Privacy policy (English)

DISCLAIMER

This English translation is provided for informational purposes only. In the event of any discrepancies, the Dutch version of this privacy policy shall prevail.

General

This is the privacy policy of Koninklijke Boom Uitgevers B.V. and its subsidiary companies, hereinafter referred to as “Boom uitgevers”.

Boom uitgevers attaches great importance to your privacy and is convinced that the protection of the personal privacy of its customers and visitors to its websites is essential. Boom uitgevers handles your data with due care and ensures that every processing of your personal data complies with applicable laws and regulations. We are pleased to inform our customers and website visitors about the manner in which we collect and process their personal data.

This privacy policy may be amended from time to time if new developments give cause to do so. The most up-to-date privacy policy can be found at www.boom.nl.

Boom uitgevers will inform you of important changes before they take effect.

Boom uitgevers also recommends that you consult this privacy policy regularly, so that you are aware of any changes. The privacy policy will always indicate the most recent date of amendment.

This privacy policy was last amended on 19 December 2025.

1. When does this privacy policy apply?

This privacy policy applies to all data that Boom uitgevers collects and processes from customers and users of its products, websites, web shops, mobile applications and other services. A complete overview of the companies that form part of Boom uitgevers can be found at https://www.boom.nl/klantenservice/service-informatie.

If, via a digital service of Boom uitgevers, you are redirected to a website or an application of a third party, the privacy policy of the relevant third party shall apply to the processing of your data. Boom uitgevers is not responsible for the processing of your personal data via such websites or applications. You are advised to consult the privacy policy of that third party.

2. Who is responsible for your data?

The relevant entity of Boom uitgevers with which you do business and/or to which you have provided your data acts as the controller in relation to you. This may be Koninklijke Boom uitgevers B.V., but also one of its subsidiary companies. A complete overview of the companies that form part of Boom uitgevers can be found at https://www.boom.nl/klantenservice/service-informatie.

Most of your data are processed centrally by Koninklijke Boom uitgevers B.V., which also provides operational support to its operating companies, including with regard to ICT/security, administration/finance and distribution of publications. If you do business with one of the subsidiary companies of Koninklijke Boom uitgevers B.V., Koninklijke Boom uitgevers B.V. acts as joint controller together with the relevant operating company.

Boom uitgevers as processor

In addition, Boom uitgevers may act as a processor for third parties. This is the case if you purchase or use a product/service of Boom uitgevers via a third party, such as in the case of educational materials for primary, secondary and secondary vocational education and in the case of test products of Boom test onderwijs. In those cases, the third party through which you use or purchase the product/service, for example the relevant school or test agency, is the controller responsible for the processing of personal data.

3. Which data do we process and for what purposes do we use your data?

Boom uses your personal data for various purposes. We do so only if we have a reason for this, a so-called legal basis under the law. Below, we explain which data we collect for which specific purpose and what the legal basis for this is. We also indicate how long Boom retains your personal data.

In offering our products and services, Boom uitgevers processes (personal) data of its customers, relations, suppliers and visitors/users of its websites and applications.

A. Ordering products and/or performing services

Via our web shops, but also by telephone or in writing, you can order books, journals and other paper and digital publications, courses or other products and/or services of Boom uitgevers. Teachers can, for example, register for the electronic teachers’ service, which enables them, among other things, to view and/or download review copies.

In this context, personal data are processed such as name, address and place of residence details, gender, telephone number, email address, position of the person placing the order, company name or name of the institution of the person placing the order, data relating to the size of the company and the sector in which the company or institution operates, VAT number and Chamber of Commerce number, financial data such as bank account number, ordered products/services and stated interests.

The purpose of the processing is to deliver the products, services or information chosen by you for the conclusion and performance of the agreement. The legal basis for this processing is the performance of the agreement. We also process certain data in order to comply with administrative and statutory obligations.

Boom retains purchase data in principle for seven (7) years or for as long as your Boom uitgevers account is active, if this period is longer.

B. The Boom uitgevers account

If you wish to place an order or make use of one or more of our services, you can, if you wish, create a Boom uitgevers account. With a Boom uitgevers account you can easily manage your data, retrieve your orders, create a wish list, retrieve e-books and downloads and manage your privacy settings (such as marketing preferences). In some cases, creating an account is required in order to be able to use a service, for example an AI service that we offer. You can easily log in with one username and password.

