Personal Data Protection Charter

Updated : May 2026

Privacy Policy

Business France is the agency supporting the international development of the French economy, responsible for fostering export growth by French businesses, as well as promoting and facilitating international investment in France.

Accordingly, Business France is in charge of the website welcome.businessfrance.fr/en , which aims to inform, guide, and advise investors, as well as international talents and their families (hereinafter referred to as the “Users”), about the business environment in France and the main steps involved in setting up and recruiting. A project form allows “Users” to be put in contact with Business France teams in France and abroad.

Aware of the importance of ensuring the confidentiality of personal data, this document describes how Business France, as data controller, implements all necessary measures to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 27, 2016) and with the French Data Protection Act (Loi Informatique et Libertés).

Business France has designated a Data Protection Officer whose contact details are as follows : https://dpo.businessfrance.fr/en

Information relating to cookies and other trackers is set out in a separate document entitled “Cookie Policy”, accessible from the website.

A. Framework for the use of data

Below, Business France presents, for data collected on welcome.businessfrance.fr/en, the main categories of data processed, the purposes pursued, and the applicable legal bases.

What categories of data do we collect ?	For what purpose do we collect these data ?	On what basis do we treat your data ?
Civil status, contact details, professional position.	Management of “Get support” forms; processing and follow‑up of information and support requests related to a project for establishment or mobility in France.	Legitimate interest of Business France in the context of its public service mission to attract foreign investors and talents.
Civil status, contact details, professional position, data relating to administrative or mobility status (e.g. secondment certificates, passports, residence permits or visas, national identification number (NIR) and tax number when required, driving license, employment contract, payslips)	Management of information requests from investors and foreign talents concerning international mobility, in connection with the company, its advisors, and, where applicable, the relevant public authorities.	Legitimate interest of Business France in the context of its public service mission to attract foreign investors and talents.
Civil status, contact details, professional position, secondment certificates, copies of passports and/or residence permits and/or visas, NIR and tax number, driving license, employment contract and payslips	Support for investors, international talents and, where applicable, their family members, in order to facilitate their relocation to France.	Legitimate interest of Business France in the context of its public service mission to attract foreign investors and talents.
Civil status, contact details, professional position, residence permit	Statistical analysis of the number and types of requests submitted (activity indicators, management steering).	Legitimate interest of Business France in the context of its public service mission to attract foreign investors and talents.
Last name, first name, nationality, address and contact details required for matchmaking	Organization of connections between talents and French Tech Capital ecosystems likely to host them.	Consent.
Civil status, contact details, professional position, image and voice.	Organization of webinars and testimonials intended to promote France’s attractiveness.	Consent.

When certain fields are identified as mandatory in the website forms, this means that the corresponding information is required to process the request or provide the requested service. Failure to provide mandatory information may prevent Business France from processing the request or providing the requested support.

B. Storage time for data

Business France conserve les données personnelles pendant la durée nécessaire au respect des législations et des réglementations applicables, ou pendant une durée définie au regard de nos contraintes opérationnelles, telles que la tenue de notre comptabilité, une gestion efficace de la relation client, ainsi que pour faire valoir des droits en justice ou répondre à des demandes de nos ministères de tutelles.

The periods for which we keep your personal data are proportionate to the purposes for which your data were processed, that is the longest duration mentioned below:

One (1) year from your request.
Duration required to process your request.

Increased, when applicable, by the legal prescription and also to ensure the respect of legal regulatory requirements compulsory for Business France.

C. Access to and transfer of data

C-1 Access to data

The personal data that Business France collects, and those that Business France obtains subsequently, are intended for Business France in its capacity as data controller, including its offices and representations abroad, some of which are located outside the European Union, and for the French public program members Team France Invest (Regional Development Agency, local authorities, ANCT and decentralized services) supporting the international development of the French economy, and when request requires it to French administrations and our ministries in charge.

Business France ensures that only authorized persons have access to this data. Business France service providers and French public program members supporting the international development of the French economy may be recipients of this data to perform the services for which they are entrusted. Some personal data may be sent to third parties or to legally authorized authorities in order to meet Business France’s legal, regulatory or contractual obligations.

Personal data may be subject to a convergence, a mutualization or a sharing between all Business France entities. Personal data may be communicated to these entities for the purposes referred to in A- Framework for the use of data. These operations are carried out on the basis of instruments that comply with applicable regulations and are capable of ensuring that users’ rights are protected and respected.

C-2 Transfer of data

Business France transfers personal data to its offices and partners in the European Union and outside the European Union.

Each of these transfers is governed by legal instruments that comply with the applicable legal framework :

Countries benefiting from an adequacy decision provide personal data of customers, investors, influencers, partners, suppliers, or prospects with a level of protection equivalent to that in force within the European Union.
Transfers to other countries are governed by appropriate safeguards consisting of the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.

D. User rights

A user (private individual) can exercise their rights justifying their identity here or by post to the following address:

Data Protection Officer,
Business France,
77 boulevard Saint-Jacques
75014 Paris France

To do so, the claimant has to clearly indicate its surname and first name, and the address to which he wants the reply to be sent. As a principle, the claimant can exercise freely all their rights. However, concerning the right of information, Business France will not have to answer it if the user already has the information requested. Business France will inform them if it cannot answer the requests. The failure to provide information or modification of data can have consequences in the process of certain demands for the execution of contractual relations. The request concerning the exercise of the rights of the user will be store for monitoring purposes. Users also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), 3 Place de Fontenoy, 75007 Paris, or directly via www.cnil.fr, if they believe that their data protection rights are not being respected.

E. Data hosting

Business France has taken the physical, technical and organizational measures necessary to ensure the security, integrity, availability and confidentiality of your personal data, in particular to protect them against destruction, loss, theft, accidental destruction, alteration or non-authorized access.

The data collected and used by Business France for a third party are hosted in France (NB: due to data replication or load balancing reasons, personal encrypted data may be temporarily replicated in another country within the European Union).

F. Cookie Management Policy

Information relating to cookies and other trackers used on the Welcome websiteis presented in the cookie policy page. This policy specifies in particular the categories of trackers, their purposes, the associated legal bases, their lifespans, any partners involved, and the methods enabling users to give or modify their consent choices.