PortWatch is the anonymous federal reporting point for suspicious situations in and around Belgian ports. For PortWatch, the protection of your privacy and personal data is very important. We use your personal data only in accordance with the Privacy Act and other relevant regulations. This Privacy Policy informs you in a clear and transparent way about which data are collected and how they are processed. We are committed to ensuring your privacy, which is why we process your data with the utmost care. The legal basis for (the operation) of PortWatch is contained in the Maritime Security Act, specifically it concerns article: 2.5.2.102 and 2.5.2.103 of the Belgian Shipping Code.

At PortWatch, anonymity is key. It is important that anyone can report anything suspicious in complete security. By allowing reports to be sent anonymously, easily and securely via the report form, we hope to lower the threshold for submitting a report.

The reporting point is a collaboration between the Directorate-General Shipping of the FPS Mobility and Transport and the Federal Judicial Police. Reports are automatically and immediately transferred to the Federal Judicial Police. The Maritime Security Unit[1] of the FPS Mobility and Transport has limited access to the statistical data to monitor the efficiency and scope of the reporting point. If you wish, you can indicate in the report form that the Federal Judicial Police may contact you. For this, you will need to fill in your name, phone number and/or email address. All information will be processed confidentially.

[1] The Maritime Security Unit, part of DG Shipping, plays a central prevention role in protecting the Belgian maritime sector. This encompasses both the security of international trade and the security of Belgian ships, ports, the North Sea and infrastructure works in the North Sea.

If you submit an anonymous report through portwatch.be, no personal data are requested nor required. If you want the Federal Judicial Police to be able to contact you regarding your report, you can indicate your contact details in the report form. You can choose which contact details you provide: your email address, your phone number, or both. When you add a photo or file to your report, the meta and location data (e.g. location of the photo or type of camera/mobile phone/smartphone) of your photo, video or shared file will not be recorded. Here too, anonymity will be guaranteed.

PortWatch works as follows: reports are automatically transferred to the Federal Judicial Police in an encrypted manner. The latter are responsible for the concrete processing and follow-up of the report. The Maritime Security Unit only processes data on the use of the website and to enable future improvement to the platform. In other words, the PortWatch website acts as a go-between. Only the Federal Judicial Police will process the data you enter in the report form. Via this link, you can access the Privacy Policy of the police. The legal basis for processing your data is Article 6(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to which the processing is considered lawful if the data subject voluntarily provides their data.

The personal data you voluntarily and explicitly provide will only be used to contact you if the Federal Judicial Police would like to contact you further with regard to the report you submitted via the report form.

All data you enter in the report form will be transferred directly to the Federal Judicial Police. The FPS Mobility and Transport, more specifically the Maritime Security Unit, will use the data only on a very limited scale to maintain and improve the website. The data will also not be disclosed to third parties.

The contents of the completed report form are automatically transferred to the Federal Judicial Police. The police will retain the collected and processed (personal) data for up to 1 year after the report unless the data are used in a judicial inquiry. The data will be retained until the conclusion of the judicial inquiry.

The PortWatch website has been provided with appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure your personal data and ensure their confidentiality, including measures that protect data against breaches, loss and unlawful processing.

For your privacy and in the interest of your online security, this website is a so-called HTTPS website. This means that all communication will be encrypted. For example, when you enter personal data in the form, HTTPS protects these data so no unauthorised persons can read them.

The data subject can exercise their rights through the police.

Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedies, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority and file a judicial remedy if you consider that your rights are not respected or that the processing of your personal data infringes the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

You can lodge your complaint to the following address:

Data Protection Authority
Drukpersstraat 35 Rue de la Presse, 1000 Brussels

Further contact with the Data Protection Authority:

Telephone: +32 (0)2 274 48 00 or +32 (0)2 274 48 35
Email: contact@apd-gba.be