When you register for a Boom uitgevers account, you are asked to provide your name, email address and password. When you make purchases while logged in, the purchases as well as your address details in connection with delivery will be linked to your account. You may also provide additional data in your account, if you so wish. If, before opening your Boom uitgevers account, you have already provided data to Boom, for example preferences in the context of the newsletter, Boom may automatically transfer this information to your Boom uitgevers account so that you can easily manage it. If you have given permission via the cookie management tool, data collected by means of cookies may be linked to your Boom uitgevers account.

The data provided are used primarily to create the Boom uitgevers account and to provide the associated functionalities. The legal basis for processing your personal data in the context of your Boom uitgevers account is the performance of the agreement with you, namely to provide you with the services and functionalities of the Boom uitgevers account.

When we automatically link previously provided data such as newsletter preferences to your Boom uitgevers account, we do so on the basis of our legitimate interest in making our services as convenient as possible for you and allowing you to manage your preferences yourself.

The data you provide when creating a Boom uitgevers account or via other functionalities or services are stored centrally by Boom and linked to the Boom uitgevers account. This information may also be used to make personalised offers. For more information, see section D below.

We may also use your data for analysis and optimisation purposes (at an aggregated level). The legal basis for this is Boom’s legitimate interest in understanding how customers use our services so that we can improve and optimise them.

Your data are retained for as long as your account is active. For data obtained by means of cookies, we refer you to the Cookie Statement for the retention period.

C. Visiting one of our websites/apps

Boom has various websites and apps. In order to make a visit to one of the websites technically possible, some technical data are processed automatically. These include the date and time of your visit, IP address, type of browser, operating system used and the pages you visit.

The legal basis for this processing is the performance of the agreement with you, namely your visit to the website, and the legitimate interest of Boom and third parties in securing the website and preventing fraud.

The technical data are deleted after your visit.

Boom also collects information about your visit to (one of) our websites by means of cookies and similar techniques. For more information, please refer to the Cookie Statement.

D. Communication

We would like to keep you informed about our latest news, recently published publications and (similar) products or services of Boom uitgevers.

Newsletters may be personalised based on the web shop or the (general) subject of the purchase, for example “psychology” or “education”. When you make a purchase, the legal basis is the legitimate interest of Boom uitgevers in informing you about similar products and services (direct marketing). You can also independently subscribe to a specific newsletter via one of our websites by providing your email address. In that case, the legal basis is consent. You can always unsubscribe from the newsletter by clicking the unsubscribe button in the email.

Newsletters may be personalised by means of cookies and similar techniques such as email tracking. Through email tracking, we can see whether you open our emails and recognise you when you click through from the email to a website of Boom uitgevers. On this basis, we can also adjust the frequency of sending newsletters. The legal basis for cookies and similar techniques such as email tracking is consent. Consent can be withdrawn via the cookie bar (cookie settings at the bottom left of the website).

If you have unsubscribed, we must be able to demonstrate for up to five (5) years after the last newsletter sent that we had a legal basis for sending it. For this reason, we retain the original registration for up to five (5) years after your unsubscribe request. We will of course not send any emails after you have unsubscribed.

E. Customer service

If you contact the customer service of Boom uitgevers, depending on your question, data such as your name, contact details and your question or complaint may be collected. Depending on your request, the customer service employee may obtain access to information necessary to handle your request, such as checking your order or retrieving information from your Boom uitgevers account.

The data collected are used to answer your question. The legal basis for this is the performance of the agreement, namely handling your request, or the legitimate interest of Boom in handling complaints as well as possible. Boom stores your question in its central system in order to serve you better in the future, to answer follow-up questions properly and to analyse the handling of your question or request. The legal basis for this is the legitimate interest of Boom uitgevers in improving its services and answering questions as effectively and efficiently as possible.

If you have a Boom uitgevers account, Boom uitgevers retains your question for five (5) years after your account has been deactivated. If you do not have a Boom uitgevers account, your question will be retained for five (5) years after it has been answered.

