Privacy Policy (valid from May 2022)

1. preface

Regardless of whether you are a customer, interested party, applicant or visitor to our website: We, Ferd. Schmetz GmbH (hereinafter: "SCHMETZ", "we") take the protection of your personal data very seriously. But what does this mean in concrete terms?

In the following, we provide you with an insight into what personal data we collect from you and in what form we process it. Furthermore, you will receive an overview of the rights to which you are entitled under applicable data protection law. In addition, we will provide you with the names of your contact persons should you have any further questions.

The content of this notice may change over time. We therefore recommend that you visit this page regularly.

1.1 Who are we?

As the responsible party within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws, we take, the

Ferd. Schmetz GmbH
Parkweg 2
DE- 72458 Albstadt

E-mail: info@schmetz.com
Phone: +49 (0) 7431 / 10-3555

all measures required under applicable data protection law to ensure the protection of your personal data.

If you have any questions regarding this privacy policy, please contact our data protection officer.

Ferd. Schmetz GmbH Data Protection Officer
c/o Groz-Beckert KG
Parkweg 2
72458 Albstadt E-Mail: data.protection@groz-beckert.com

2. scope of application of the privacy policy

The legislator understands the processing of personal data as activities such as collecting, recording, organizing, arranging, storing, adapting or modifying, reading, retrieving, using, disclosing by transmission, dissemination or any other form of making available, comparing or linking, restricting, erasing or destroying personal data.

Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.

This privacy policy deals with the personal data of customers, interested parties, applicants or visitors. This privacy policy applies to both our websites www.schmetz.com and http://www.schmetz-magazine.comas well as information otherwise submitted to us in writing.

3. what personal data do we process?

Your personal data is collected by us when you contact us, e.g. as an interested party or customer. This can happen, for example, when you are interested in our products, register for our online services, contact us through our communication channels, or when you use our products or services in the context of existing business relationships. The following types of personal data are processed by us:

  • Personal identification information e.g. first and last name, address data, e-mail address, telephone number, fax number
  • Order data e.g. customer number, order number, invoice data
  • Company related data e.g. company name, department, activity, machine park
  • Data about your online behavior e.g. IP addresses, user names, data on your visits to our website, actions performed on our websites, Internet address of the website from which the online offer was accessed (so-called origin or referrer URL), name of the service provider via which the online offer is accessed, name of the files or information, date and time as well as duration of the retrieval, amount of data transferred, operating system and information on the Internet browser used including installed add-ons (e.g. for the Flash Player), location of the access, data on your purchasing behavior
  • Information about your interests and wishes, which you communicate to us e.g. via our contact form or via other communication channels
  • As well as other information comparable to these categories of data.

3.1 Sensitive data

Sensitive data, i.e. special categories of personal data such as information on religious or trade union affiliation, is not collected via this channel.

3.2 Personal data of minors

This online offer is not intended for children under the age of 16.

4 Use of cookies

Cookies and tracking mechanisms may be used as part of the provision of our online services. Cookies are small text files that can be stored on your terminal device when you visit an online offer. Tracking is possible using various technologies. We process information in particular within the framework of pixel technology or log file analysis.

4.1 Categories

We distinguish between cookies that are absolutely necessary for the technical functions of the online offer and such cookies and tracking mechanisms that are not absolutely necessary for the technical function of the online offers. The use of the online offer is generally possible without cookies that do not serve technical purposes.

4.1.1 Essential cookies

By essential cookies we mean cookies without which the technical provision of the online service cannot be guaranteed. This includes, for example, cookies that store data in order to ensure the trouble-free playback of video or audio content. These cookies are deleted after the end of your visit. 4.1.2 Marketing cookies We only use these cookies if you have given us your consent in advance. Excluded from this is the cookie that stores the current status of your privacy setting (selection cookie). This is set due to legitimate interest.

General

The usage information obtained from the use of marketing cookies (including the shortened IP address of the user) enables us and our partners to display interest-based offers to you and to continuously improve our online offering.

