At Hi Folks we want to give you as much control as possible over your personal information, including your registration data. So we let our users know how we may use personal information derived from their access to and use of Hi Folks website and its services.

​

To successfully pursue its business activities, Hi Folks needs to process personal data about individuals. This may include prospective clients, customers, job seekers, journalists, vendors, investors, competitors, former employees and other people the organisation has a relationship with or may need to contact.

​

Hi Folks is committed to respecting the rights of the people whose personal data is being processed. The group is committed to complying with data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the national laws of the countries in which it operates.

​

This privacy statement describes what personal data we collect, why we do it, how long we keep it and the rights you can exercise with regards to your personal data. It applies to all personal data submitted to Hi Folks via the website, by email, or by any other means.

 

Controller:

The controller responsible for personal data and their processing is Émilie Grosjean.

​

Personal data we collect about you:

If possible, we try to collect personal data directly from the person concerned. However, it may be necessary to collect personal data from third parties in the context of building future relationships (e.g. with customers or candidates).

​

I. Information you provide us includes:

• Contact form filled out by you (website): name, email, company, phone, function, subject and message;

• job applications (websites or via recruitment company): application forms, CV, interview notes and related recruitment information;

• content of correspondence with us (by email, phone, letter, …);

• information from social media when you link to our website (online);

• contact details of past, present and future suppliers, vendors, investors or other stakeholders.

​

II. Information we may automatically collect if you visit our website includes:

• Technical information, including IP address, login information, browser type and version;

• cookies and other technologies (See the Cookie Policy on our website for more information);

• Hi Folks will track the domains from which people visit Hi Folks and analyse this data for statistical purposes. Subject to the provisions of this Privacy Policy, the Hi Folks website may use accumulated data for different purposes, including but not limited to marketing analysis, service evaluation and planning.

 

III. Information we may automatically collect if you visit our website includes:

​

Purposes:

In general, we may need to process all types of personal data to comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements, relevant industry standards and our policies, and for litigation or defending claims. This includes:

​

• Supplier, vendor, journalist, consultant and other stakeholder personal data: we process your personal data to conclude and execute our agreements and manage our relationships;

• Investor and shareholder data: we use your personal data in order to manage our relationship and our obligations to you. We maintain contact details for external communications and to respond to your queries;

• Student and job seeker data: your personal data are stored for recruitment and selection procedures. More specifically, your personal data are processed to assess your profile and skills to fit a job and to make a specific job offer to you;

• Subject to your explicit consent, we may use your contact details to send you our newsletter, mailings and to invite you to events. We also may use this personal data in other ways, for which we provide specific notice at the time of collection.

• Additional notification: in order to implement or enforce the Terms of Service of the relevant Hi Folks site, Hi Folks may use personal data to contact users on an individual basis.

​

Retention of your personal data: 

Your personal data is kept in our information systems only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected (as described above). It will be deleted once it is no longer needed by us and once all legal requirements have been met.

We will retain and use your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to perform our agreements or to consider tenders, to comply with our legal obligations (such as accounting and tax obligations) and to resolve disputes or enforce our agreements. This means that your personal data will be held during the duration of our contractual relationship and for up to 10 years afterwards.

Application forms (CVs), interview notes and references of unsuccessful candidates are kept for a period of 24 months following the closure of the hiring process. If we would like to stay in contact with an applicant who was not chosen for the job they applied for, we will ask for their consent to keep the CV in our application pool for another two years.

In all cases, personal data may be kept for a longer period of time if there is a legal or regulatory reason to do so, or for a shorter period if the individual objects to the processing of their personal data and there is no longer a legitimate purpose to retain it.

​

Legal basis: 

Hi Folks only processes your personal data if at least one of these grounds applies:

• For the preparation or performance of a contract;

• In order to comply with the legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject;

• For legitimate business interests, in which case we always seek to strike a balance between that interest and respecting your privacy;

• If none of the above, where we have your explicit consent.

​

Disclosure to third parties:

Hi Folks does not share your personal data with third parties, apart from:

• with our legal successors; 

• with subcontractors and third parties for the purpose of the performance of a contract that we hold with them or that we hold with you;

• with third party service providers who perform services on our behalf to help us with our business activities. These service providers are limited to only using your personal data as instructed to carry out their tasks;

• as permitted or required by applicable law or regulatory requirements;

• with law enforcement authorities or other government officials;

• with other third parties, with your consent.

​

Your rights: 

In accordance with the GDPR, Hi Folks will respond to your requests in the GDPR-mandated time to exercise the following rights:

​

Right to be informed:

Hi Folks is transparent, providing you any information relating to the processing of your personal data via this privacy statement or specific information notices at the time of collection.

Right to access:
You have the right to request a copy of the personal data that Hi Folks holds about you. We may require proof of identity before fulfilling such requests.

Right to rectification:
If the personal data that Hi Folks holds about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to update or rectify it.

Right to be forgotten:
You have the right to request Hi Folks to erase all your personal data. We will delete your personal data without undue delay if we do not have any legal reason or legitimate purpose to continue to process it.

Right to restrict processing:
In some specific cases, you have the right to ask Hi Folks to restrict how we process your personal data.

Right to data portability: 
This right only applies to personal data that you have provided to Hi Folks, based on consent or for the performance of a contract. Hi Folks will provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format to be able to transmit it to another DPO (controller), or have it directly transmitted by Hi Folks if technically feasible.

Right to object:
You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data if the processing is based on the legitimate interest of Hi Folks or on public interest. Hi Folks will discontinue the processing of your personal data, unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds  which override your interests or rights, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Right to withdraw consent:
Where your consent was required for the collection or use of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. For example, you may choose to stop receiving our newsletter by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the emails.

Right to lodge a complaint: 
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority if you consider that the processing of your personal data infringes this Privacy Statement or the GDPR.
You can exercise your rights by sending a request by email to raphael.cardon@hifolks.agency or use the form on the website.

​

Limitations of responsibility:

Hi Folks has links to other websites, whether owned or controlled by Hi Folks or unrelated third parties. Hi Folks is not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of such linked websites.

​

Publication:

​

Surveys and Resulting Information:
Hi Folks may conduct surveys or other studies of its customer base for marketing and planning purposes. Users choose whether or not to participate; Hi Folks does not conduct mandatory surveys. With respect to information collected from such surveys or studies, and in the event that responses are to be publicly disclosed, users will be notified at the time they take the survey and Hi Folks will disclose only aggregate information regarding its users and not personal information identifying any specific individual. Circumstances under which Hi Folks would publicly disclose such aggregate information include, but are not limited to, sharing survey results with the site population, providing data to Hi Folks' advertisers on user preferences and/or demographics, and publicising overall usage data in press communications.

In cases where surveys allow users to submit written comments, and where Hi Folks advises users of the possibility of such disclosure at the time they take the survey, Hi Folks reserves the right to disclose text information provided by any user through such a survey, provided that no personal information identifying that user is disclosed.

​

Changes to our Privacy Policy:

Hi Folks may change this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect new legal or regulatory obligations, or in response to new data processing activities. Where the changes are significant, we may choose to send an e-mail to all our registered users with the new details. Any such changes will be posted here and will be effective from the time they are communicated, or, if required, when we have obtained your consent. We advise you to check back frequently to see any updates or changes. This Privacy Policy was last reviewed on September 2024.