Last updated: February 2023
The First Dutch website (the ‘Website’) is managed and operated by First Dutch. This Privacy Policy applies to your use of FirstDutch.com. Here at First Dutch (‘we’ or ‘us’), we take your privacy seriously. We’re committed to protecting the privacy of any personal data you give us, and we will comply with all relevant data protection legislation. Please take the time to read this Privacy Policy, as it is essential for you to understand how we collect and use your data when you use FirstDutch.com.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and store the personal data you provide to us during your use of the Website. References in this Privacy Policy to ‘personal data’ mean data that relates to you and that identifies or can be used to identify you; this may include your name, email address, or other digital identifiers relating to you, such as cookies, IP addresses or logs.
The website contains links to other third-party websites. We have no control over those websites and cannot take any responsibility for any information you give them. Other sites have different privacy and security policies as well as terms and conditions, so we advise you to read them before using third-party websites.
For the purposes of data protection laws, First Dutch is a ‘data controller’ of personal data that is collected, used and/or otherwise processed in conjunction with the use of the Website. This means, among other things, that we control how your personal data we hold is used, and we have certain obligations under data protection laws in doing so.
What personal data do we collect?
Contact information
If you enter a request for more information, we may collect your name and email address.
Cookie data
When you browse our website, we will collect certain information about your browsing behaviour where you have consented to deploy cookies. You can read more about the cookies that are applied on FirstDutch.com in our cookie policy.
What are our reasons for using your information?
We are pleased to give you access to the Website; in return, we may collect, use, and share your personal data. We will use your personal data for our purposes only in a manner permitted by applicable data protection legislation, which may include:
• For our legitimate interests (for example, to provide the website and its features in order to give you the best user experience).
• Where you have explicitly consented (for example, by actively requesting to receive more information about First Dutch), or
• Where we are under a legal obligation to do so (for example, to comply with applicable law).
By ‘legitimate interests’, we mean our interests in managing the Website and our relationship with you. We will ensure that we consider any potential impact such use may have on you. Our legitimate interests will not automatically override your interests, and we won’t use your information if we feel that your interests override ours (unless, of course, you provide your consent, or we have a contractual or legal obligation to use your information in that way). If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us.
What do we use your information for?
• To help us make the website and other related content available to you (please see the ‘Who do we share your information with?’ section below for more information).
• To make the website more relevant for you and our other visitors. This includes sometimes requesting personal data from you to help us run and develop our site and associated functions.
• To send you our newsletter if you have signed up to receive it.
• To carry out occasional surveys to analyse our user base; ultimately, we want to ensure that the Website provides everything that you (our audience) are looking for.
• To comply with the law, or
• As we feel it is necessary to prevent illegal activity or to protect our interests.
How long do we keep hold of your information?
We will keep your information only for as long as we need it. How long we keep it depends very much on the type of information we hold and the purpose for which we need it. Our handling of your information also must comply with our legal obligations. For example, if you have registered to receive the newsletter, we will keep your information. At the same time, you are a subscriber to the newsletter, so we can provide that service to you and then delete it after you have unsubscribed. You can request that we delete your personal data at any time.
How do we make sure our site is secure?
We follow strict security procedures to manage how your personal data is stored and used, who sees it, and to help stop any unauthorised person from getting hold of it. We take security extremely seriously, but because no system is 100% secure, we cannot completely guarantee the protection of your personal data any more than any other organisation can. As a result, if there is a security breach, we cannot accept any liability for the loss, theft or misuse of any personal data you may register on the Website.
What are my rights?
You have the following rights when it comes to our handling of your personal data:
• Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the personal data we have about you and to request supporting information explaining how the personal data is used. Please note that we sometimes ask you to provide proof of identity before showing you your personal data; this is to prevent unauthorised access.
• Right of rectification – you have the right to request that we rectify inaccurate personal data about you that we have.
• Right of erasure – you have the right to request that we erase all personal data about you that we have (please note that we may be able to reject or restrict the request in some circumstances, depending on the information we hold and our lawful reason to keep it).
• Right to restrict processing – in some situations, you have the right to request that we not use the personal data you have provided (e.g. if you believe it to be inaccurate).
• Right to object, including direct marketing – you have the right to object to our specific processing of your personal data (unless we have overriding compelling grounds to continue processing) and the right to object to direct marketing by us.
• Right to data portability – you have the right to request that we provide you with certain information that you have provided to us in electronic format or to provide that information to a third party.
• Please contact us via email if you would like to exercise any of these rights (including having access to your data): contact@firstdutch.com
Get in touch
Get in touch if you have any questions, comments or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy. You can contact us using the details set out in the ‘What are my rights?’ section above.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may change from time to time; if it does, the most up-to-date version will apply and will always be available on firstdutch.com.
Our cookie policy
Last updated: February 2023
We use cookies and similar technologies (such as tags, pixels and mobile apps) to improve your experience on the website and to recommend content that may be of interest to you. When we talk about ‘cookies’ in this policy, we are referring to all of these technologies. You can find out more below about what cookies are, the cookies we use and how to switch them off. We will deploy only strictly necessary cookies until you have made your choices in relation to which cookies you choose to allow.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a text file containing a unique identifier which is downloaded to your device when you access a website or mobile app. The text file is then sent back to our server each time your browser requests a page from the server. This enables us to operate the website more effectively so that it reflects your personal preferences, based on your previous browsing on the website as well as keywords we may be able to gather from URLs of other webpages from which you accessed the website.
Cookies can also allow us to do various other things, as explained below. Cookies can be used for the duration of your visit, or they can be set to last longer so we can measure how you interact with us over time. Cookies help us to provide you with important features and functionality and to ensure you get a great experience. We also use cookies to keep our business secure by detecting fraudulent activity and to help prevent security breaches.
What cookies do we use?
When you visit the website and consent to cookies, the following types of cookies may be downloaded to your device:
Strictly necessary cookies
These are cookies that are required for the administration and operation of the website. Some cookies that we use are necessary for the website to function properly and to enable you to move around the website and use its features.
Functional cookies
We may use functional cookies that allow us to remember choices you have made on the website to provide you with an enhanced user experience by delivering content specific to your interests. We may also use cookies to embed certain social posts on the website.
Analytical and performance cookies (visit tracking)
We may use analytics service providers for website traffic analysis and reporting. Analytics service providers generate statistical and other information about the use of the website through cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how often visitors return to the website, how long they stay, and how visitors move around the website when they are using it. This information helps us to improve the way the website works; for example, it helps users to find what they are looking for easily. The information generated relating to the website may be used to create reports about the use of the site, and the analytics service provider will store this information.
Advertising cookies
These cookies record your visit to the website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed to other sites. We will use this information to try and make the website more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with others (such as other First Dutch entities) for this purpose.
Do we use any third-party cookies?
We add buttons to allow people to easily share our news items across their social networks. When we include these social ‘plugins’, it gives those sites the flexibility to use their own cookies. They can’t read any cookies we set from the website, and we can’t read any cookies they set, but it lets them do the same kind of traffic measuring that we do on the rest of the website (and it also lets them know whether you’re logged into their site).
Other sites and services may also use cookies over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical and performance cookies or advertising and targeting cookies, and we use these to improve your experience on the Website.
The following third parties may use cookies:
• YouTube
How do I turn cookies off?
If you do not wish us to download cookies, or if you don’t agree with how we use these cookies, you can change the settings on the website by adjusting the options on the banner that appears on the website. You can also change your internet browser settings to reject cookies.
For more information, please consult the ‘Help’ section of your browser or visit allaboutcookies.org, which will also provide guidance on how to remove cookies that have already been deployed to your browser.