KVK Examines Entrepreneurial Irritations Through the Trade Register and Commercial Uses Now

The Chamber of Commerce (KVK) examines to what extent entrepreneurs suffer from the commercial use of the commercial register. The data from the public summary can be retrieved, after which contractors can be contacted by unsolicited phone calls and emails.

The KVK conducts the investigation after contractors have complained of aggressive and unwanted marketing calls and commercial offers via various channels, report KVK from NU.nl. The study clearly reveals the size of this group of entrepreneurs.

In April, the Privacy Authority (PA) stated that the Chamber of Commerce could violate Dutch privacy law by giving commercial parties access to the Registry of the Privacy Act. trade. "At first glance, this seems to reconcile the original purpose of data processing," said PA President Aleid Wolfsen at the time

. Companies must be registered with the Chamber of Commerce, which leads to registration in the commercial register. In some cases, freelancers and small entrepreneurs without a business address also provide a private address or telephone number

Every day, KVK sells ten thousand products to the commercial register. According to the organization, this occurs in 29% of cases for commercial purposes. However, the KVK does not know in which intention an organization consults the register of commerce. "We are not asking what people will use this information," the spokesman said.

Organizations can check the trade register to purchase various products of the Chamber of Commerce, such as a company profile or an excerpt. The sale is made both individually and grouped. In the case of commercial purposes, the data is purchased for specific advertising purposes or for resale.

In other cases, the information is purchased by competitors or potential customers, for example, or by a bank that verifies the data. This is an important function of the public nature of the commercial register, says KVK spokesman Hester Schoppert

. "Information is available in the extract"

. Schoppert states that KVK contractors may indicate that they do not have a professional address at their business address. receive mail. They may also register in the Belize Register of Stichting Infofilter

. The spokesman said the Chamber of Commerce is checking whether the phone number can be omitted in some products from the commercial register, but points out that this does not apply to the extract. "The law must be adapted to that."

The Chamber of Commerce wants to publish the results of the investigation into business complaints regarding privacy and the trade register in November.