4.2 Management of cookies and tracking mechanisms

Whether and which cookies are used when you visit our websites depends on which areas and functions of our websites you use and whether you agree to the use of cookies that are not technically necessary (essential cookies) in our Consent Management System. For more information and decision-making options, click here .

The use of cookies also depends on the settings of the web browser you use (e.g. Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox). Most web browsers are preset to automatically accept certain types of cookies; however, you can usually change this setting. You can delete existing cookies at any time. To find out how to do this in the browser or device you are using, see the manufacturer's instructions.

4.3 General note

The consent to as well as rejection or deletion of cookies are bound to the device used and also to the respective web browser used. If you use several devices or web browsers, you can make the decisions or settings differently in each case.

If you decide against the use of cookies or delete them, it is possible that not all functions of our websites or individual functions will only be available to you to a limited extent.

5. external links

Our online offer may contain links to third-party websites (e.g. Amazon, Google Maps, Instagram), providers not affiliated with us. After clicking on the link, we no longer have any influence on the collection, processing and use of any personal data transmitted to the third party when the link is clicked (such as the IP address or the URL of the page on which the link is located), as the behavior of third parties is naturally beyond our control. We assume no responsibility for the processing of such personal data by third parties.

If you click / activate by clicking the link to a third party offer, personal data may reach providers in countries outside the European Economic Area, which from the perspective of the European Union ("EU") do not ensure an "adequate level of protection" for the processing of personal data in line with EU standards. For more information and decision-making options, click here .

6 What do we process your personal data for - and on what legal basis?

6.1 Contract performance

We process your data in order to be able to fulfill our contracts. This also applies to information that you provide to us as part of pre-contractual correspondence. The specific purposes of the data processing depend on the respective product and the application made and may also be used to analyze your needs and to check which products and services are suitable for you.

6.1.1 Implementation of the contractual relationship

To carry out the contractual relationship, we need your name, address, telephone number or e-mail address so that we can contact you.

6.1.2 Offering goods and services and providing information

We also need your personal data to be able to check whether and which products and services we can and may offer you. We also process your personal data in order to be able to provide the information you have requested.

6.1.3 Implementation of the application procedure

We process the data you have sent us as part of your application in order to check whether your professional qualifications are suitable for the advertised position. We only use your information for the application process and transfer it to your personnel file if a contract is concluded. If no agreement is reached, your information will be deleted or destroyed. We will not use your applicant information for any purpose other than to conduct the application process.

6.2 After weighing interests: We improve our services and offer you suitable products

6.2.1 To strengthen and optimize the customer relationship

As part of our efforts to continuously optimize our relationship with you, we occasionally ask you to participate in our customer surveys. The results of the surveys are used to adapt our products and services even better to your needs.

6.2.2 Data processing and analysis for marketing purposes

Your needs are important to us, and we try to give you information about products and services that are just right for you. To do this, we use the insights gained from our joint business relationship as well as from market research. The main objective is to adapt our product proposals to your needs. In this context, we guarantee that we always process the data in accordance with applicable data protection law. Important: You can object to the use of your personal data for this purpose at any time.

For other purposes (e.g. display of personalized content or advertising based on your usage behavior), we and, if applicable, selected third parties will use your data, provided that you give your consent to this within the framework of our consent management system. For more information and decision-making options, click here .

6.2.3 Newsletter

You have the possibility to register for our newsletter and the job agent via our website. For sending, we only need your e-mail address, all other information is voluntary. You will only receive our newsletter after successful completion of a double opt-in process. You will receive the job agent after completion of an opt-in procedure. You have the right to view your consent form or unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. Corresponding links are implemented in each letter accompanying our newsletter. In the event that you unsubscribe from our newsletter, we will immediately delete your contact data from our newsletter distribution list. The legislator places certain requirements on the effectiveness of electronic consent, such as that used for newsletter registration. This also includes logging your declaration of consent. We therefore log the date and time of consent, the text of the declaration of consent, whether the checkbox was selected, your e-mail address and any other voluntary information. We also log the date and time of the click on the confirmation link as well as the link in the confirmation email. We collect this information solely to comply with legal obligations.

