What are your rights regarding your personal data as a patient?

Right to access and copy

You have the right, in accordance with applicable legal provisions, to know what personal data we hold on you, exactly what we do with it and why we do this. You also have the right to obtain a copy of this information free of charge.

Right to correction and completion

If you believe that UZ Leuven is keeping incomplete or incorrect data about you, you have the right to have these data corrected or completed free of charge.

• In the case of objectively incorrect or incomplete data, a supplement may be granted upon simple request. A correction may be granted after approval by the attending physician or the chief physician.
• In case correction is requested of a subjective opinion or data, a supplement may be allowed on request, but not a correction.

Right to erasure

If you consider that it is no longer necessary to keep your data, that there are no legitimate grounds to keep your data or that UZ Leuven processes your data unlawfully, you may ask to have your data erased. In order not to create false expectations, we would like to inform you that in practice a request for erasure will rarely be granted. For various reasons, UZ Leuven may have to refuse your request for erasure. This is the case, for example, when:

• UZ Leuven is legally obliged to keep your data;
• the treating doctor (or the head doctor) is of the opinion that the retention of your data is reasonably important from a medical or ethical point of view, from your life expectancy, from the defence of your legitimate interests or those of your assignees, or for reasons of public interest;
• the data are part of an archive kept for the purpose of scientific research and the deletion of your data threatens to make research impossible;
• the data are necessary for the establishment, exercise or substantiation of legal claims.

Right to oppose automated decision-making

For a limited number of specific applications, UZ Leuven uses technology that allows individual decisions to be made in an automated manner. Before using these applications, UZ Leuven will always seek your consent. In case you gave your consent to the use of such technology and you have questions about the functioning of the technology or the decisions taken, please do not hesitate to contact your treating physician.