Customer data processing

This customer data processing section of our Privacy Policy describes the processing of personal data by Continental Tool Group, Inc., in general and contains specific provisions for specific software applications. Continental Tool Group observes the information obligations under Articles 13 and 14 of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Why is this relevant for you?

In line with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Continental Tool Group Group informs you about how the companies of Continental Tool Group Management Ltd and its affiliates (together Continental Tool Group) process personal data as far as they are not covered by other Continental Tool Group privacy policies or are evident from the circumstances or are provided for by applicable law. Personal data means all information relating to an identified or identifiable person. In particular, the following persons are considered customers of Continental Tool Group according to this customer information:

• Business contacts, potential customers, suppliers, and their respective employees.
• Current and former customers, suppliers, and their respective employees.
• Distributors, agents, and other intermediaries and their respective employees.
• Financial community (for example, shareholders, investors, brokers, analysts).
• Journalists
• Visitors of Continental Tool Group facilities and locations.
• Visitors and users of websites, social media channels, and messenger services registered with Continental Tool Group (Continental Tool Group pages).

Who is responsible for processing your personal data?

Every website (including web-portals and microsites for special events or offers), every presence on social media, multimedia portals, chatbots, messengers, and every app of Continental Tool Group (“Continental Tool Group pages”) has a controller within Continental Tool Group with respect to collecting personal data according to GDPR (or comparable provisions according to applicable data protection laws). Unless provided otherwise on the Continental Tool Group pages (according to the terms of use, privacy policy, etc.), Continental Tool Group Management Ltd is the controller.

Should a Continental Tool Group company or affiliate disclose personal data to another Continental Tool Group company or affiliate for certain purposes of the receiving company or affiliate, such company or affiliate is the controller according to Article 4 (7) GDPR.

If you would like to get detailed information or express concern about this Privacy Policy, please contact:

Continental Tool Group Global Data Privacy Officer
Continental Tool Group Inc.
25 Leonberg Road
Pittsburgh, PA 16066

What personal data do we collect?

Continental Tool Group collects customer personal data generally directly when using a Continental Tool Group page, at Continental Tool Group events, or through direct communication via email, telephone, or other means. However, in some cases, personal data can also be collected indirectly from other sources, e.g., debt registers, commercial and association registers, press, internet, or sources that are legitimately transferred within the Continental Tool Group or from other third parties such as credit agencies, service providers, or derived from combining data sets.

According to applicable law and insofar as it is necessary for the purposes of processing, Continental Tool Group processes personal data from the following “data subjects”:

• Business contacts, potential customers, suppliers, and their respective employees.
• Current and former customers, suppliers, and their respective employees.
• Distributors, agents, and other intermediaries and their respective employees.
• Financial community (for example, shareholders, brokers, analysts).
• Journalists
• Visitors of Continental Tool Group facilities and locations.
• Visitors and users of websites, social media channels, and messenger services registered with Continental Tool Group.

i) Personal data and Contact Information: first and last name, contact details, address, residence, telephone number, email address, correspondence data, employer, shares owned, etc.
ii) Data in connection with product and services marketing: information such as newsletter opt-ins and opt-outs, documents received, invitations to and participation at events and special activities, personal preferences and interests.
iii) Data in connection with the use of Continental Tool Group pages: IP address and other identification (e.g., user name of social media, MAC address of smartphones or computers, cookies), date and time of visits, duration of visit, visited sites and contents, referring websites, etc.
iv) Data of users of the Website who do not register with Continental Tool Group but may constitute personal data, for example, from social media. The provisions of this policy regarding data collected from a customer in connection with the use of the Website shall apply accordingly, even though the identification of a visitor usually is not possible for Continental Tool Group.
v) Data in connection with communication: such as preferred means of communication, correspondence and communication with Continental Tool Group (including records of the communication), information regarding their function, information relating to the previous contact with these individuals, data regarding marketing activities (e.g. receipt of newsletters), information regarding business transactions, requests, offers, tenders, conditions and contracts, information related to professional or other interests of the individuals etc.
vi) Data pertaining to orders and purchases: payment information, credit card details and other payment details, billing and shipping address, products and services ordered and purchased, information connected to queries, complaints, and disagreements relating to products and services or respective contracts entered into, such as warranty claims, rescission and disputes, etc.

