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  2. Privacy policy

Privacy Policy

The protection of your private sphere is very important to us. Personal data means all data that can be personally related to you, e.g. name, address, e-mail address, user behavior. In the following we will inform you how handle your personal data.

I. General Infromation

1. Controller and data protection officer

The “controller” in the sense of art. 4 para. 7 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the Rhythm Automotive Germany GmbH, European Headquarters, Fichtenstrasse 37, 40233 Düsseldorf, Germany, Phone +49-211-90995-0
You can reach our data protection officer under datenschutz@rhythmautomotive-gm.com or at our postal address with the addition of "Data privacy officer".

2. Purposes and legal basis

As part of our business operations, we process personal data belonging to various data subjects (e.g., website users, prospective customers, and customers). We provide information about the purposes, legal bases, and other details of each processing activity, organized by the different processing situations, in the Section II of this Privacy Notice. 

3. Retention Period

We will delete your personal data in whole or in part as soon as the purpose for which it was collected has been fulfilled and there are no statutory retention obligations. This does not apply if we are required to retain certain data—such as information relevant under commercial law or tax law—for ten years, or if an exception under Article 17(3) of the GDPR applies. 

4. Obligation to Provide Data

You are generally not obligated to provide your personal data. If the legal basis for the respective processing is Article 6 para. 1 lit. b of the GDPR, your personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract or for entering into a contract. Without the provision of your personal data, the conclusion and performance of the contract are not possible in these cases. 

If personal data is not provided in cases of processing pursuant to Article 6 para. 1 lit. a or f GDPR, it will not be possible to use the respective services and offerings. 

5. Your rights

According to the stipulations of the GDPR, you can enforce the following rights against us:

• right to information (Art. 15 GDPR)
• right to correction (Art. 16 GDPR)
• right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
• right to deletion / right to be forgotten (Art. 17 GDPR)
• right to transferability of the data (Art. 20 GDPR)
• right to object (Art. 21 GDPR)
• right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR)

If the processing of your personal data is subject to your approval, you have at all times the right to revoke your approval with effect for the future. The legality of the processing of data that had been done up until the time of the revoking of your approval remains unaffected.

If you wish to make use of your rights as listed above or are of the opinion that we are processing your personal data that is not permissible, then please contact us at datenschutz@rhythmautomotive-gm.com at any time.

In addition, you have the right to contact the data privacy supervisory authorities.
The relevant responsible supervisory authorities (in Germany) are:

Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kavalleriestr.2-4
40213 Düsseldorf
Telephone : 0211/38424-0

6. Right of objection

You have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of your personal data that is carried out pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. We will then no longer process your personal data unless there are compelling legitimate grounds for doing so that override your interests, or the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims. You may object to the processing of your data for direct marketing purposes, as well as to any profiling associated with such processing, without providing a reason. 

7. Place of processing of the data

(a) In view of the global nature of our company we may transfer your personal data to Japan and other countries where the data privacy laws may possibly be less comprehensive than those applicable in the EU. The European Commission has recognised Japan as offering an adequate level of data protection pursuant to Art. 45 GDPR (subject to the Supplementary Rules issued by Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission for personal data received from the EEA); transfers to our Japanese group entities are therefore generally based on this adequacy decision. Insofar as personal data is transferred to other third countries for which no adequacy decision exists, we rely on the Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the European Commission pursuant to Art. 46 GDPR (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914), where necessary supplemented by additional safeguards following a transfer impact assessment.

(b) You can inspect these guarantees by contacting us via the e-mail address given item 1. b) above. 

8. Your personal data

Depending on the respective processing situation, your personal data will be processed not only by the Controller, but also by third parties. The possible recipients include, in particular, processors (e.g. web hosting, software providers and other technical service providers), shipping service providers, other independent providers of independent services and support, as well as Rhythm Automative affiliate companies, and third-party providers of online services and content. Moreover, your data may be shared or disclosed in connection with official requests, court orders and legal proceedings if it is necessary for legal prosecution or enforcement. 

