FREIGHT LOUNGE B.V
WORLDWIDE FORWARDERS NETWORK
PRIVACY POLICY
1. About This Privacy Policy
1.1 Freight Lounge B.V. respects the privacy of the people whose personal data it processes. This Privacy Policy explains which personal data Freight Lounge collects, where it obtains the data, why and on which legal basis it uses the data, with whom it shares the data, how long it keeps the data and which rights individuals have.
1.2 This Policy applies to website visitors, applicants, Members and their contact persons, authorised Platform users, references, prospective business contacts, Event attendees, newsletter subscribers and other business contacts. Employees and individual contractors receive separate privacy information where appropriate.
1.3 This Policy provides information required by the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. It is not a request for general consent. Freight Lounge asks for consent separately where consent is the appropriate legal basis.
2. Controller and Privacy Contact
2.1 Freight Lounge B.V. is the controller for the processing described in this Policy. Its registered business address is Prinses Beatrixstraat 7, 2983 TP Ridderkerk, The Netherlands. Freight Lounge is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under number 68553323 and has VAT number NL857495021B01.
2.2 Privacy questions and requests may be sent to avs@freightlounge.com. Freight Lounge may replace this contact address in the future and will publish the current address in this Policy. The privacy contact is not described as a statutory data protection officer unless Freight Lounge formally appoints one.
3. Personal Data We Process
3.1 Depending on the relationship and the Services used, Freight Lounge may process the following categories of personal data:
• identity and business contact data, including name, title, business email address, telephone number, company, department, position and country;
• account and profile data, including login details, access rights, profile content, communication preferences and information selected for the Member directory;
• application and screening data, including information supplied in an application, references, business history, public-source research, sanctions or compliance indicators and management assessment records;
• an optional full date of birth, used only for agreed birthday recognition and related communications and never displayed in the Member directory;
• Membership, invoice, payment and accounting records, but not payment-card details processed directly by a hotel or authorised booking provider;
• Event data, including registrations, accommodation selections, attendance, dietary or accessibility information voluntarily supplied where necessary, and photographs or recordings;
• communications, enquiries, meeting notes, service requests, feedback and consent or objection records;
• complaint, dispute, non-payment and conduct records, including evidence and responses supplied by the parties;
• newsletter and publication subscription data, delivery status and engagement information;
• website, Platform and security data, including IP address, device and browser information, login events, audit logs and cookie or analytics identifiers; and
• publicly available professional information and business contact data used for lawful B2B membership outreach.
3.2 Freight Lounge does not intentionally request special-category personal data through the Platform or Member directory. Where an Event attendee voluntarily provides health, dietary or accessibility information, Freight Lounge uses it only where necessary to accommodate the request and on an appropriate legal basis.
4. Where We Obtain Personal Data
4.1 Freight Lounge may obtain personal data directly from the individual; from the individual’s employer or Member organisation; from an applicant that names a reference; from another Member that submits a complaint; from Event and accommodation providers; from service providers; and from public professional sources such as company websites, business registers, sanctions lists and professional directories.
4.2 A Member or applicant that provides another person’s business contact details must have authority or another lawful basis to do so and must direct that person to this Policy where appropriate. Freight Lounge informs a reference about the source and purpose of the contact when it first contacts that person, unless an applicable legal exception applies.
4.3 Where Freight Lounge obtains personal data indirectly, it provides the information required by Article 14 GDPR within the applicable period and normally at the first communication, unless the individual already has the information or another legal exception applies.
5. Purposes and Legal Bases
|
Purpose |
Personal data and legal basis |
|
Answer enquiries and assess applications |
Contact, application, reference, public-source and screening data. Contractual steps where the individual is the contracting party; otherwise Freight Lounge’s legitimate interests in selecting suitable Members and protecting the network. |
|
Provide Membership and operate the Platform |
Contact, account, profile, directory, support and usage data. Performance of a contract where applicable and legitimate interests in administering a B2B agreement and communicating with corporate representatives. |
|
Manage payments and legal records |
Invoice, payment and accounting data. Performance of a contract and compliance with tax, accounting and other legal obligations. |
|
Maintain security and prevent misuse |
Account, log, device, communication and incident data. Legitimate interests in security, fraud prevention, access control and protecting Freight Lounge and its Members. |
|
Handle complaints and non-payment reports |
Contracts, invoices, correspondence, evidence, responses and decisions. Legitimate interests in enforcing network standards, protecting Members and establishing, exercising or defending legal claims. |
|
Organise Events |
Registration, attendance, accommodation, communication and necessary preference data. Performance of the Event agreement, legitimate interests in Event administration, and consent where required for optional or sensitive information. |
|
Recognise birthdays |
Optional full date of birth. Consent. Refusal or withdrawal does not affect Membership. A public birthday post or other identifiable promotional use requires separate specific consent. |
|
Send Member communications |
Contact and Membership data. Performance of the Membership agreement and legitimate interests for essential service, security, invoice, expiry, Event and network communications. |
|
Send publications and marketing |
Email address, subscription, consent and engagement data. Consent for optional newsletters and promotions; applicable customer-relationship rules for Member communications, always subject to applicable electronic-marketing law and an available objection or unsubscribe method. |
|
B2B membership outreach |
Public or lawfully obtained business contact data. Legitimate interests in introducing Freight Lounge Select to relevant professional organisations, only where the communication is permitted by applicable electronic-marketing law and subject to an immediate right to object. |
|
Improve websites and Services |
Usage, device, feedback and analytics data. Consent where required for analytics cookies; otherwise legitimate interests only where the processing has no more than limited privacy impact and applicable cookie law permits it. |
|
Comply with law and protect rights |
Relevant records from the categories above. Legal obligation, legitimate interests and, where necessary, the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. |
6. Member Directory and Global Network
6.1 A Member organisation chooses which authorised contact persons and business contact details it adds to its profile. Those selected details may be visible to authenticated Freight Lounge Members worldwide. Freight Lounge does not display dates of birth, identity documents, payment data, complaint files or private account-security information in the directory.
