Data privacy policy

Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG (hereinafter referred to as: "We", “our”, and “us”) is responsible as the site operator for processing personal data of users of the company website. Our contact details can be found in the legal notice on our company website, while the contacts for questions relating to processing of personal data are listed directly in this data privacy policy.

We take the protection of your privacy and personal data very seriously. We collect, store, and use your personal data strictly in compliance with the content of this data privacy policy and with the applicable data privacy provisions, in particular the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the national data protection regulations.

If you are a citizen or resident of the Philippines, the laws applicable to your personal data include the Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA), its implementing rules and regulations, and issuances of the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

This data privacy policy is intended to inform you about the scope and purpose for which personal data is processed in connection with the use of the company website.

Personal data

Personal data denotes any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes all information on your identity, such as your name, e-mail address, or postal address. Information that cannot be directly associated with your identity (such as statistical data, for example on the number of users of the online site) is, on the other hand, not considered to be personal data.

You can use the main features of our website without disclosing your identity and without providing your personal data. We therefore only collect general information about your visit to our website. However, personal data about you will be collected for some of the services offered. We will only process this data for the purpose of using this website, in particular for providing the requested information. When collecting personal data, you will only be required to provide data that is absolutely essential. Other information is possible, but is provided on a voluntary basis. We will always indicate whether input fields are mandatory or optional. We will inform you concerning the specific details in the relevant section of this data privacy policy.

When using our company website, no automated decision is made on the basis of your personal data.

Processing personal data

Your data is stored by us on specially protected servers within the European Union. Technical and organizational measures are used to protect these servers against the loss or destruction of, access or changes to, or the dissemination of your data by unauthorized persons. Only a limited number of persons will have access to your data. These individuals are responsible for the technical, commercial, or editorial support of the servers. Despite regular controls, complete protection against all risks is not possible however.

Your personal data is transmitted in encrypted form over the Internet. We use TLS/SSL encryption (Transport Layer Security/Secure Socket Layer) for data transmission.

Transfer of personal data to third parties

We only use your personal data to provide the services you request. If we employ external service providers in the provision of services, they shall also only access the data for the purpose of providing services. We use technical and organizational measures to ensure compliance with the data protection regulations and also obligate compliance on the part of our external service providers in this respect.

We shall also not transfer the data to third parties without your explicit consent, in particular not for advertising purposes. Your personal data shall only be transferred if you have given your consent to do so, or if we are entitled or obliged to do so due to legal regulations and/or official or judicial orders. This may especially involve the provision of information for law enforcement purposes, for averting danger, or for enforcing intellectual property rights.

Insofar as we transfer your personal data ourselves or through service providers to countries outside the European Union, we shall comply with the special provisions of Article 44 et seq. of the GDPR in this respect and shall similarly oblige our service providers to comply with these regulations. We shall therefore only transfer your data to countries outside the European Union subject to the level of protection assured by the GDPR. This level of protection is assured especially by an adequacy decision on the part of the EU Commission or through use of standard privacy clauses in accordance with Article 46 (2) c) of the GDPR, which can be found here.

Legal basis for data processing

Insofar as we obtain consent to process your personal data, Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) or 13 (a) of the DPA (if applicable), shall act as the legal basis for data processing.

Insofar as we process your personal data where this is necessary to fulfill the terms of a contract or in the context of a contract-like relationship with you, Article 6 (1) b) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (b) of the DPA (if applicable), shall act as the legal basis for data processing.

Insofar as we process your personal data to fulfill a legal obligation, Article 6 (1) c) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (c) of the DPA (if applicable), shall act as the legal basis for data processing.

Article 6 (1) f) of the GDPR is applicable, or Section 12 (f) of the DPA (if applicable), additionally as the legal basis for data processing if the processing of your personal data is required to protect the legitimate interests of our company or a third party and where your interests, basic rights, and basic freedoms do not require protection of the personal data.

For the purposes of this data privacy policy, we always indicate the legal basis we use to underpin the processing of your personal data.

Data deletion and storage period

We always delete or block your personal data as soon as the reason for storing it no longer applies. The data may remain stored beyond this period if this is provided for due to legal requirements to which we are subject, for example in respect of legal retention or documentation obligations. In such an event, we delete or block your personal data once the requirements cease to apply.

