Privacy Policy

In this privacy policy we explain how Ask-the-Expert B.V., owner of supportpoints.com (from here on: “SupportPoints”) collects and uses your personal data.  

What is SupportPoints? 

SupportPoints is an online platform which aims to bring together PLC experts (“Experts”) and industrial customers (“Clients”) who are in need of the Experts’ support. SupportPoints facilitates the exchange of knowledge and messages between Experts and Clients, the conclusion of agreements between them and facilitates the payment process between the Expert and the Client.  

In the context of offering our platform and relates services (together: the “Services”), we process the Expert’s personal data and the personal data of the Clients’ contact persons and, as the case may be, our suppliers.  

How and where do we collect your personal data? 

Although we can’t be exhaustive, we have listed below in what ways we collect your personal data: 

• Cookies: SupportPoints places cookies. Please look in our cookie policy for more information about the cookies we place.  
• Signing up for an account: To be able to access the platform and use our Services, you must sign up for an account. We will ask you to provide your details such as your name, place of residence, mobile phone number (not required), email address and the Experts’ professional specialisations, if you work for a Client: the company or organisation you work for. Without these details, you cannot sign up for an account and use our Services. We also need these data to fulfil our legal administration obligations. 
• Invoicing: To be able to invoice the Expert’s support to the Client and to pay the invoiced fees to the Expert (after deducting our fees), we require their bank/credit card information.  
• Communicating through the platform: Experts and Clients (their contact persons) can communicate through the platform using the chat and email functionalities. The generated communication may contain personal data.  
• Ratings: For transparency purposes, we rate the Experts and Clients. In so far as such ratings concern the Experts and, as the case may be, contact persons of the Client, they may be regarded as personal data.  
• Reviews: Clients are asked to place reviews of the Experts and the support they have provided. 
• Administration: we keep your personal data for our own administration purposes, and personal data related to financial information to fulfill legal administration obligations. 
• Verification: we will also use your personal data, as the case may be, to verify whether you are using our Services in accordance with our Terms and Conditions. 
• Conflicts: in case there is a conflict between you and SupportPoints, or between an Expert and a Client, we will retain the relevant communication for as long as is necessary in relation to such conflict.
• Email newsletter: we will keep you informed of updates relating to our Services by email if you have consented to this. 

What do we use your personal data for?

Providing the Services. We use your personal data to deliver our Services, which includes: 

• Enabling you to sign up for an account; 
• Securing your account; 
• Identifying you; 
• Sending you a confirmation of your account registration by email; 
• Categorising Experts on the basis of their specialisations so clients can select them based on the specialisation the clients seeks; 
• Allowing Experts and Clients to communicate with each
  other and with us; 
• Providing transparency to both Clients and Experts, for example with regard to their expertise and specialisations and supplier friendliness Invoicing Clients; 
• Paying the fees to the Experts; 
• Notifying Experts by mobile phone about urgent jobs; 
• Sending service notifications.  

On what legal grounds do we use your personal data? 

We use your personal data to be able to conclude and perform the agreement with you (to provide our Services), to fulfill legal obligations and for our legitimate business interests. These interests are to be able to provide customer support and to communicate with you, to maintain a commercial relation with you, to keep an administration, to protect the reputation of the platform and our business, to be able to conduct legal proceedings if necessary. In specific cases, for example for sending our email newsletter, we ask you prior consent. 

Do we process children’s personal data?

SupportPoints cannot be used by persons below the age of 16, we do not collect personal data about people younger than 16.

With whom do we share your personal data? 

In the following cases we share, or may have to your personal data with other parties: 

• IT-companies. We use external IT-companies, who store data, including your personal data. These IT-companies are established in the Netherlands.  
• Financial and tax administration. We use an accountant for our financial administration. This accountant is established in the Netherlands. Their employees have limited access to financial and tax related personal data (invoice data). 
• Payment providers. We use one or more payment providers who take care of the invoicing to the Clients and the payment of the fees to the Expert (and our fees to us). They do this under their own responsibility, as controllers of your personal data. These payment providers are established in the United States of America and ensure an adequate level of protection of your personal data.  
• Government authorities. We may be obliged to share certain personal data with government authorities pursuant to a legal obligation or order, such as the tax authorities. These authorities process your personal data under their own responsibility, as controllers. 

The above parties that process your personal data on our behalf have concluded agreements with us to ensure that they only process your personal data on our instruction, that they properly secure your data and that they otherwise treat your personal data diligently. 

Sharing of personal data on the platform. Experts and Clients’ contact persons will share their personal data on the SupportPoints platform. These persons may be located inside the European Economic Area (EEA) or outside the EEA. In so far as this sharing of personal data is to be regarded as ‘transferring’ to outside the EEA (which we don’t believe is the case in view of the Linqvist case law of the European Court ofJustice), we assume that this is necessary for the performance of the agreement with you (in other words: enabling you to use the Services).  

How long do we retain your personal data? 

We retain you registration data, such as your name, place of residence, mobile phone number, email address, the Experts’ professional specialisations, payment details, if you work for a Client: the company or organisation you work for, during your account registration and one month after your account has been closed. Personal data related to reviews and ratings will be retained during the same term.

We retain email correspondence during a maximum period of one year. Chat transcriptions will be retained for six months. In case of a conflict we will retain the relevant personal data for as long as is necessary in relation to the conflict. We will retain personal data on invoices during the statutory retention period, which is seven years.

What rights do you have? 

On the basis of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have (at least) the following rights: 

• To ask for access to, and of a copy of your personal data; 
• To be informed about the processing of your personal data; 
• To have your personal data corrected and completed; 
• To have your personal data deleted (‘right to be forgotten’); 
• To have your personal data restricted; 
• To object to the processing of your personal data; 
• If you have given your consent for a specific processing of your personal data, to withdraw that consent. The withdrawal of your consent then applies to future use of your personal data; 
• If you have submitted the personal data or if you have created them, and you have given your consent or the data are required for the conclusion and/or the performance of the agreement with you, and if the data are processed by automated means: you are entitled to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable form and, if technically feasible, to transfer those data in that manner to another party at your request; 
• To submit a complaint with the competent data protection authority. 

You can amend your registration data (name, email address etc.) in your account by logging in on your account. Nonetheless, to exercise your rights, please contact us using the contact details under ‘What if I have questions?’. In some cases, we may be entitled to refuse certain requests. In that case, we will inform you of the reasons for the refusal.  

If you wish to unsubscribe from our newsletter, you can do so by pressing the unsubscribe button in the email and you will be automatically unsubscribed, you can also send an email to info@supportpoints.com and we will manually unsubscribe you. 

What if you have questions? 

If you would like more information or have questions about our privacy policy, you can contact us via e-mail. Our e-mail address is info@supportpoints.com.  

Can we amend this privacy statement? 

Yes. This privacy statement is dated 17 January 2019. We reserve the right to amend this privacy statement. In case of important amendments, we will inform you thereof, for example by sending you an email message.