9. Links to other Websites

Our online presence includes links to other Websites. This data privacy declaration does not extend to other providers or sites.

We have no influence on whether or not their operators comply with the relevant data privacy stipulations and therefore assume no responsibility whatsoever for the information provided there being accurate, correct. up to data or complete.

This Website can include hyperlinks to other Websites that are the property of third parties and are operated by third parties. These third party Websites have their own data privacy guidelines and they likewise probably use cookies, and we recommend that you check these. The guidelines of those Websites regulate the usage of personal data that you transfer to them when you visited the Website concerned and which can also be collected by cookies. We assume no liability whatsoever for third party Websites of this kind and you use such Websites at your own risk.

II. Processing Activities

1. Collection of personal data when visiting our Website

Our website automatically collects information from you when you visit us in the Internet. This data is technically necessary for us and ensures the stability and security of our Website. The Web server automatically detects certain items of personal data such as, for example, your IP address, the date and the time on which you visited our Website, the pages on our Website that you visited, the browser that you used (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari), the operating system that you used (e.g. Windows, Linux, MAC OS) and the domain name and the address of your Internet Provider (e.g. 1&1, Telekom, Unitymedia).

Legal Basis for this processing is our legitimate interests under Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR in ensuring the technical stability, functionality and security of our Website.
We regularly evaluate these Server logs anonymously for statistical purposes so that we can determine how our Website is being used and optimise our Internet presence. We do not combine the logs with other data to identify individual visitors unless this is necessary to investigate a security incident or misuse. In the event of suspected abuse or misuse of the system, we may use this information and, where legally permitted or required, disclose it to the relevant Internet provider, competent authorities or legal advisers to investigate the incident and determine its cause. The legal basis for this further processing is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest in identifying and pursuing unlawful use of our Website) or, where applicable, Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR (compliance with a legal obligation to cooperate with law enforcement).

2. Cookies and other tracking or analytics technologies

In addition to the data listed above, cookies or similar technologies may be stored on or accessed from your terminal device when you use our Website.

Some technologies are strictly necessary to provide a digital service expressly requested by you; these are used without consent under section 25(2) of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG), with any subsequent processing based on the applicable provision of Article 6(1) GDPR. All non-essential technologies are activated only after your consent under section 25(1) TDDDG and Article 6(1)(a) GDPR.

You may grant or refuse consent by category. Refusing non-essential technologies does not affect access to the Website. You may withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future under Article 7(3) GDPR through the "Cookie Settings" link. The consent tool provides the current provider, purpose, data categories and lifespan of each technology.

This Website uses Google Analytics, a Web analysis service of Google Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses so-called “cookies”, which are small text files that are stored on your computer and make possible an analysis of the use of the Website through them. The information that has been generated by the cookies about your use of this Website is transferred as a rule to a Server at Google operated by Google Ireland Limited. In the event of the activation of IP anonymization on this Website, your IP address is first of all truncated by Google within the member states of the European Union or in other signatories of the agreement. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address sent to a Server at Google in the USA and truncated there. Google will use this information to the commission of the owner of this Website to evaluate your utilization of this Website so as to compile reports about Web activities and to provide further services for the Website owner that are related to Website usage and Internet usage.

The IP address that is sent from your browser as part of Google Analytics is not compiled together with the other information by Google.

You can prevent cookies from being stored by making the corresponding setting in your browser; however, we would like to point out that in this case you may not be able to use all of the functions of the Website in their full scope. In addition, you can prevent the collection of the data that is generated by the cookie and relates to your use of this Website (including your IP address) by Google and the processing of your data by Google by installing the browser plug-in that can be downloaded from the following link and then installed: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.
We make use of Google Analytics to analyse the usage of our Websites and to be able to improve them regularly. We can improve our offering through the statistics gained from this and also make it more interesting for you as a user.