Information on your computer

Every time you visit our website we collect the following information about your computer regardless of whether or not you have registered with us: the IP address of your computer, the request from your browser, as well as the time this request was made. In addition, the status and amount of data transferred as part of this request is also recorded. We also collect product and version information about the browser used and your computer's operating system. We furthermore record the website from which the online site was accessed. The IP address of your computer is only saved for the time during which the online site was used and the subsequent three months, after which it is deleted or anonymized by shortening it.

We use this data to operate the online site, in particular to identify and resolve errors, to determine the utilization of the online site, and to make adjustments or improvements. These are also the purposes for which we have a legitimate interest in processing data pursuant to Article 6 (1) f) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (f) of the DPA (if applicable).

Use of cookies

As with many other websites, we use cookies for our company website. Cookies are small text files stored on your computer, which save specific settings and data for exchange with our website via your browser. A cookie generally contains the name of the domain from which the cookie file was sent as well as information on the age of the cookie and an alphanumeric identifier.

Cookies allow us to identify your computer and make any default settings available immediately. We use different cookies to achieve this purpose.

Essential cookies allow basic functions to be performed and are required for the website to function properly. This is also the purpose for which we have a legitimate interest in processing data pursuant to Article 6 (1) f) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (f) of the DPA (if applicable).

In addition, we also use marketing cookies that are used by third-party providers to display personalized advertising, as well as third-party cookies that allow access from content implemented on our page. We use these providers to improve our online site and to offer you a better service that is more tailored to your needs. We only use these cookies if you have given your explicit consent to do so. Our legal basis for using such services in this case is your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable).

The cookies we use are known as session cookies, which are deleted again automatically at the end of the browser session. Cookies that are stored for a longer period can also be used occasionally, so that your default settings and preferences can be taken into account the next time you visit our website.

Most browsers are set up to accept cookies automatically. However, you can disable the storage of cookies or set your browser to notify you as soon as cookies are sent. It is also possible to manually delete previously saved cookies via the browser settings. Please note that if you refuse to allow storage of cookies or delete essential cookies then some of the services available on our website may not work properly or at all.

Privacy settings

You can edit your privacy and cookie settings here.

Google Maps

We use Google Maps to create access routes and show the locations of branch offices on maps. This is a service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Whenever our website is accessed, a connection is established to the Google server in the United States in order to display the maps and associated text.

If you launch Google Maps when visiting our website, Google stores a cookie on your device via your browser. Your user data is processed by Google to display the location and to create directions. It is possible that Google will use servers in the U.S. for this purpose.

The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) f) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (f) of the DPA (if applicable). Our legitimate interest is in optimizing the functionality of our website.

Google can use the data transmitted to it to identify the website from which your request has been sent and the IP address to which the directions are to be transmitted.

If you do not agree to this storage and processing, you have to prevent the installation of cookies by making the appropriate settings in your browser. We refer you in this respect to the information provided on the topic of cookies.

Use of Google Maps is subject to Google's terms of use as well as general terms and conditions. You can find Google's data privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Vimeo

We use "Vimeo" to show videos on our website (Vimeo LLC, 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA, hereinafter referred to as "Vimeo").

Some user data is processed on Vimeo servers in the U.S.

The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable). You give your consent by allowing external content to be embedded.

If you give your consent to embed Vimeo videos, a connection is established to Vimeo servers in the U.S. in order to show the video. Your IP address is therefore transmitted and processed by Vimeo for technical reasons. In addition, the date and time of your visit to the relevant page is also recorded.

If you are logged into Vimeo when you visit one of our websites on which a Vimeo video is embedded, Vimeo assigns the collected user data to your personal user account. To prevent this from happening, you either have to log out of Vimeo before visiting our websites or configure the account settings in Vimeo accordingly.

Vimeo uses the web analytics service Google Analytics for analysis purposes. Google Analytics stores cookies on your device via your Internet browser and sends information on the use of our websites, in which a Vimeo video is embedded, to Google. It is possible that Google will store and process the information on servers in the U.S.

If you do not agree to this storage and processing, you have to prevent the installation of cookies by making the appropriate settings in your browser. We refer you in this respect to the information provided on the topic of cookies.

Further information on the collection, use, and processing of data by Vimeo as well as on your rights and options for protecting privacy can be found at http://vimeo.com/privacy.

