Buying a franchise in Belgium: secure access to customer data

A franchise outlet can be busy while its owner has very little insight into its customers. Reservations, loyalty cards and online orders often run through central systems. Shared technology enables collaboration across a franchise network, but access to data is not a given. Before you buy, establish which customer information you can actually use, on what terms and at what cost.

1. Map your outlet’s data flows

Do not simply ask whether the franchise network has a customer database. Ask the franchisor to demonstrate what you will actually see as a local business owner. An overview of total sales is not the same as access to order histories, unresolved complaints or contact preferences.

During the demonstration, follow a few specific customer journeys: a purchase at the till, an order through the central website and registration for the loyalty programme. For each one, note who collects the data, where it is stored and who can access it.

Then create an overview with four columns:

• Data: for example, contact details, purchases, reservations and marketing consents.
• System: till, online shop, loyalty card or booking platform.
• Access: what can you, your staff and the franchisor view or change?
• Use: for what purposes may each party use the information?

Also ask how online transactions are linked to your outlet. Can you help a customer who ordered through the central system, or must every query go to head office? This determines not only your administrative workload but also the service you can provide locally.

2. Check data protection roles, not just ‘ownership’

The statement ‘the customers are yours’ is not legally sufficient. Personal data is not ordinary property that parties can freely divide between them. The General Data Protection Regulation, usually known as the GDPR, sets out, among other things, when processing is permitted and what rights customers have. Belgium’s Act of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data is also relevant.

For each processing activity, establish who determines the purposes and essential means of processing. That party is the controller. If the franchisor and franchisee determine these jointly, they may be joint controllers. If one party processes data solely on behalf of, and under instructions from, the other, it may be a processor.

How things work in practice is decisive, not just the label used in the contract. One party may also have different roles for different activities.

Check that the appropriate arrangements are in place. A controller–processor relationship requires an agreement under Article 28 of the GDPR; joint controllers must allocate their responsibilities under Article 26. Discuss security, retention periods, customer requests and personal data breach notification, among other matters.

An email address collected centrally does not automatically entitle you to send local marketing. Have the applicable lawful basis and electronic direct marketing rules checked. Consent to communications from one party does not necessarily cover messages from another.

3. Put usable access rights into the contract

Belgium does not have a single, comprehensive franchise law governing every aspect of how franchise contracts are carried out. However, Title 2 of Book X of the Belgian Code of Economic Law governs pre-contractual information for commercial cooperation agreements that fall within its scope. In principle, a prospective franchisee must receive the draft contract and pre-contractual disclosure document at least one month before signing.

Use this review period to have the data arrangements assessed too. Alongside the GDPR, general contract law and Belgium’s rules on unfair terms between businesses are relevant. The pre-contractual disclosure rules do not, in themselves, give you an unlimited right to access the central customer database.

Ask for a schedule to the contract specifying:

• which information your outlet can access and for what purposes;
• which reports and exports are available, in what format and how often;
• who manages staff access rights;
• what support is available in the event of outages or inaccurate data;
• which data you may lawfully retain to meet legal obligations or handle disputes.

Avoid a general promise of ‘full access’. Instead, agree on the specific tasks you must be able to carry out. The GDPR right to data portability belongs to individuals under certain conditions; it is not a general right for your business to export data.

4. Test the system and calculate the additional costs

Ask for a demonstration using dummy data and carry out a few tasks yourself. Look up a transaction, produce a local report and check that a customer who has opted out does not reappear on a marketing list. Ask existing franchisees whether day-to-day use matches the demonstration, without requesting their customers’ personal data.

Next, list all the costs: user licences, additional accounts, reporting, integrations with your accounting software, data storage and technical support. Ask for a clear breakdown of which features are included and which are charged separately.

Discuss outages too. How will your outlet keep operating if the central platform is unavailable? Who restores the data, and how do you contact support? A workable contingency process is worth more than a vague promise that the system will always be available.

Practical conclusion: do not buy on the strength of a promise that you will get ‘your own customer database’. Ask for a demonstration, have the data protection roles reviewed, and put access rights, permitted uses and costs in writing before you commit.