BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Benjamin Docquir and Margo Cornette, Osborne Clarke
Osborne Clarke Bastion Tower Pl du Champ de Mars 5 1050 Bruxelles Belgium Tel: +32 2 515 93 00 Email: lena.tausend@osborneclark.com Web: www.osborneclarke.com
1. Legal and Regulatory Framework 1.1 Overview of Data and Privacy- Related Laws Article 22 of the Belgian constitution provides for the right to protection of private and family life, and forms the cornerstone of the Belgian laws governing or impacting privacy in general. In addition, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights has direct effect in Belgium and is a cornerstone of the rule of law and of the Belgian law enforcement system. However, from the point of view of digital tech - nologies and innovation, the most important regulation in Belgium for businesses is the Gen - eral Data Protection Regulation, also referred to as the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), which applies to all member states of the EU. Along with the European legislation, the Belgian Law of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural per - sons with regard to the processing of personal data also applies. This Belgian legislation adopts a number of principles enshrined in the GDPR in respect of the activities of specific state and public bodies. In respect of businesses, it does not add or deviate much from the standard rules laid down by the GDPR.
Belgium has established its supervisory authori - ties by implementing the Law of 3 December 2017, as required by the GDPR. The main super - visory authority is vested with investigative and corrective powers and is entitled to fine a con - troller or processor if they do not comply with the GDPR or the Belgian Law of 30 July 2018. The fines as listed in Article 83 of the GDPR may not, however, be imposed on public authorities and their appointees or agents, unless they are a legal person governed by public law offering goods or services on a market (Article 221, Sec - tion 2 of the Belgian Law of 30 July 2018). In addition to the GDPR and the Belgian Law of 30 July 2018, other laws have been enacted to respect privacy and fundamental rights in differ - ent fields, such as consumer protection, elec - tronic communications, electronic commerce, direct marketing and the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV), etc. Indeed, the Code of Eco - nomic Law (CEL) contains certain provisions on direct marketing in its Book VI and is supple - mented in this respect by the Royal Decree of 4 April 2003, regulating the sending of advertising by e-mail. In addition, the Law of 21 March 2007 on the use of camera surveillance regulates the use of CCTV in public and private areas. The authority responsible for the enforcement of
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