How do we use personal data (purposes of processing) and on what legal basis?

In accordance with applicable law, Continental Tool Group processes personal data for the following purposes:

i) In connection with services offered, negotiation, conclusion and performance of contracts, maintenance and development of customer relations, communication, customer service and support, promotions, advertisement and marketing (including newsletters and mailing of promotional materials);
ii) Management of the users of the Website and other activities in which customers participate, operation and enhancement of the Website (including the provision of functions which require identifiers or other personal data), and further IT systems, identity verification;
iii) Protection of customers, employees, and other individuals and protection of data, secrets, and assets of and entrusted to Continental Tool Group, safety of systems and premises of Continental Tool Group;
iv) Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and internal rules of Continental Tool Group, enforcement and exploitation of legal rights and claims, defense against legal claims, litigation, complaints, combating abusive conduct, engaging in legal investigations and proceedings, and responding to inquiries of public authorities;
v) Sale or acquisitions of business divisions, companies, or parts of companies, and other corporate transactions, and the transfer of associated customer data;

In accordance with applicable data protection laws, Continental Tool Group may also process:

viii) Data about visitors of the Website for the purpose of maintaining and developing the Website (including the provision of functions which require identifiers or other personal data), for statistical analysis about the use of the Website to improve the user journeys, and for combating abusive conduct. The data may also be processed for purposes of legal investigations or proceedings and for the response to inquiries of public authorities; and
ix) Data about business contacts and potential customers for the purpose of entering into and performance of contracts and other business relationships, promotions, advertisements, marketing, communication, invitation to events, and participation in promotions, organization of joint activities. The data may also be processed for purposes of compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and internal rules of Continental Tool Group, enforcement and exploitation of legal rights and claims, defense against legal claims, litigation, complaints, combating abusive conduct, engaging in legal investigations and proceedings and responding to inquiries of public authorities, for the sale or acquisition of business units, companies or parts of companies and other corporate transaction and related transfers of the data.

All purposes of processing shall apply to the entire Continental Tool Group, i.e., not only to the company that initially collected the personal data. Customer personal data is collected for use by all Continental Tool Group companies.

Continental Tool Group processes personal data to achieve the purpose of processing according to the following legal grounds:

i) Performance of contracts with customers;
ii) Compliance with legal obligations of Continental Tool Group;
iii) Consent of the customer (only insofar as the processing is based on a specific query and can be withdrawn at any time, namely the receipt of newsletters for which the client has registered);
iv) Legitimate interests of Continental Tool Group, especially:

• Purchase and shipment of products and services, also in connection with individuals who are not direct contractual partners (such as individuals receiving a gift);
• Carrying out advertising and marketing activities;
• Efficient and effective customer support, maintenance of contact, and other communication with customers outside of the processing of contracts;
• Understanding customer behavior, activities, concerns, and needs, market studies;
• Efficient and effective improvement of existing products and services and development of new products and services;
• Efficient and effective protection of customers, employees, and other individuals, as well as protection of data, secrets, and assets of or entrusted to Continental Tool Group, safety of systems and premises of Continental Tool Group;
• Maintenance and secure, efficient, and effective organization of business operations, including a secure, efficient, and effective operation and successful further development of the Website and other IT systems;
  Reasonable corporate governance and development;
• Successful sale and acquisition of business units, companies, or parts of companies and other corporate transactions;
• Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and internal rules of Continental Tool Group; and
• Concerns regarding the prevention of fraud, offences and crimes, as well as investigation in connection with such offences and other improper conduct, handling of claims and actions against Continental Tool Group, cooperation in legal proceedings and with public authorities, as well as the prosecution, exercise of, and defense against legal actions.

Who can access personal data, and where do we transfer the data?

Continental Tool Group may transfer personal data to the following recipients who shall process the data in accordance with the purpose of processing and on behalf of Continental Tool Group or for their own purposes:

i) Continental Tool Group employees are authorized to process employee-related personal data on a need-to-know basis.
ii) Service providers (within Continental Tool Group or externally), including data processors.
iii) Dealers, suppliers, and other business partners.
iv) Customers of Continental Tool Group.
v) Local, national, and foreign authorities.
vi) Acquirers and prospective acquirers of business divisions, companies, and other parts of Continental Tool Group.
vii) Other parties in potential or actual legal proceedings.
viii) Other companies of Continental Tool Group.