Matomo

We use the open source software Matomo (formerly Piwik) to statistically analyze the use of our website. This is a web analytics service. The data collected by Matomo is stored in a database for the purpose of analyzing usage, which serves to optimize our website. The data collected includes the shortened IP address, the time, the website visited, the website from which you came to ours (referrer URL), the browser used, the duration of your visit to our website, and the frequency of your visits.

The analyses generated with Matomo are fully anonymized and cannot be used to identify individual persons. The data stored by Matomo is not linked with other data sources nor is it transferred to third parties. Our legal basis for using Matomo is your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable). You can freely revoke this consent at any time. Any data processing operations that take place prior to revoking your consent are not affected. You can opt out of analysis of your data by Matomo by following this link. A cookie is stored on your device via your Internet browser, which prevents further analysis. Please note that you have to confirm the link above again if you delete the cookies stored on your device.

Retargeting and remarketing

Retargeting or remarketing refers to technologies that allow targeting of users who previously visited a particular website with appropriate advertising even after they leave this website. To do this, it must be possible to recognize Internet users beyond your own website, which can be done using cookies of the relevant provider; past browsing behavior is also taken into account. For example, when a user views a specific product, this or similar products can be shown to this user later on as advertising on other websites. This is personalized advertising, which is adapted to the needs of the individual user. Apart from recognizing users, they do not have to be identified otherwise for the purpose of personalized advertising. The data used for retargeting or remarketing is therefore also not combined by us with other data.

We use such technologies to place advertisements on the Internet, and do so with the assistance of third-party providers. We use Google services, among others, to automatically display products that are of interest to Internet users. This function is implemented using cookies. Further information on this technology can be found in the Google privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en. You can prevent installation of cookies for Google Remarketing and Google AdWords Conversion Tracking by changing a setting in the relevant browser software; to do this go to http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ads/ and change the relevant setting.

Our legal basis for using the previously described cookies is your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable). You can freely revoke this consent at any time. Any data processing operations that take place prior to revoking your consent are not affected.

Webinars

You can use various links on our website to take part in webinars that we hold online. If you wish to take part in a webinar, we process personal data that you enter in a registration form, in particular name, e-mail address, and company or organization. We process data transferred via the registration form exclusively for the purpose of conducting the webinar, making contact with you in relation to the event, and providing you with further information in relation to the webinar.

Our webinars are carried out on GoToWebinar platform. The GoToWebinar platform is managed by GoTo Technologies Ireland Unlimited Company, The Reflector, 10 Hanover Quay, Dublin 2, D02R573, Ireland. We have no influence on the data processed by GoToWebinar. You will find further information on data processing by GoToWebinar at https://www.goto.com/company/legal and https://www.goto.com/company/legal/privacy.

Our legal basis for data processing in relation to the holding of webinars and with respect to the information transferred to us by you in this regard is your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable).

Registration

You can register to use certain features on our website. You have to provide the data requested during the registration process, for example name, address, and e-mail address. In addition, we collect the date and time of registration and the IP address. As part of the registration process, we seek your consent to use the data. The benefit for you is that you do not need to enter this data again each time you use the website or place an order.

The legal basis for processing the registration data is your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable). If you register with the intention of fulfilling or initiating a contractual relationship with us, Article 6 (1) b) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (b) of the DPA (if applicable), is additionally the legal basis for processing the data.

The mandatory information requested as part of the registration process is required to fulfill or initiate a contract with us for specific services.

A customer account will be created for you when you register. We will retain the data in the customer account for as long as an active customer relationship exists. If no further activity can be determined over a period of three years, the status of the customer relationship will be set to inactive. You can request us to delete your customer account at any time.

You can apply for job positions via the job applicant portal. In this respect, we offer you the possibility to complete an application form and to submit the information and documents required for the application to us by means of a file upload. Use of the applicant portal is voluntary; you can also send us your application in other ways, for example via e-mail or post.

When you submit your application via the job applicant portal, your documents are forwarded electronically to the responsible employee in our company. If you have applied for an advertised position, the documents will be automatically deleted three months after the end of the recruitment process, provided deletion is not contrary to other legitimate business interests. Such legitimate interests in this sense include, for example, evidence of equal treatment of applicants under the German General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). If an application relates to an unadvertised position (speculative application), the application is retained for as long as the application may be of interest. You can request the deletion of your application at any stage, even before the scheduled retention periods expire. If an application is successful, the data transferred is stored for the purpose of processing the employment relationship, with due regard for any statutory requirements. The legal basis for processing your personal data in this respect is Section 26 (1) page 1 of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). In addition, your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable), can be used as the legal basis for data processing within the applicant portal.

