accountants) to the extent necessary for the audit(s). We have a number of business insurance policies in place and we may need to share personal data with the insurer, for example, in the case of a claim. We use other professional advisors, such as law firms, where necessary to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights and obtain advice in connection with the running of our business. Personal data may be shared with these advisors if necessary in connection with the products and services that we have requested to deliver.
Law enforcement or other government and regulatory agencies or to other third parties as required by, and in accordance with, applicable law or regulations
We will only honor requests for the provision of personal data if this is permitted on the basis of applicable laws and regulations.
5. External links
PwC NL has included links to third-party websites. If you go to another website via one of these links, you should be aware that PwC NL’s Privacy Statement will no longer apply. It is possible that these third parties or other parties will collect information about you on these websites. PwC NL is not responsible for the content of these websites, nor for the actions of these third parties and other parties. Therefore, we advise you to read the Privacy Statement of these websites before providing any personal data.
The PwC NL website may contain functionality to enable visitors to share information via social media, including Facebook and Twitter. These social media applications may collect and use information about your usage of the PwC NL website. Personal data that you share via social media applications may be used by other users of that social media application and this interaction is governed by the privacy policies of the respective social media applications.To the extent that PwC NL can influence those social media applications, it will endeavor to choose privacy-friendly settings.
Furthermore, the PwC NL website may use blogs, forums, crowdsourcing or other applications and services. The objective of these applications and services is to facilitate contact and the sharing of knowledge. Personal data that you make available through these applications and services may be shared with other users of these applications and services, unless stated otherwise, and we have little or no influence over this.
6. Cookies
We use small text files called cookies that are installed on your hard drive so that you are able to properly access our website. Most websites that you visit use cookies. If you do not want cookies placed on your hard drive, the majority of browsers offer the option to exclude the use of cookies. If you use this option, you may not be able to use the registration process on this website and you may possibly be unable to use certain functions on this website. If you allow our website to place cookies on your hard drive, you can remove these at the end of your visit to our website.
In order to be able to effectively manage this website, PwC NL may anonymously log data from operation systems, so that we can distinguish categories of visitors, based for instance on the domain type and internet browser used. This statistical data is passed in its entirety to PwC NL’s webmasters. In this way, we can guarantee that your visit to this website is as smooth as possible and the efficiency of the website remains optimal.
Types of cookies
Session cookies: these cookies are placed on your computer’s hard drive and remain there during your visit to the website. These cookies are erased when you leave the website.
Persistent cookies: these cookies are placed on your computer’s hard drive and remain there during your visit to the website, but also after your visit to the website.
Performance cookies: these cookies collect information about your use of the website, such as the web pages you have visited and any error messages; these cookies do not collect information that can be traced back to an individual – the information collected from all users is merged and it is anonymous. This type of cookie is used to improve the functioning of the website.
Functionality cookies: these enable the website to record the choices you have made on the website, or ensure that special options are available (such as allow you to provide comments on the website or via a blog).
Before you can use the websites to which this privacy statement applies, you will be informed by means of a pop-up and if required your permission will be requested for the use of cookies on the website. The consent can be changed at any time, on the cookie section of this website. There you can also find an overview of cookies that are used on the relevant website(s).
7. Changes to this Privacy Statement
We recognise that transparency is an ongoing responsibility so we will keep this Privacy Statement under regular review.
This Privacy Statement was last updated on 12 July 2019.
8. Data controller and contact information
We are controller or processor for the personal data we process depending on the services we provide. If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement or how and why we process personal data, please contact us at:
Email: nl_dataprotection@pwc.com
or by regular mail:
- PricewaterhouseCoopers B.V.
f.a.o. Data Protection Office (Westgate II 10G)
Postbus 90351
1066 JR Amsterdam
Nederland
- PricewaterhouseCoopers B.V.
9. Individuals’ rights and how to exercise these
Individuals have certain rights over their personal data with regard to the processing of their personal data and controllers are responsible for fulfilling these rights.
Individuals’ rights may include:
the right of access to personal data;
to rectification of personal data;
to erasure of personal data / right to be forgotten;
to restrict processing of personal data;
to object to processing of personal data;
to data portability; and
the right to withdraw consent at any time (where processing is based on consent).
Please see below for further information about these rights, when they are available and how to exercise them below.
Your right of access to personal data
You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether we process personal data about you, receive a copy of your personal data held by us as a controller and obtain certain other information about how and why we process your personal data (similar to the information provided in this Privacy Statement).
This right may be exercised by submitting the following request form. We aim to respond to any requests for information promptly, and in any event within the legally required time limits.
Your right to rectification / amendment of personal data
You have the right to request for your personal data to be amended or rectified where it is inaccurate (for example, if you change your name or address) and to have incomplete personal data completed.
To update personal data submitted to us, please submit your request the following form or, where appropriate, contact us via the relevant website registration page or directly amend the personal details held on relevant websites or applications with which you registered.
When practically possible, once we are informed that any personal data processed by us is no longer accurate, we will make updates as appropriate based on your updated information.
Your right to erasure / right to be forgotten
You have the right to obtain deletion of your personal data in the following cases:
the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected and processed;
our legal grounds for processing is consent, you withdraw consent and we have no other lawful basis for the processing;
our legal grounds for processing is that the processing is necessary for legitimate interests pursued by us or a third party, you object to our processing and we do not have overriding legitimate grounds;
you object to our processing for direct marketing purposes;
your personal data have been unlawfully processed; or
your personal data must be erased to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject.
To request deletion of your personal data, please send us a request via the following form.
Your right to restrict processing
You have the right to restrict our processing of your personal data in the following cases:
for a period enabling us to verify the accuracy of your personal data where you have contested the accuracy of the personal data;
your personal data have been unlawfully processed and you request restriction of processing instead of deletion;
your personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected and processed but the personal data are required by you to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
for a period enabling us to verify whether the legitimate grounds relied on by us override your interests where you have objected to processing based on it being necessary for the pursuit of a legitimate interest identified by us.
To restrict our processing of your personal data, please send us a request using the following form.
Your right to object to processing
You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data in the following cases:
our legal grounds for processing is that the processing is necessary for a legitimate interest pursued by us or a third party; or
our processing is for direct marketing purposes.
To object to our processing of your personal data, please submit the following form.
Your right to data portability
You have a right to receive your personal data provided by you to us and have the right to send the data to another organisation (or ask us to do so if technically feasible) where our lawful basis for processing the personal data is consent or necessity for the performance of our contract with you and the processing is carried out by automated means.
To exercise your right to data portability, please submit the following form.
Your right to withdraw consent (where processing is based on consent)
Where we process personal data based on consent, individuals have a right to withdraw consent at any time. We do not generally process personal data based on consent (as we can usually rely on another legal basis).
Where we rely on your consent for our processing of your personal data, to withdraw your consent please send us your request using the following form or, to stop receiving an email from a PwC NL marketing list, please click on the unsubscribe link in the relevant email.
10. Complaints
We hope that you won’t ever need to, but if you do want to complain about our use of personal data, please send an email with the details of your complaint to nl_dataprotection@pwc.com or sent a letter to Data Protection Office (per gewone post: PricewaterhouseCoopers BV, t.a.v. Data Protection Office (Westgate II 10G), Postbus 90351, 1066 JR Amsterdam). We will look into and respond to any complaints we receive.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country of residence, place of work or the country in which an alleged infringement of data protection law has occurred within the EU. The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (“AP”) is the NL data protection regulator/supervisory authority. For further information on your rights and how to complain to the AP, please refer to the website of the AP.
Contact us