6.2 Directory information may be used only for legitimate network and business communication. Scraping, bulk harvesting, resale, unrelated profiling and unsolicited bulk marketing are prohibited. Members accessing directory data act as independent organisations responsible for their own lawful use and are bound by the Membership Terms and Conditions, the Code of Conduct and applicable data-use and international-transfer requirements.
6.3 A contact person may ask for directory information to be corrected, hidden or removed. The Member organisation should also provide practical profile controls where available. Removal from the directory does not require Freight Lounge to delete records that it must retain for another lawful purpose.
7. Newsletters Monthly Magazine and Service Messages
7.1 People who are not active Members receive newsletters, news updates or promotions only after a separate subscription or another lawful permission. Encouraging a person to subscribe through social media or LinkedIn does not itself subscribe that person. Freight Lounge does not add imported contact lists to its newsletter without a valid opt-in.
7.2 Active paying Members receive the Freight Lounge Monthly Magazine and core network information as part of Membership. The Magazine may contain Freight Lounge, Member and industry content. Where an email is treated as direct marketing, the recipient can object or unsubscribe from email delivery without ending Membership. Essential account, security, invoice, legal, Event and Membership administration messages may still be sent.
7.3 Each optional marketing email contains an unsubscribe method. Withdrawal of consent does not affect processing that took place lawfully before withdrawal. Freight Lounge keeps minimal suppression information where necessary to ensure that an opt-out is respected.
8. Events Photographs and Recordings
8.1 Freight Lounge may take general overview and atmosphere photographs or recordings at an Event based on its legitimate interests in reporting on and documenting network activities, provided attendees are informed and can raise a reasonable objection. Freight Lounge will take particular care where an individual is the main subject of an image.
8.2 Freight Lounge requests separate consent for identifiable portraits, interviews, testimonials, birthday posts and comparable prominent promotional use where consent is the appropriate basis. An attendee may withdraw that consent for future use. Freight Lounge will remove digital material where reasonably practicable, but withdrawal may not require recall of printed materials already distributed or alteration of a lawful historical record.
9. Cookies and Google Analytics
9.1 Freight Lounge uses functional cookies required for its websites and Platform. It also uses Google Analytics to understand website use. Analytics cookies and related technologies are activated only where legally permitted and, where consent is required, only after the visitor has made an affirmative choice.
9.2 Visitors must be able to accept, reject and manage non-essential cookie categories with comparable ease. The cookie notice or cookie settings describe the cookies, providers, purposes and lifetimes and explain how consent can be withdrawn. Refusing non-essential cookies does not prevent normal access to the website.
10. Recipients and Service Providers
10.1 Freight Lounge may share personal data, where necessary and subject to appropriate terms, with:
• authenticated Freight Lounge Members for the directory and legitimate network activities;
• providers of Freight Lounge’s custom Platform, CRM, hosting and Event application software;
• Microsoft for business email and related productivity services;
• Mailchimp for authorised newsletter and publication distribution;
• Pipedrive for permitted sales and relationship management;
• Flipsnack for digital magazines and publications;
• Exact Online for accounting and financial administration;
• hotels, venues and Event suppliers where necessary for a confirmed booking or attendance;
• IT, security, support and communications providers;
• accountants, auditors, banks, debt-recovery providers and legal or other professional advisers; and
• courts, arbitral tribunals, regulators, law-enforcement bodies and public authorities where disclosure is required or lawfully necessary.
