Submit an authorization request
The Privacy Act describes with great precision how and in which circumstances personal data may be processed or disclosed. Some processing operations are so delicate, however, that they are only possible with specific authorization.
Public authorities or private institutions working in the general interest can submit a request for authorization to the Commission, which will then decide which Sector Committee has to deal with it. The request also has to specify:
- why access to the data is necessary;
- who has to have access to the data;
- how long access is necessary.
The Sector Committee will examine the request in detail and weigh the citizen's interests before it grants authorization (permission) or refuses to do so.
When the sector committee grants an authorization, its specific beneficiary/ies are mentioned in principle in the deliberation. That deliberation sets out the conditions for use of the data requested, e.g. the elaboration of a security policy or the designation of a security counsellor.
If the sector committee observes that several public or private institutions with a mission of public interest have similar needs regarding data held by the federal authorities, it also grants authorizations to a certain category of beneficiaries without mentioning their names separately. These authorizations are called general authorizations. The committee determines the conditions a beneficiary from a certain category has to meet in order to benefit from the authorization. The latter will then sign a declaration of conformity with these decisions.
The list of of the general authorizations granted by the Sector Committee of the Federal Authorities is available on a separate page. Since the page is not available in English, the link will take you to its French version. For the Dutch version, you are kindly requested to use the language button in the top right hand corner.
All authorization requests have to be submitted in writing to the Sector Committee of the Federal Authorities, rue Haute 139, 1000 Brussels. Since Engl ish is not an official language in Belgium, requests have to be submitted either in French or Dutch. For more information on the procedure, we advise you to consult the specific page on authorization requests for the electronic disclosure of personal data. Because these pages are not available in English, the link will take you to the French version. For the Dutch version, you are kindly requested to use the language button in the top right hand corner.
