1. Introduction
Antwerp Gemological Laboratory ("AGL", "we", "us", "our") respects the privacy of every visitor and client. This policy explains what information we collect when you use this website or engage our certification services, how we use that information, who we share it with (and who we do not), and the rights you hold over your personal data.
2. Information we collect
We collect the following categories of personal information:
- Contact information you provide when you submit a stone, send an enquiry, or request a quotation — including name, postal address, email address, telephone number, and (for trade clients) company name.
- Submission details — the gemstone particulars accompanying any submission, including provenance information you choose to provide.
- Verification activity — report numbers and weights entered into the verification form, used to authenticate certificates.
- Server logs — including IP address, browser type, pages requested, and timestamps. These are retained for security, rate-limiting, and abuse-prevention purposes.
- Cookies — small data files placed on your device by your browser (see Section 4 below).
3. How we use your information
Personal information is used solely for the purposes for which it was collected:
- To process gemstone submissions, communicate progress, and issue certificates.
- To respond to enquiries and provide written quotations.
- To maintain the integrity of the certificate verification system.
- To protect our systems against fraud, abuse, and unauthorised access.
- To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
We do not use personal information for advertising or unsolicited marketing.
4. Cookies
This website uses a small number of cookies for essential purposes — including remembering your light/dark theme preference and maintaining session security on the verification form. We do not use third-party advertising cookies or cross-site tracking. You may disable cookies in your browser settings, although some site features (theme persistence in particular) will not function as expected.
5. Verification logs
Every certificate verification attempt is logged with the report number, the weight entered, the timestamp, and the requesting IP address. These logs are used exclusively to detect and rate-limit abusive automated probing of the verification system. Verification logs are retained for ninety days and then deleted.
6. Sharing your information
AGL does not sell, rent, or trade personal information. We share personal information only in the following limited circumstances:
- With trusted service providers (couriers, payment processors, hosting) strictly as required to deliver our services, and under written confidentiality obligations.
- Where required by law, court order, or competent regulatory authority.
- To protect the safety, rights, or property of AGL, our clients, or third parties in cases of suspected fraud or serious misconduct.
7. Data security
We protect personal information using a combination of technical, organisational, and physical safeguards. These include TLS-encrypted transmission of all data submitted through this website, restricted database access, secure off-site backups, and laboratory premises with twenty-four-hour monitoring and controlled access. No system can be guaranteed perfectly secure, but we apply industry-standard practice across our operations.
8. International transfers
Because AGL operates laboratories in Sri Lanka, Belgium, and China, personal information may be transferred between these locations as part of providing our services. All such transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards consistent with applicable data-protection law.
9. Your rights under the GDPR and equivalent laws
If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comparable data-protection law, you have the right to:
- Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
- Request deletion of your personal information, subject to our legitimate retention obligations.
- Object to or restrict certain processing of your personal information.
- Request portability of the information you have provided to us.
- Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.
- Lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below. We will respond within one calendar month.
10. Retention
Certificate records — including report particulars and gemstone photographs — are retained indefinitely so that the verification system continues to operate for as long as the stones we have certified remain in circulation. General enquiry correspondence is retained for two years from last contact. Verification activity logs are retained for ninety days.
11. Children
This website and our services are intended for adult users. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of sixteen. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we can delete it.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology, or our practices. The effective date at the top of the policy will be updated whenever a material change is made. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
13. Contact
For any question about this policy or about how we handle your personal information, please write to us at the laboratory nearest to you, or use the form on our contact page. Privacy enquiries are handled by the laboratory manager and will receive a response within five business days.