F. Promotional activities

Boom uitgevers may organise online promotions and competitions. If you participate, Boom processes your contact details in order to process your participation, for the performance of the promotion. Boom uitgevers may also, if you give your consent, use the collected data for personalised marketing communications. The legal basis for this is your consent.

Data collected through promotions are in principle retained for a maximum of one (1) year after the promotion has taken place, and if you give consent, until you withdraw your consent.

G. Social media

Boom uitgevers is active on social media. If you follow Boom uitgevers on social media, send a message via social media or post content about Boom uitgevers, Boom uitgevers may gain access to your public profile information.

Boom uitgevers may also make use of social media targeting by selecting relevant target groups. We do not ourselves share personal data with social media providers for this purpose. However, we do receive aggregated demographic data about the persons to whom our advertisements have been shown and who have clicked on them. For this processing, we act as joint controllers together with the relevant social media provider. More information can be found in the privacy statements of these providers. The legal basis is Boom’s legitimate interest in carrying out (limited) marketing activities and increasing its reach.

Boom uitgevers may analyse the reach of its social media activities in order to improve its services. The legal basis for this is the legitimate interest of Boom uitgevers in improving its services.

Boom uitgevers may make use of the Facebook pixel. By means of this pixel, information can be collected about how a user uses the website and used to show the most relevant advertisements to a specific user on Facebook. More information can be found in the Cookie Statement.

In certain cases, you may also log in to our services using a social media account. If you do so, we may – depending on your settings – receive your social media profile, including contact details, interests and contacts. More information can be found on the website of the relevant social media service.

H. Market research and customer satisfaction surveys

Boom uitgevers may conduct market research and customer satisfaction surveys, for example by inviting you to complete a (short) questionnaire or to participate in a customer or feedback panel.

The legal basis for this processing, insofar as you choose to participate, is the legitimate interest of Boom uitgevers in improving its services.

Data collected through surveys are in principle retained only in aggregated form.

I. Events

Boom uitgevers may organise events. When you register for an event, we may process certain data, such as name, email address, telephone number and, for example, dietary requirements.

The legal basis for this processing is the performance of the agreement with you, namely enabling your participation in the event.

J. When you supply services to us

We collect personal data of our suppliers, including our authors, editors, translators, illustrators and other freelancers, such as name, address and place of residence details, gender, telephone number, email address, position of the supplier, company name or name of the institution of the supplier, data relating to the size of the company and the sector in which the company or institution operates, VAT number and Chamber of Commerce number, contract data and financial data such as bank account number. For authors working for Boom uitgevers, we also process the citizen service number (BSN) and date of birth.

We process suppliers’ data in order to perform the agreement. We also process certain data in order to comply with administrative and statutory obligations. In the event of a dispute, we may process data on the basis of the legitimate interest of Boom uitgevers in protecting its interests (in legal proceedings). Boom may also have other legitimate interests in processing your data, such as for security purposes, our business interest in collecting debts and screening doubtful debtors, and our interest in providing better services and making offers tailored to you. Where we process your personal data for our legitimate interests, you have the right to object at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. See section 9 below.

K. When using our AI service

When you use our AI service (including a chat function, summarisation function and/or a function to generate learning materials/practice questions), we process the following (personal) data:

your account and identification data (such as your account ID, name or pseudonym, email address, role, organisation);

the input you enter via the AI service (such as questions, assignments, selected texts or passages from our content);

technical usage data (such as date and time, type of AI functionality, session ID, error messages);

feedback you provide to us on the AI output (such as ratings).

We process these data in order to provide the AI service and generate AI output. We also use the data to prevent and investigate misuse and security incidents and to analyse and improve the quality, security and performance of our AI service.

The legal basis for this processing is the performance of the agreement with you, namely your use of the AI service. Insofar as data are used for security, logging and improvement of our AI service, the legal basis is our legitimate interest in offering a safe, reliable and properly functioning service. We also process data in order to act in accordance with statutory obligations and to secure data and prevent fraud or misuse on the basis of legitimate interest.

Insofar as Boom uitgevers uses AI technology provided by third parties, such as Microsoft Azure OpenAI, processing takes place within the European Economic Area or with appropriate safeguards, as described in Chapter 6 of this privacy policy. Data processed via the AI service are not used to train external AI models, unless Boom uitgevers has requested and obtained your prior consent to do so.