6.2.4 Measures that serve your safety

We use their personal data in the following cases, among others:

  • To protect you or your company from fraudulent activities, we analyze your data. This can happen, for example, if you have been the victim of identity theft or if unauthorized persons have gained access to your user account in some other way;
  • To improve the reliability of our web applications, our IT support works closely with you in case of technical problems. In this context, we also evaluate logs of page accesses, actions performed, etc;
  • In order to be able to guarantee IT security;
  • To be able to record and prove facts in the event of potential litigation.

6.3 Based on your consent

If you have consented to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes, the processing of your data by us is permitted. You can revoke this consent with a view to the future at any time without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs according to the basic rates (costs of your Internet connection). However, the revocation of consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out until the revocation.

6.4 Due to legal requirements or in the public interest

As a company, we are subject to a wide variety of legal requirements (e.g. from tax legislation). In order to comply with our legal obligations, we process your personal data.

7. Where we transfer data and why

7.1 Data usage within SCHMETZ

Within SCHMETZ, your personal data will only be accessed by those who need it to fulfill our contractual or legal obligations, or to protect our legitimate interests.

7.2 Data use outside SCHMETZ

We respect the privacy of your personal data and will only disclose information about you if required to do so by law, you have consented, or to fulfill contractual obligations. The following recipients, for example, are subject to a legal obligation to disclose your personal data:

  • Public bodies or supervisory authorities, e.g. tax authorities, customs authorities;
  • Judicial and law enforcement agencies, e.g., police, courts, prosecutors;
  • Lawyers or notaries, e.g. in legal disputes;
  • Auditor.

In order for us to fulfill our contractual obligations, we cooperate with other companies. These include:

  • Transport service providers and forwarding companies;
  • Organizers and training service providers, if you have registered for certain trade fairs or events through us;
  • Banks and financial service providers to handle all financial matters.

Own service providers

In order to run our operations efficiently, we use the services of external service providers who may receive personal data from you to fulfill the purposes described, including IT service providers, printing and telecommunication service providers, collection, consulting or distribution companies.

Important: We pay close attention to your personal data!

To ensure that the service providers comply with the same data protection standards as we do, we have concluded corresponding contracts for commissioned processing. These contracts regulate, among other things:

  • that third parties only have access to the data they need to complete the tasks assigned to them;
  • that at the service providers, only employees who have explicitly committed themselves to compliance with the data protection regulations are granted access to your data;
  • that the service providers comply with technical and organizational measures that ensure data security and data protection;
  • what happens to the data when the business relationship between the service provider and us is terminated.

We regularly check all our service providers for compliance with our specifications.

Very important: Under no circumstances do we sell your personal data to third parties!

7.3 Data usage within the Groz-Beckert Group

In order to offer you the best possible service, we occasionally exchange data within the Group. In doing so, we ensure that the applicable data protection regulations are complied with and that your personal data is adequately protected at all times.

For this reason, we have taken appropriate measures to ensure compliance with data protection within the Groz-Beckert Group:

We have concluded appropriate agreements with the relevant companies to ensure that personal data exchanged within the Group always remains protected.

In accordance with these contracts and applicable data protection law, we transfer personal data only for the purposes stated in this privacy policy. The protection of your personal data is ensured by compliance with technical and organizational measures. If possible, we protect your data by means of pseudonymization or anonymization measures. If subsidiaries are located outside the EEA, we take appropriate measures to ensure that the personal data processed there is protected in the same way as within the EEA.

8. data transfer to recipients outside the European Economic Area

When using service providers (see 7.2) and transferring data to third parties with your consent (see 4.1.2), personal data may be transferred to recipients in countries outside the European Union and the European Economic Area and processed there.

In the EU's view, the following countries provide an adequate level of protection for the processing of personal data in line with EU standards (so-called adequacy decision): Andorra, Argentina, Canada (limited), Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland, Uruguay. With recipients in other countries, we agree to apply EU standard contractual clauses to provide an "adequate level of protection" in accordance with legal requirements.