You can contact us in a variety of ways.

Newsletter

When you register for our e-newsletter, your email address will be used for our own promotional purposes until you unsubscribe. You will regularly receive information via email in this regard on current topics as well as emails for specific events and special promotions. The emails may be personalized and individualized based on the information saved about you.

We use the double-opt-in process when you register for our newsletter, assuming you have not given us your consent in writing. This means that we will only send you a newsletter via email if you have explicitly confirmed to us in advance that we should activate the newsletter mailing. We will then send you a notification email and ask you to confirm by clicking a link in this email that you would like to receive our newsletter. We record the opening of the newsletter and any links that it may contain. In addition, we process the following data in relation to use of the newsletter: the email program you are using, your operating system, the time of access, and your abbreviated IP address.

The legal basis for processing your data is your consent pursuant to Article 6 (1) a) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (a) of the DPA (if applicable) if you have explicitly registered for the newsletter. It may also be possible within the scope of legal requirements that you receive our newsletter from us without your explicit consent, because you have ordered goods or services from us, we have received your e-mail in this respect, and you have not opted out of receiving information by e-mail. Our legitimate interest in conveying direct advertising pursuant to Article 6 (1) f) of the GDPR, or Section 12 (f) of the DPA (if applicable), can be viewed as the legal basis in this case.

Should you no longer wish to receive newsletters from us in general, you can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future and object to any further receipt of the newsletter without any costs arising beyond the basic cost of transmission. Simply use the unsubscribe link contained in every newsletter or send notification to us or to our data protection officer.

We take great care to ensure that the processing of your personal data is explained as transparently as possible and that you are also informed about your rights. Should you require more detailed information or want to exercise the rights to which you are entitled, you can contact us at any time so that we can take care of your request.

Rights of data subjects

You have extensive rights available to you under the GDPR or the DPA, whichever is applicable, in relation to processing your personal data. First of all, you have a comprehensive right of access and can request to have your personal data corrected and/or deleted, or blocked if necessary. You also have a right to restriction of processing and a right to object. Furthermore, you have a right to data portability in terms of the personal data you transfer to us.

If you would like to assert one of your rights and/or receive more detailed information in this regard, please contact our customer service department. Alternatively, you can also consult our data protection officer.

Revocation of consent and objection

You can freely revoke your consent again at any time with effect for the future. By revoking your consent, the legality of processing carried out on the basis of the consent up to the time of revocation shall not be affected. Your contacts in this respect are again our customer service department and our data protection officer.

If your personal data is not processed based on consent, rather on a different legal basis, you can object to this data processing. Your objection results in evaluation and, if necessary, termination of the data processing. You will be informed of the outcome of the evaluation and – if the data processing is to be continued nonetheless – you will receive more detailed information from us as to why data processing is permitted.

Data protection officer and contact

We have appointed a data protection officer to support us in relation to data privacy issues and with whom you can also make contact directly. Our data protection officer is available to you to deal with queries relating to our handling of personal data or to provide other information on data privacy issues:

Data Privacy contact
Phone: +49 5246 963-0
E-mail: datenschutz@beckhoff.de

Complaints

If you are of the opinion that the processing of your personal data by us is not in compliance with this data privacy policy or the applicable data protection regulations, you have the right to make a complaint to a regulatory authority, including the Philippine NPC if you are residing in the Philippines. You can also make a complaint to our data protection officer. The data protection officer will then check the matter and inform you about the outcome of the investigation.

Links to other websites

Our online site may contain links to other websites. These links are generally identified as such. We have no influence on the extent to which the applicable data protection regulations are observed on the linked websites. We therefore recommend that you also familiarize yourself with the respective data privacy policies on the other websites.

Changes to this data privacy policy

The status of this data privacy policy is indicated by the date (below). We reserve the right to change this data privacy policy at any time with effect for the future. Changes may arise especially in the case of technical modifications to the website or revisions to data protection regulations. The up-to-date version of the data privacy policy can be accessed directly via the website at all times. We recommend that you familiarize yourself regularly with any changes to this data privacy policy.

Version of data privacy policy: November 2020