Continental Tool Group may disclose personal data within Continental Tool Group as well as to third parties in every country worldwide, generally to the countries in which Continental Tool Group is represented by companies, affiliates, or other offices and representatives, as well as to countries in which service providers of Continental Tool Group process their data. As a general rule, personal data is stored within the EU and the United States. If data is disclosed to or stored in countries that do not guarantee adequate protection, Continental Tool Group will warrant adequate protection of the data in accordance with applicable data privacy laws and by implementing adequate contractual safeguards. Examples include EU standard contractual clauses, binding corporate rules, or basing the transfer on the exceptions for consent, the conclusion or performance of a contract, the determination, exercise, or enforcement of legal claims, overriding public interests, or disclosing the data to protect the integrity of these individuals. The customer can obtain a copy of the contractual guarantees from, or will be advised where to obtain them, by the contact person named above. Continental Tool Group reserves the right to redact such copies for reasons of data protection or secrecy.

How long do we store personal data?

As a general rule, Continental Tool Group retains personal data as long as the contractual or relationship with the customer is ongoing and for ten years after the termination of the contractual relationship. A longer statutory storage obligation may apply on a case-by-case basis or as required for proof or another valid reason, or earlier deletion of the data may be required (because the data is no longer required or because Continental Tool Group is required to delete the respective data).

For operational data containing personal data (e.g., protocols and logs), retention periods depend on the reasonable need for processing. Business records, including communications, will be retained as long as Continental Tool Group has an interest in them (for reasons of proof in case of claims, documentation of compliance with certain legal or other requirements, an interest in non-personalized analysis) or is obligated to do so (by way of contract, law, or other provisions). Deviating legal obligations is reserved for anonymized or pseudonymized data.

Do we use automated decision-making?

Continental Tool Group does not generally use any automated decision-making or profiling pursuant to Article 22 of the GDPR. Should Continental Tool Group make such automated decisions, the affected individuals will be informed in advance, either subsequently or separately, in accordance with applicable law.

Which rights do customers have concerning their data?

Any affected person, including any customer, visitor, or business contact, may request from Continental Tool Group whether data concerning them is being processed. In addition, they have the right to request the correction, destruction, or restriction of personal data regarding them, as well as to object to the processing of personal data. Should the processing of personal data be based on consent, the affected person may withdraw consent at any time. Such withdrawal does not have a retroactive effect. Continental Tool Group reserves the right to base the processing of personal data on one or more different legal grounds. In EU and EEA countries, the affected individual may, in certain cases, have the right to obtain data generated during the use of online services in a structured, common, and machine-readable format, allowing further use and transfer (data portability). Continental Tool Group reserves the right to restrict the rights of the affected individual in accordance with applicable law, e.g., by not disclosing comprehensive information or by not deleting data.

Any affected person with a complaint about the processing of their personal data may put forward the matter to Continental Tool Group’s Global Data Protection Officer or raise a complaint with the competent data protection authority, which, in the case of a Continental Tool Group controller in the United States, is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner in the United States (http://www.edoeb.admin.ch).

Additional information for specific forms of processing

Continental Tool Group.com website

Provisions regarding the Continental Tool Group.com website can be found in the Privacy and cookie policy and in the Terms of use of the Continental Tool Group website.

Newsletters

Continental Tool Group may send newsletters, e-mails, or other commercial communications regarding its products and services to customers and business partners. The respective customers and business partners have the right to object to further mailing of newsletters or other commercial communications at any time through their account on the respective Website or via the link provided in every mailing. The termination of one newsletter may not entail the termination of other newsletters. Continental Tool Group may install coding in newsletters and other marketing emails, which allows it to determine whether the recipient has opened an email, downloaded images, and/or clicked links contained in the email. The recipient may block this application in his / her email application.

This privacy policy is effective as of March 11, 2020. Continental Tool Group is entitled to amend this Privacy Policy at any time and without prior notice or announcement. The latest version, according to Continental Tool Group.com, is applicable. Should the privacy policy form part of an agreement with customers, Continental Tool Group may inform them of an update or amendments by email or in another appropriate manner. The amendments shall be deemed to have been accepted unless an objection is raised within 30 days of notification. In the event of an objection, Continental Tool Group shall be free to terminate the agreement exceptionally and with immediate effect.