We ask you not to share any personal data about yourself via our AI service. It is also not permitted to enter personal data of third parties, special categories of personal data (such as health data) or confidential business information of third parties. If we nevertheless detect that such data have been entered, we will use these data only insofar as strictly necessary for providing the AI service and will subsequently, where possible, remove, pseudonymise or anonymise such data.

For analysis and quality improvement purposes, we endeavour to process data as much as possible at an aggregated and/or pseudonymised level, so that they cannot or can only be traced back to you with disproportionate effort.

You always have the option to delete Input and AI Output yourself in the AI service, whereby aggregated or anonymised statistics and metadata may be retained for a longer period.

Data that are specifically processed in the context of AI services are in principle not retained longer than necessary for the purposes described above. In practice, this means that:

– individual AI sessions and the associated Input and AI Output are retained for a maximum of two (2) years after the last use of the AI Service for logging and quality purposes, unless a longer retention period is necessary in connection with a (threatened) dispute, fraud investigation or security incident;

– aggregated or anonymised statistics may be retained for a longer period, as these no longer contain personal data.

4. How do we obtain your data?

We collect the categories of personal data referred to above in the following ways:

a. Data you have provided to us

When you purchase a product or service from us, create a Boom uitgevers account, subscribe to receive a newsletter, register for the teachers’ service or one of our events, or participate in a promotional activity.

b. Data automatically collected by us

Data relating to the equipment used, such as a unique device ID, version of the operating system, and settings of the device you use to access a service;

Data relating to the use of a service, such as the time at which you use it and the type of service used;

Location data originating from your equipment or derived from your IP address that are provided to us when you use a particular service;

More information about this can be found in the cookie policy on our website or the mobile apps you use.

c. Personal data we receive from commercial partners

Boom uitgevers may receive information about you from commercially available sources that, with your consent, may provide certain data about you to us. For example, we receive data from BME Onderzoek B.V. (Lisweb) relating to teachers and, among other things, the subject they teach and the school where they work. BME Onderzoek provides only those data to us for which it has a valid legal basis for providing them.

d. Personal data we receive from the provider of your social network, which depends on your social network settings

For example, if you log in to our services with a social media account, we may – depending on your settings – receive your social media profile, including contact details, interests and contacts. On the website of the relevant platform you can find more information about this, such as the provider’s privacy policy and information on changing your settings.

5. Recipients of personal data

a. Internal: within the Boom uitgevers group

As indicated in Chapter 2, personal data may be exchanged within the group for the purpose of responsible and efficient business operations, for example in the context of business processes and internal management, security and marketing, solely insofar as this is permitted by law. Insofar as there is joint responsibility between an operating company and Koninklijke Boom uitgevers B.V., you may exercise your rights in full in the manner described under section 9.

b. External processors

Boom uitgevers may make use of services of third parties to process your data in accordance with this privacy policy. These parties act as processors and have concluded a data processing agreement with Boom uitgevers.

Boom uses Google Analytics 4 to analyse website usage and statistics. No personal data are collected in this context. Your IP address is also not recorded or linked to these usage data. We do not use other Google services in combination with the Google Analytics cookies.

c. Other parties

Your data may also be provided to third parties (not processors) because we need to perform an agreement with you or if this is necessary to comply with agreements made with you, for example shipping companies. These parties act as independent controllers.

With regard to the use of social media by Boom uitgevers, Boom uitgevers acts as joint controller together with the relevant social media company. For the processing of personal data for which we are jointly responsible, you may choose to exercise your rights by contacting Boom uitgevers and/or the relevant platform. Social media platforms may act as independent controllers for further processing or other data processing, for example for use of the relevant platform.

If Boom uitgevers is legally obliged to do so, personal data will be provided to supervisory authorities, tax authorities and law enforcement agencies. In all other cases, Boom uitgevers will only provide data to third parties if it is obliged to do so by law or if this is necessary in the context of the legitimate interests of Boom uitgevers or third parties.

6. Transfer of personal data to third countries

In principle, your personal data are not transferred to recipients in countries outside the European Economic Area. However, this may sometimes occur in the context of our services or the delivery of products. In all cases, Boom uitgevers ensures that such transfers take place only when permitted under applicable (European) privacy legislation, for example because the relevant country offers an adequate level of protection or because use is made of an unamended standard contractual clause approved by the European Commission (hereinafter: “EC Model Contract”).