9. Are you obliged to provide us with personal data?

In the context of the business relationship between you and SCHMETZ, we require the following categories of personal data from you:

  • all necessary data for the establishment and the execution of a business relationship;
  • Data required for the fulfillment of contractual obligations;
  • Data that we are legally obligated to collect.

Without this data, it is not possible for us to enter into or perform contracts with you.

10. Deletion periods

In accordance with the applicable data protection regulations, we do not store your personal data for longer than we need them for the purposes of the respective processing. If the data is no longer required for the fulfillment of contractual or legal obligations, we regularly delete it, unless its temporary storage is still necessary. The following reasons may exist for further storage:

  • Retention obligations under commercial and tax law must be complied with: The retention periods primarily according to the regulations of the German Commercial Code and the German Fiscal Code are up to 10 years.
  • On the preservation of evidence in the event of legal disputes within the framework of the statutory limitation provisions: limitation periods can be up to 30 years in civil law, with the regular limitation period occurring after three years.

11. Your rights

You also have certain rights in connection with the processing of your personal data. More detailed information can be found in the relevant provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (Articles 15 to 21).

11.1 Right to information and correction

You have the right to receive information from us about which of your personal data we process. If this information is not (or is no longer) correct, you can request that we correct the data or, if the information is incomplete, that we supplement it. If we have passed on your data to third parties, we will inform the relevant third parties in accordance with the relevant legal situation.

11.2 Right to deletion

You may request the immediate deletion of your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • When your personal data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected;
  • If you have revoked your consent and there is no other legal basis for data processing;
  • If you object to the processing and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for data processing;
  • If your data is processed unlawfully;
  • If your personal data must be deleted to fulfill legal obligations.

Please note that before we delete your data, we must verify that there is no legitimate reason to process your personal data.

11.3 Right to Restrict Processing ("Right to Block")

For one of the following reasons, you may request us to restrict the processing of your personal data:

  • If you dispute the accuracy of the data, until we have had the opportunity to satisfy ourselves that the data is accurate;
  • If the data is processed unlawfully, but instead of erasure you only request the restriction of the use of the personal data;
  • If we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of processing, but you still need it for the assertion, exercise or defense of legal claims;
  • If you have objected to the processing and it has not yet been determined whether your legitimate interests override ours.

11.4 Right of objection

11.4.1 Right to object on a case-by-case basis

Where processing is carried out in the public interest or on the basis of a balance of interests, you have the right to object to the processing on grounds relating to your particular situation. If you object, we will not further process your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for processing your data that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or because your personal data are used to assert, exercise or defend legal claims. The objection does not prevent the lawfulness of the processing that took place until the objection.

11.4.2 Advertising contradiction

In cases where your personal data is used for advertising purposes, you may object to this form of processing at any time. We will then no longer process your personal data for these purposes.

The objection can be made without any formalities and should be addressed to:

Ferd. Schmetz GmbH

Parkweg 2
72458 Albstadt

E-mail: info@schmetz.com

11.5 Right to data portability

You have the right to obtain personal data that you have given us for processing in a transferable and machine-readable format upon request.

11.6 Right to complain to the supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR)

We always try to process your inquiries and claims as quickly as possible in order to protect your rights accordingly. However, depending on the frequency of requests, it may take up to 30 days before we can inform you further about your request. If it takes longer, we will notify you promptly of the reasons for the delay and discuss the further procedure with you. In some cases, we may or may not provide you with information. If legally permissible, we will inform you of the reason for the refusal to provide information. If you are nevertheless not satisfied with our responses and reactions or believe that we are in breach of applicable data protection law, you are free to lodge a complaint with both our data protection officer and the competent supervisory authority. The supervisory authority responsible for us is:

State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of Baden-Württemberg.
Lautenschlagerstrasse 20
DE-70173 Stuttgart Phone: +49 711 615541-0
E-mail: poststelle@lfdi.bwl.de

 
 
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