10.2 Service providers may use personal data only to provide the agreed service or for another purpose permitted by law. Freight Lounge does not sell personal data. A hotel or authorised booking provider generally receives and processes payment-card information directly; Freight Lounge does not require such card details to be entered in the Member directory.
11. International Transfers
11.1 Freight Lounge operates an international network. Personal data may therefore be accessed or processed outside the European Economic Area by authorised Members or service providers. Countries outside the EEA may not provide the same statutory level of data protection as the Netherlands.
11.2 Where Chapter V of the GDPR applies, Freight Lounge uses an applicable adequacy decision, participation in an approved data privacy framework, European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses or another lawful transfer mechanism. Freight Lounge also applies measures such as authenticated access, role-based permissions, data minimisation, confidentiality and security controls. Information about the relevant safeguards can be requested through the privacy contact, subject to appropriate redaction.
12. Retention
|
Category |
Normal retention period |
|
Active Member profile and optional date of birth |
For the active Membership. The active profile is removed or deactivated within fourteen days after expiry or termination, subject to records retained for another lawful purpose. |
|
Financial and tax administration |
Seven years, or longer where a specific legal obligation requires it. |
|
Rejected or withdrawn application |
Normally twelve months after the decision or withdrawal, unless a dispute, fraud concern or legal obligation justifies longer retention. |
|
Screening and reference records for an accepted Member |
During active Membership and normally up to two years afterwards, unless a dispute, compliance concern or legal claim justifies longer retention. |
|
Complaints, payment disputes and enforcement files |
During the matter and normally up to five years after closure, or longer while a legal or arbitral claim remains pending or may reasonably be pursued. |
|
Event administration |
Normally two years after the Event. Related financial records are retained for the applicable financial retention period. |
|
Photographs and recordings |
Promotional source material is reviewed periodically and normally kept for no more than five years. Published editorial or historical Event material may remain archived, subject to applicable rights and valid objections. |
|
Optional newsletter subscription |
Until consent is withdrawn or the subscription otherwise ends. Minimal suppression data may be retained for as long as necessary to honour the opt-out. |
|
Prospective business contact data |
Until objection or normally no longer than twenty-four months after the last meaningful interaction, unless a longer period is lawfully justified. |
|
Security and technical logs |
For the period reasonably necessary for security, investigation and continuity, according to documented system settings and risk. |
|
Backups |
Until overwritten or deleted under the documented backup cycle of Freight Lounge or its provider. Restored data remains subject to the original retention rule. |
12.1 Freight Lounge may retain particular information for longer where required by law, necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim, or required to preserve evidence concerning fraud, security or serious misconduct. Access is restricted during any extended retention period.
13. Security
13.1 Freight Lounge applies technical and organisational measures appropriate to the nature, scope, context and risks of the processing. These measures include, where appropriate, access controls, account permissions, confidentiality requirements, secure transmission, supplier due diligence, backups, logging, incident handling and periodic review.
13.2 No system is completely secure. Members and users must protect their credentials and promptly report suspected compromise or misuse to Freight Lounge.
14. Automated Decisions
14.1 Freight Lounge may use online research, screening indicators and internal criteria to support application and risk reviews. Freight Lounge does not make a decision producing legal or similarly significant effects solely by automated means. The Freight Lounge team or management makes the admission and enforcement decision.
15. Your Rights
15.1 Subject to the conditions and exceptions in applicable law, an individual may request access to personal data, correction, deletion, restriction, data portability and information about the processing. An individual may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing and may withdraw consent at any time.
15.2 Requests may be sent to avs@freightlounge.com. Freight Lounge normally responds within one month. Freight Lounge may ask for information reasonably necessary to verify identity. It will not request a copy of an identity document as a standard condition and will first use a less intrusive verification method where possible.
15.3 A request may be refused or limited where an exception applies, including where retention is legally required, another person’s rights must be protected or the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. Freight Lounge will explain the decision where required.
15.4 An individual may lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, at https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/. Individuals may also contact another competent supervisory authority where applicable.
16. Children
16.1 Freight Lounge Select is a business-to-business network and is not directed to children. Freight Lounge does not knowingly create Member accounts for children. If information about a minor is exceptionally required for an Event, Freight Lounge will seek appropriate authority and limit the information to what is necessary.
17. Changes to This Policy
17.1 Freight Lounge may update this Policy to reflect changes in its Services, systems, suppliers or legal obligations. The current version will be published at https://select.freightlounge.network/privacy/. Freight Lounge will provide an appropriate notice where a change materially affects individuals.
18. Company Information
|
Company |
Freight Lounge B.V. |
Chamber of Commerce |
68553323 |
|
Address |
Prinses Beatrixstraat 7, 2983 TP Ridderkerk, The Netherlands |
VAT number |
NL857495021B01 |
|
|
avs@freightlounge.com |
Effective date |
2 October 2026 |