Choosing a business address in the Netherlands: all options clearly explained
When starting a business in the Netherlands, you need a business address for registration with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK). In addition, many ent...
Bill to improve privacy and security for entrepreneurs in the Commercial Register
Knowing who you are doing business with. That is the purpose of the Chamber of Commerce's Trade Register. This public register allows anyone to check the details of business partners, which provides legal certainty in economic transactions. At the same time, the personal data included in the Trade Register must be adequately protected. The Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy are now taking measures to adjust the balance between these two interests.
In recent years, however, registered entrepreneurs have increasingly suffered from unwanted use of their business data. For example, data that is legally required to be public is used for marketing purposes without consent. Address details of individuals are published online (doxing), and more and more freelancers, in particular, are experiencing threatening situations both online and offline.
To combat these problems and ensure that the Trade Register keeps up with the times, several improvements are being made:
- Better protection of personal data.
- A curb on unwanted direct marketing.
- A new form of financing for the Trade Register.
Incidental data requests will remain free. However, high-volume users will have to pay for them. Registered entrepreneurs who make extensive use of trade register functions, such as extracts, will have to pay an annual contribution (between €2,500 and €50,000). This is expected to eliminate the business model of unwanted data use by third parties. In this way, the government hopes to improve the privacy of registered entrepreneurs in the Trade Register and prevent nuisance from some marketers.
The ban on the use of trade register data for direct marketing purposes will be included in a second legislative proposal planned for 2025. This amendment should help combat the annoying practice of unsolicited acquisition calls experienced by many entrepreneurs. In addition to these measures, the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) will tighten data control.
The plan is to have implemented as many measures as possible by the end of 2025.
Source: Overheid.nl
Link: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2024/05/08/vernieuwing-handelsregister-streeft-naar-privacy-en-veiligheid-voor-ondernemers
Source: Chamber of Commerce
Link: https://www.kvk.nl/pers/vernieuwing-handelsregister-verbetert-privacy-en-veiligheid-voor-ondernemers/
Our comments:
It is good that the government takes the privacy of entrepreneurs seriously. The question is whether these measures will be sufficiently effective:
- Professional marketers will not be deterred by an annual contribution and will continue to retrieve data from the Trade Register.
- The data remains public (legally required), with only phone and email being protected. This will not stop malicious individuals, and especially freelancers with their registered home address may suffer from this.
- The KVK wants to tighten control, but the question remains how they will do this in practice. Merely checking basic data says nothing about the actual activities. Cowboys operating from an attic room can still get away with data and be difficult to distinguish from professionals.
Our solution:
With an address from Postadres.nl, especially as a freelancer, you are not dependent on these successful or unsuccessful measures. Your address details and privacy are always guaranteed to be in safe hands with us.
Please refer to our Privacy Statement and our Terms and Conditions for more information.
