GDPR for Sole Traders and Freelancers in Belgium: the Free Route

For the smallest businesses with the smallest budget

If you run a sole trader business, freelance, or have a micro-company with a handful of people, GDPR compliance quickly sounds like a problem for bigger companies. It is not. The regulation makes no exception for size, and most solo entrepreneurs process more personal data than they realise: a customer list, invoices, a newsletter, a website with a contact form.

The good news is that you do not need a 2,000 EUR consultant for this, and not even a paid subscription. For the smallest businesses there is a free route. This article shows what it looks like, step by step, and what the minimum is that you actually need.

Why small does not mean exempt

A stubborn misconception: “I am too small, the GBA really is not looking at me.” The Belgian Data Protection Authority (GBA, in French APD) has in recent years issued fines to sole traders, local shops and small service providers. Enforcement also often starts not with an inspection, but with a complaint: a customer asking what data you hold on them, or a former employee wanting to make a point.

The minimum that every Belgian micro-business processing personal data needs to have in order:

• A processing register that describes which data you process, why, and how long you keep it
• A privacy policy on your website that informs customers about their rights
• A cookie overview if your website uses cookies or trackers

That looks manageable, and for a small business it is, provided you do not have to start from a blank page.

The free route, step by step

Here is how you become compliant as a solo entrepreneur or micro-SME without spending a euro:

Step 1: scan your website (2 minutes)

Enter your website URL in the Free Scan. The scanner automatically detects your cookies, tracking scripts, forms and third-party services, and recognises your sector. You do not have to look anything up by hand.

Step 2: let the sector foundation do the heavy lifting

Based on your detected sector, GDPRWise loads a pre-built dossier with the processing activities that are typical for your type of business. A freelance graphic designer, a self-employed bookkeeper and a web shop sole trader each start from a different, fitting foundation instead of an empty document.

Step 3: answer a few targeted questions

The platform asks you a short series of questions in plain language. Do you work alone or do you have a single employee? Do you use a newsletter tool? Do you process payments through an external provider? For a small business this is done in half an hour to an hour.

Step 4: download your dossier

You receive a complete dossier: processing register, privacy policy, cookie report, an employee privacy policy if you have someone on your payroll, and an action list. No account or credit card needed, including a 2-week free trial.

Step 5: publish and done

Place your privacy policy on your website, set up your cookie banner based on the cookie report, and work through the action list. For a stable micro-business, that puts you in order.

When free is enough - and when it is not

The free route is sufficient for most solo entrepreneurs and micro-SMEs, because their processing activities are straightforward and stable. You own your dossier and can update it manually whenever something changes.

Paying only becomes worthwhile in specific cases:

• Your website changes regularly. New pages, new plugins or a new marketing script can introduce new cookies. Peace of Mind (EUR 29 per month) rescans automatically and warns you.
• You work with many third-party tools. The more external services you use, the greater the chance that something changes without you noticing.
• You simply do not want to think about it anymore. Some entrepreneurs are happy to pay a small amount for the certainty that their documentation stays current without manual work.

As long as your situation is stable, there is no reason to pay. If your business grows or becomes more dynamic, the step to a subscription is small and the cost is low. For a full cost comparison of all routes, see what GDPR compliance costs for a Belgian SME.

Multilingual, also for the solo entrepreneur

Even as a sole trader you may serve customers in several languages in Belgium. GDPRWise supports Dutch, French, German and English, so you can generate your privacy policy in the language your customers expect, all from the same free dossier.