Privacy policy
TranslateBE is committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR - EU 2016/679) and the applicable Belgian legislation.
Last updated: 11 April 2026
Data controller
The controller of the personal data collected via the translatebe.eu website and the associated services is the company TranslateBE, a company incorporated under English law carrying out its commercial activities primarily in Belgium.
Company: TranslateBE
Place of business: Belgium, Brussels
General email: contact@translatebe.eu
Data Protection Officer (DPO): privacy@translatebe.eu
Telephone: +32 (0)2 315 19 29
Categories of data collected
TranslateBE collects only the data strictly necessary for the performance of its services and its legal obligations. The following categories of data are processed:
Identification and contact data
- First name and surname
- Professional or personal email address
- Telephone number
- Postal address (for invoicing or delivery)
Data relating to translated documents
- Source documents submitted for translation or interpretation
- File metadata (name, format, size)
- Content of the documents (potentially sensitive depending on the context)
Payment data
- Invoicing information (name, address, VAT number)
- Bank transfer reference (never the full bank details)
- History of payments and invoices
User account data
- Email address and hashed password (bcrypt)
- User role (client, translator, admin)
- Account preferences and settings
- Login and activity logs
Browsing and analytics data
- IP address (anonymised before processing)
- Browser type and operating system
- Pages visited and session duration (via Google Analytics 4)
- Traffic source
Legal bases for processing (GDPR Art. 6)
Each processing of personal data carried out by TranslateBE relies on one of the following legal bases, in accordance with Article 6 of the GDPR:
Art. 6(1)(b) - Performance of the contract
The identification, contact and document-related data are processed in order to perform the service contract concluded with the client (translation, interpretation, quote) or to take pre-contractual steps at the client's request.
Art. 6(1)(c) - Legal obligation
The invoicing data are retained in order to comply with the accounting and tax obligations laid down by Belgian law (VAT Code, accounting law), in particular the retention of accounting documents for 7 years.
Art. 6(1)(f) - Legitimate interest
The login data and activity logs are processed in the legitimate interest of TranslateBE in order to ensure the security of the platform, prevent fraud and improve the quality of the services. This legitimate interest does not override your fundamental rights.
Art. 6(1)(a) - Consent
Analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4) and the sending of marketing communications are subject to your prior, freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous consent. You may withdraw this consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of the prior processing.
Purposes of processing
The data collected are used exclusively for the following specified, explicit and legitimate purposes:
- Managing quote requests, orders and translation or interpretation assignments
- Performing the service contract (communication, delivery of translations, assignment follow-up)
- Invoicing, managing bank transfer payments and accounting archiving
- Managing user accounts (creation, authentication, configuration, 2FA)
- Sending transactional communications relating to assignments (confirmations, reminders, delivery notifications)
- Sending marketing communications (newsletters, offers) only with your prior consent - with the option to unsubscribe at any time
- Securing the platform, detecting and preventing fraud and abuse
- Improving the services and the website through anonymised audience analysis
- Complying with the applicable legal and regulatory obligations
Retention periods
Data are retained for a period not exceeding that necessary for the purposes for which they are processed, in accordance with the data minimisation principle laid down in Article 5(1)(e) of the GDPR:
| Category of data | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Source documents and delivered translations | 30 days after delivery (automatic deletion via DB trigger) |
| Data of an active client account | Duration of account activity + 3 years after last login |
| Invoicing and accounting data | 7 years (Belgian legal obligation - VAT Code and accounting law) |
| Login and security logs | 12 rolling months |
| Analytics cookies (GA4) | 13 months maximum (CNIL/DPA recommendation) |
| Marketing prospecting data (with consent) | 3 years from the last contact or until consent is withdrawn |
| Source files of rejected quotes | 30 days after the quote expires |
Warning before deletion: A warning email is sent to you 7 days before the automatic deletion of your documents, so that you can download and keep a local copy of your delivered translations.
Recipients and processors
TranslateBE does not sell, rent or transfer your personal data to third parties for commercial purposes. The data may be shared only with the following recipients, strictly within the framework of the declared purposes:
Appointed freelance translators
The source documents are shared only with the translators assigned to your assignment, bound by a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA). They only have access to the documents of their own assignments.
Bank transfer payments
Payments are made by direct bank transfer. No complete bank data is stored on our servers. Only the transfer references and the amounts are kept for accounting purposes.
Supabase (database)
Database infrastructure hosted in the EU-West-1 region (Frankfurt), subject to a DPA (Data Processing Agreement) compliant with the GDPR.
Vercel Inc. (hosting)
Hosting of the web application. The data pass through servers located in Europe (Frankfurt). A DPA is signed with Vercel.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) - emails
Sending of transactional and marketing emails. Data hosted on European servers. Native DPA compliant with the GDPR.
Google Analytics (audience analysis)
Collection of anonymised browsing data with your prior consent. See the Cookies section below.
Transfers of data outside the European Union
Some of our processors are established outside the European Economic Area (EEA), in particular in the United States. These transfers are framed by appropriate safeguards in accordance with Chapter V of the GDPR:
Vercel Inc.
A US company subject to the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC). Our deployment is configured in the Europe region (Frankfurt, fra1) in order to minimise transatlantic transfers. A DPA is signed covering these transfers.
Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited)
An Irish entity. The data may transit to the servers of Google LLC in the United States, framed by the SCC and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. IP anonymisation is enabled. This processing only takes place with your consent.
You can obtain a copy of the appropriate safeguards put in place by contacting our DPO at privacy@translatebe.eu.
Your data protection rights
In accordance with Articles 15 to 22 of the GDPR and the Belgian law of 30 July 2018, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
Right of access (Art. 15)
Obtain confirmation that your data are being processed and receive a copy thereof, as well as information on the manner of the processing.
Right to rectification (Art. 16)
Have inaccurate or incomplete data concerning you corrected.
Right to erasure (Art. 17)
Request the deletion of your data (right to be forgotten), subject to the legal retention obligations.
Right to portability (Art. 20)
Receive your data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, in order to transmit them to another controller.
Right to object (Art. 21)
Object to the processing of your data for direct marketing purposes or based on our legitimate interest.
Right to restriction (Art. 18)
Request the temporary suspension of the processing of your data in certain circumstances (contesting the accuracy, unlawful processing, etc.).
How to exercise your rights?
To exercise any of these rights, send your request by email to our DPO: privacy@translatebe.eu. We undertake to respond within one month of receipt of your request (this period may be extended by a further two months in the case of a complex request). Proof of identity may be requested in order to verify your identity before processing your request.
Right to lodge a complaint with the DPA
If you consider that the processing of your personal data constitutes a breach of the GDPR or of the applicable Belgian legislation, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority, without prejudice to any other judicial remedy.
In Belgium, the competent supervisory authority is the Data Protection Authority (DPA):
Address: Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Telephone: +32 (0)2 274 48 00
Website: autoriteprotectiondonnees.be
Email: contact@apd-gba.be
We nevertheless encourage you to contact us first so that we can address your concerns directly and as quickly as possible.
Changes to this policy
TranslateBE reserves the right to amend this privacy policy at any time, in particular in order to comply with changes in the applicable regulations, with the decisions of the DPA or with new data processing practices.
In the event of a substantial change, you will be informed by email at the address associated with your account or by a notice visible on the site, with reasonable advance notice. The date of last update appears in the header of this policy.
A question about the protection of your data?
Our DPO is available to answer any questions you may have regarding the processing of your personal data.