For more information about the safeguards for international transfers, you may contact us.

7. Security

Boom has implemented appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your data against loss or unlawful use.

For all its systems and ICT services, Boom makes use of specialised parties such as data centres, ICT suppliers and providers of (generative) AI models. These parties provide appropriate physical, technical and organisational security measures for all your data. The suppliers involved hold the relevant ISO and NEN certifications and, in addition, take all measures that may reasonably be expected according to the current state of the art of these specialised partners.

Boom uitgevers takes additional technical and organisational measures to secure data processed in the context of an AI service. These measures include, among other things, encrypted data transmission, access restrictions and separate processing environments for the AI service.

In addition to the security measures taken on our side, such as the encryption of your data, we recommend that you carefully select a password and ensure that your login details remain confidential.

8. Transfer of a business

In the future, one or more parts or assets of Boom uitgevers may be transferred to a third party or Boom uitgevers may merge with a third party. In such a case, your personal data may also be transferred to the third party. We will inform you in such an event.

9. Your rights

You may at any time invoke all rights to which you are entitled under applicable privacy legislation, such as (a) requesting access to the data that Boom uitgevers processes about you, (b) rectification of such data, (c) erasure of your personal data, (d) restriction of the processing of your data, (e) the right to data portability, and (f) objecting to the processing of your data.

a. Right of access

You may ask us whether we process your personal data and, if so, request an overview of the (categories of) data processed. When we provide access to these data, we will also provide you with additional information, such as the purpose of the data processing.

b. Right to rectification

You have the right to have your data corrected if they are incorrect and/or incomplete. Upon request, we will correct inaccurate personal data and supplement incomplete personal data, taking into account the purposes for which they are processed. Where applicable, you may also amend personal data that you have entered yourself via your user account.

c. Right to erasure

You also have the right, under certain circumstances (such as those described in Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)), to have your personal data erased from our systems.

d. Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to temporarily restrict the processing of your personal data. Article 18 of the GDPR describes the circumstances in which this is possible.

e. Right to data portability

Your right to data portability means that you may ask us, where technically feasible, to transfer your personal data to you or to another controller in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

f. Right to object

You also have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. This means that you may ask us to stop processing your personal data. This right applies where the legal basis for processing is “legitimate interest”.

You may at any time object free of charge to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes. You may unsubscribe from newsletters of Boom uitgevers via the unsubscribe link included in the relevant newsletter. In addition, you may always opt out of the use of your data for direct marketing purposes by email via privacy@boom.nl

. We aim to process your opt-out request for the use of your postal address, email address or telephone number within two (2) weeks. As a result, it is possible that you may still receive some messages after you have unsubscribed.

In addition, you may at any time withdraw consent you have given for processing, for example by clicking the unsubscribe link in an email or by adjusting your communication preferences in your account.

If you wish to exercise any of the options mentioned above, you may do so by email via:

privacy@boom.nl

or in writing by post via:

Koninklijke Boom uitgevers B.V.

Attn. Customer Registration

Stationsweg 66

7941 HG Meppel

The Netherlands

In order to ensure that we are dealing with the correct person, we may ask you to confirm your request via the email address linked to your account or in a telephone conversation with us and/or, in case of doubt, we may ask you to include a copy of your valid passport, driving licence or identity card with your request.

There may be situations in which we may refuse or restrict your rights as described above. In such cases, we will carefully assess whether such an exception applies and will inform you accordingly. For example, we may refuse to erase (some of) your personal data if processing of such data is still necessary for the performance of the agreement or to comply with statutory obligations.

If you have any questions or complaints or wish to respond to this privacy policy, you may contact us by telephone or via privacy@boom.nl

. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens), https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl, in The Hague.

Your rights if Boom uitgevers acts as processor

You must address your request to the relevant controller. If Boom uitgevers is involved, on the instructions of a controller, in handling a request for access, correction or erasure of data, it will act in accordance with the policy of the relevant controller.

10. Contact

If you have any questions about the way in which Boom uitgevers handles your data, you may contact Boom uitgevers via privacy@boom.nl.