Introduction

The Nederlandse Spoorwegen - the NS Groep N.V. - places the highest priority on protecting and processing its customers’ and business connections’ personal details with the utmost care. In addition, we wish to be open about the way your details are processed by us. For this reason, our privacy policy is explained below. Of primary importance is the fact that we always observe the "Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens", the Dutch act enforcing the protection of personal details.

NS Groep N.V., which is located at Laan van Puntenburg 100 in Utrecht, is responsible for processing your personal details. In addition, NS Groep N.V. is responsible for the way in which the various NS operating companies handle your details. Please note: wherever NS or Nederlandse Spoorwegen is mentioned in this text, this must be taken to mean NS Groep N.V. or one of its operating companies.

In accordance with the "Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens", we have registered the processing of personal details with the Supervisor, the Dutch board for the protection of personal details, located in The Hague.

Management and processing of personal details: general

Personal details are all details that relate to a known person. These include not only name and address details, but also, for instance, sales and pass details. We use your personal details in the various agreements which we enter into with you as a customer. If you have a pass, we save these details in order to send it to you and to ensure that the transport agreement concluded with you is being executed and for the financial settlement, but also to send you a duplicate if necessary. When booking a journey, we enter some personal details to ensure that you receive your travel documents on time. Moreover, we note down your name and address when you phone us to report found or lost property. In addition, some details are saved that you send to us using our website, www.ns.nl. For example, when you request a leaflet.

Management and processing of personal details: OV-chipkaart

In addition, we process details generated when you buy and use our OV-chipkaart, the public transport smart card. There are two OV-chipkaart types: the anonymous OV-chipkaart and the personal OV-chipkaart.

Personal OV-chipkaart

The personal OV-chipkaart is used by one specific traveller, whose personal details are recorded in the chip on the card. The personal details of such passengers are known to the card issuer and to NS, if the card was obtained through NS in combination with a personal product. The personal details and the details of the journeys made with the personal OV-chipkaart, such as check-in and check-out details, are saved by us and processed for the benefit of a correct execution and handling of the transport agreement, including payment. These details are saved as part of the electronic records so that they can be retrieved in the event of questions or complaints about the payment. Or for instance if you wish to make a claim under the ‘refunds for delays’ scheme. In the absence of paper tickets, it is all the more important to have accurate and meticulous (electronic) records.

These details offer us a better understanding of your travel behaviour and are used to better match the information to your needs. We know, for instance, that a frequent traveller is looking for a different type information than an occasional traveller. And if you are a frequent visitor to Amsterdam Centraal station, you will be more interested in information about the station reconstruction going on there than if you never go there. In order to be able to do this, we will not use the detailed data, such as the combination of route, date and time, since this could infringe upon your personal privacy. However, in the future we will employ derived data that tell us something about your travel behaviour, such as ‘travel frequency’, the stations you often use, etc., so that we can provide you with suitable information. If you do not wish to receive information about services and products you can indicate this (see also: 'Your personal details and your rights'). However, no travel details will be processed for this purpose before 2010.

The anonymous OV-chipkaart

The OV-chipkaart is also available in an anonymous version. This card is not personal and can be used by multiple people. The details about the journeys travelled are also saved. However, as long as it is not known who is using the card, these are not personal details. If you use an anonymous OV-chipkaart, you can only be known to us if you yourself provide us with your identifying information, such as name and address details. This might be the case if you wish to use personal customer services, such as the ‘refunds for delays’ scheme (see 'Refunds for delays and the OV-chipkaart'). Here again you can indicate that you do not wish your details to be used for sending information (see also: 'Your personal details and your rights'). Finally, anonymised user details from both personal and anonymous public transport smart cards are used for market research, management information, product and service development and general strategy definition.

For further information about ‘The OV-chipkaart and your personal details’ you can download the generic folder here. At www.OV-chipkaart.nl you can find more information about card issuer TransLink Systems’s privacy policy.

Refunds for delays and the OV-chipkaart

You may wish to make a claim under the ‘refunds for delays’ scheme. At the moment, you are requested to submit the original ticket or a copy of the pass. With the digitally loaded ticket on the OV-chipkaart, this is no longer possible, as paper tickets no longer exist. In order to handle your request, we will therefore consult our electronic records. These details are needed for such purposes as establishing whether a ‘refund for delays’ application is justified or unjustified. Since we do not know in advance who has been affected by a delay, the details are kept in the electronic records for this purpose until the final date by which an application can be submitted has passed.

To enable us to deal with the ‘refunds for delays’ application properly, we ask you to indicate on the appropriate form where and when you were delayed. To enable us to process an application, we also ask you for other details such as correspondence details and bank/giro account number. The details on the form are combined with the details in NS's electronic records so that the correctness of the application can be assessed and the application can be administrated. The details of approved applications are kept for three years with a view to possible fraud. The conditions, such as the period within which an application must be submitted, for qualification for ‘refunds for delays’ are laid down in the refunds for delays product conditions.

NS offers and services

Of course, we would also like to send you offers or inform you about our services. Such an offer may come from one of our subsidiaries. If we feel that an offer is relevant to you we would like to tell you about it. Think, for example, of an NS Journey Planner discount. This also applies to information about the services we provide. For example, if a route near you is temporarily closed due to maintenance activities, we would like to inform you in person.

