Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 26, 2025

Welcome to the official website of the Van Gogh Museum, operated by the Van Gogh Heritage Foundation. We are deeply committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors, patrons, and online users. This Privacy Policy outlines our practices regarding the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of your personal data when you interact with our website, book tickets, subscribe to our newsletter, or engage with us in other ways. We adhere strictly to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable privacy laws in the Netherlands and the European Union.

1. Introduction to Our Privacy Commitment

At the Van Gogh Heritage Foundation, safeguarding your personal information is paramount. We believe in transparency and want you to understand precisely what data we collect, why we collect it, and how it is managed. Our aim is to provide an enriching and secure experience, both within the museum walls and across our digital platforms. By using our website and services, you consent to the data practices described in this policy.

2. Data We Collect

We collect various types of information for different purposes to provide and improve our services to you. This includes both personal data that can identify you directly and non-personal data that provides insights into website usage.

2.1. Personal Data

We may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. This may include, but is not limited to:

Contact Information: Your full name, email address, postal address, and telephone number, primarily collected when you book tickets, register for events, subscribe to newsletters, or make inquiries.
Transaction Data: Details related to your purchases of tickets, merchandise, or donations, including payment method (though we do not store full credit card details directly, relying on secure payment gateways).
Account Information: If you create an account on our website, we collect your username, password (encrypted), and preferences.
Communication Data: Any information you provide when you communicate with us via email, contact forms, or social media.
Demographic Information: On occasion, we may request voluntary demographic details like age range or interests to better tailor our offerings, always with explicit consent.

Summary of Personal Data Types and Their Primary Use
Data Type	Examples	Primary Purpose
Contact Information	Name, Email, Phone, Address	Service delivery, communication, event registration, newsletter.
Transaction Data	Ticket purchases, donation records	Processing payments, order fulfillment, accounting.
Account Information	Username, Password (hashed), Preferences	Managing user accounts, personalized website experience.
Communication Data	Emails, feedback form submissions	Customer support, inquiry resolution, improving services.
Voluntary Demographic Data	Age range, interests	Market research, content personalization (with consent).

We ensure that all data collected is relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed.

2.2. Usage Data

We also collect information on how the website is accessed and used. This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.

This data helps us understand how our website performs, identify areas for improvement, and enhance your user experience. It is generally collected in an aggregated and anonymized form, making it impossible to identify individual users.

2.3. Tracking & Cookies Data

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Other tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service.

For a detailed explanation of how we use cookies and your choices regarding them, please refer to our dedicated Cookies Policy.

3. How We Use Your Data

The Van Gogh Heritage Foundation uses the collected data for various legitimate purposes, always ensuring it aligns with the reason for collection and your consent.

To Provide and Maintain Our Service: This includes processing ticket bookings, managing your account, and fulfilling requests.
To Notify You About Changes to Our Service: Keeping you informed about updates, special exhibitions, or operational changes at the museum.
To Allow You to Participate in Interactive Features: Enabling features like online registrations or comment sections (if applicable).
To Provide Customer Support: Addressing your inquiries, complaints, and requests efficiently.
To Improve Our Website and Services: Analyzing usage patterns to enhance content, navigation, and overall user experience.
To Monitor the Usage of Our Service: For internal analytics and research to understand visitor behavior.
To Detect, Prevent and Address Technical Issues: Ensuring the security and stability of our website.
To Send You Newsletters, Marketing, and Promotional Materials: Only if you have explicitly opted in to receive such communications, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.
To Process Payments and Donations: Securely handling financial transactions.

4. How We Store and Protect Your Data

The security of your data is of utmost importance to us. We implement robust technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

4.1. Security Measures

Our security protocols include, but are not limited to:

Encryption: Data transmitted to and from our website is encrypted using SSL/TLS technology.
Access Control: Limiting access to personal data to authorized personnel only, who are bound by confidentiality obligations.
Data Minimisation: Only collecting data that is necessary for the stated purpose.
Regular Audits: Conducting periodic security assessments and vulnerability scans to identify and mitigate risks.
Secure Hosting: Utilizing reputable data centers that adhere to high security standards, primarily located within the European Union.

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. No method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.

4.2. Data Retention

We retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period, unless this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Service, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer periods.

5. Sharing Your Data

We value your trust and assure you that we do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personally identifiable information to outside parties for their independent use. We may share your data with trusted third parties under specific circumstances:

Service Providers: We engage third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service ("Service Providers"), to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services, or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used. These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose. Examples include payment processors, email service providers, and analytics providers.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:
1. Comply with a legal obligation.
2. Protect and defend the rights or property of the Van Gogh Heritage Foundation.
3. Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service.
4. Protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public.
5. Protect against legal liability.
Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

All third-party partners are carefully vetted to ensure they meet our stringent data protection and security standards and are GDPR compliant.

6. Your Data Protection Rights (GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have certain rights concerning your personal data:

The Right to Access: You have the right to request copies of your personal data.
The Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate or complete information you believe is incomplete.
The Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
The Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
The Right to Object to Processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
The Right to Data Portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
The Right to Withdraw Consent: Where our processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in the "Contact Us" section below. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

"Privacy is not an option, and it shouldn't be the price we accept for simply going online."

— Gary Kovacs (former CEO of Mozilla)
A statement highlighting the fundamental importance of digital privacy.

7. International Data Transfers

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those from your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the Netherlands and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to the Netherlands and process it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer. The Van Gogh Heritage Foundation will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

8. Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

9. Children's Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 16 ("Children"). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 16. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children have provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "Effective Date" at the top of this Privacy Policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us:

Van Gogh Heritage Foundation
Vincent van Goghplein 1
1071 HR Amsterdam
Netherlands

Phone: +31 43 035 7735
Email: contact@vangoghheritage.nl
Data Protection Officer: Dr. Lena Vermeer
Email DPO: dpo@vangoghheritage.nl

We are dedicated to ensuring your peace of mind regarding your personal data and encourage you to reach out with any concerns.