No provision of data to third parties for commercial purposes

We are regularly approached by partners with whom we collaborate. These partners enquire whether they can make you as an NS customer attractive offers. Think, for example, of discounts on travel, the theatre or books. Obviously, we do not want to deprive you of these offers. However, under no circumstances will we make your details available to third parties. Nor will your details under any circumstance be sold. An offer from a collaborating partner will always proceed through NS and never directly by the partner itself. This means that your details are kept safe while you are at the same time kept informed of interesting offers.

For some offers, you must complete the reply card. For example, you may need to do this when reserving discount theatre tickets. Write your name and address on this reply card, and then send your completed reply card directly to the offering party concerned so that it can make the appropriate reservations and send you your tickets. In this case, you are the one who sends your details to the organisation concerned. As a result, we can take no responsibility for the way the offering party handles your personal details. For this reason, we recommend that you always enquire about the privacy policy of these parties or contact them for a further explanation of their policy concerning the use of personal details.

We may be obliged by law to provide personal details. In fulfilling this legal obligation we will of course observe the requirements laid down in the "Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens", the Dutch act enforcing the protection of personal details.

Your personal details and your rights

The "Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens" is the Dutch act enforcing the protection of personal details that entitles you to view the details stored about you. If you wish to exercise this entitlement, you can submit a written request to the NS Customer Service, accompanied by a copy of your ID:

NS Klantenservice
P.O. Box 2372
3500 GJ Utrecht
The Netherlands

If, in your view, the personal details are incorrect, you can submit a request for correction.

If you use ‘ My NS ’, you can view your key details via ‘ My NS ’. As time goes by, you will be able to view more and more of your details directly via ‘ My NS ’, such as your check-in and check-out details on your OV-chipkaart, if stored by NS.

However, if you do not wish your details to be used to inform you as described in the section entitled ‘NS offers and services’, you can notify NS Customer Service of this on 0900 - 202 11 63 (€ 0.10 per minute) (only from inside the Netherlands) or indicate this yourself directly via ‘My NS’. We will refrain from sending you any further information about special offers or about our products and services.

NS subscribes to the ‘Code of conduct for processing OV-chipkaart personal details by public transport companies’. You can read here the Code of Conduct and explanatory notes to it.

E-mail

We also keep our customers and business contacts informed by e-mail. You can indicate yourself what topics you wish to receive information about via ' My NS '. Over time, you may change the topics about which you wish to receive information yourself. You can also stop e-mail being sent via My NS. If at a later date you wish to start receiving information again by e-mail, you can indicate this via ' My NS '.

Internet

Obviously, the requirements laid down in the "Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens", the Dutch act enforcing the protection of personal details, also apply to any information that you provide to us over the internet. Please find below an explanation that is specifically directed at internet usage.

a.Clicking

Our website tracks general visit details such as frequently requested pages. The purpose of this is to optimise your experience of the website. In addition, these details can be used to provide our customers with more specific information and offers. In this way, we can further improve our services to you. Please note: these are not personal details, but general details that are recorded. Your personal details are never saved over the internet without you first giving your explicit prior permission when, for example, booking a journey, registering for ‘My NS’ or requesting information.

b.Cookies

We use temporary cookies when offering our services over the internet. A cookie is a simple small file with information that is saved on your computer's hard disk. However, these cookies do not contain personal details and are only employed to make it easier for you to use the NS site. In addition, with your permission, a special cookie can be used. Our website uses this cookie to recognise when you revisit our site so that the site can be tailored to your specific needs. It is just an aid to make your use of the site all the more pleasurable. If you have deactivated the use of cookies in your browser, you can still visit most sections of our website.

c.Technical security

To provide your personal details with optimum security against unauthorised access or unauthorised use, the most up-to-date security technology is used within NS. We will always use the technology within the guidelines of our privacy policy. It will never conflict with the requirements of the "Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens", the Dutch act enforcing the protection of personal details.

d. Third-party privacy policy

On our website you will find a number of links to other non-NS websites. We cannot be held accountable for the way other parties handle your personal details. For this reason, we recommend that you always enquire about the privacy policy of these parties or contact them for a further explanation of their policy concerning the use of personal details.

Video camera surveillance

Insecurity is a social problem that also affects NS. Rail travel is safe in principle, but sometimes passengers perceive this differently due to the behaviour of aggressive fare dodgers, vandals and young people hanging around. The measures we take against this include camera surveillance. This proves to be an important aid in preventing and resolving offences, as well as prosecuting those who have committed them and tackling other violations. Camera surveillance is not concealed and is indicated by illustrations on stickers. Only people authorised by or on behalf of the NS Board of Directors have access to the video materials. The materials are deleted at the latest seven days after recording, provided no major incident has occurred.

Where can you expect to encounter camera surveillance?

NS uses camera surveillance at many stations, as well as on a number of trains in the western Randstad conurbation and on the Benelux Train between Amsterdam and Brussels. The deployment of cameras is always indicated on the train and at the stations, both verbally and visually. Images are recorded not only with a view to offenders, but to victims and witnesses. NS has registered this processing of personal details with the Dutch Board for the protection of personal details as well.

Questions

If you have any specific questions regarding this information or remarks about our privacy policy, please direct them to: NS Customer Service, 0900 - 202 11 63 (€ 0.10 per minute) (only from inside the Netherlands).

Changes

Where necessary, NS retains the right to make changes to its privacy statement. However, this policy will never conflict with the requirements of the "Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens", the Dutch act enforcing the protection of personal details. The most recent version of the NS privacy policy is always available at www.ns.nl.

Nederlandse Spoorwegen Utrecht, February 2008.

N.B. No rights can be derived from the information above.