Insofar as your personal data is exceptionally transmitted to the USA, this transfer relies as applicable, on the basis of Google’s certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision of the European Commission of 10 July 2023) and/or the Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the European Commission pursuant to Art. 46 GDPR (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914). The legal basis for the use of Google Analytics is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, § 25(1) TDDDG), which you may withdraw at any time with future effect via our cookie settings.

Information on the third party provider: Google Ireland Ltd., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. User terms and conditions: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/de/, overview of data privacy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245, and the data privacy declaration: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Google maps

We use the offering from Google Maps on our Website. As a result, we can display interactive maps directly on our Website and this makes it possible for you to conveniently use the map function. Google Maps content is only loaded, and the connection to Google’s servers described below is only established, once you have given your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, § 25(1) TDDDG) via our cookie/consent settings, or after you have actively clicked to activate the map (“two-click solution”). 

Google receives the information that you called up the corresponding subpage of our Website. In addition, the data listed under item 2 above of this declaration is transferred. This is done regardless of whether Google provided a user account what you logged into or if there is no user account at all. If you are logged into Google, your data is assigned directly to your account. If you do not want this assignment with your profile in Google, you must log out before activating the button. Google saves your data as usage profiles and use them for advertising and market research purposes and/or to structure its Website to better match the needs. An evaluation of this sort is done in particular (even for users who are not logged in) to provide advertising matched to the user and to inform other users of the social network about your activities on our Website. You have a right to object to the setting up of these user profiles, whereby you have to contact Google concerning the exercising of these rights.

You can get further information on the purpose and scope of the data collection and the processing of the data by the plug-in provider in the data privacy declaration of the plug-in provider. There you can also obtain further information of the rights that you have concerning this and the options for stopping these processes so as to protect your private sphere: https://policies.google.com/privacy. Google also processes your data in outside the EU/EEA, including in the USA, on the basis of Google’s certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and/or the Standard Contractual Clauses pursuant to Art. 46 GDPR (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914)

3. Contacting us

When you make contact with us by e-mail or via a contact form the data that you have sent to us (your e-mail address, if applicable, your name and telephone number), is processed by us on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (where your enquiry relates to the performance of, or entry into, a contract) or Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest in answering your enquiry) in all other cases. We store these to be able to answer your questions. We delete the data produced in this connection once it is no longer necessary to store it or else restrict the processing of it if there are legal stipulations for archiving. 

4. Handling of the personal data of our business partners

Rhythm Automotive processes personal data for the following purposes in the course of cooperation with its business partners: 

  • Communication with business partners concerning products, services and projects, e.g. to process enquiries from the business partner. 
  • Planning, execution and administration of the (contractual) business relationship, e.g. to process the ordering of products and services, to obtain payments, for accounting purposes, billing and collection of receivables and to mail deliveries and to provide maintenance work or repairs. 
  • Carrying out customer questionnaires, marketing campaigns, market analysis. 
  • Maintaining and protecting the safety and security of our products and services and our Websites, preventing and uncovering security risks, fraudulent or deceptive actions, or other criminal actions or ones done with the intention of causing harm. 
  • Settling of legal disputes, implementing existing contracts, enforcing, exercising and defending legal claims. 

  

We may process the following categories of personal data for the above-mentioned purposes: 

  • Contact information, such as first name and family name, business address, business telephone number, business contact data (mobile phone number, fax number and e-mail address). 
  • Payment data, such as details that are required for the processing of payment transactions or for the prevention of fraud, including credit card information and credit card security numbers. 
  • Further information on this processing that is required as a part of a project or the handling of a contractual relationship with Rhythm Automotive or which had been freely volunteered by our contact persons, such as past orders, past enquiries or project details. 
  • Information that had been collected from publicly available sources, information databases or credit agencies. 

  

The processing of the personal data is required for the purposes stated above, including the implementation of the (contractual) business relationship with the business partner. The legal basis for this data processing is, unless anything is explicitly stated to the contrary, art. 6 para. 1 lit. b and f GDPR or explicitly granted approval (art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) of our contact partner. 

5. Job application

When you apply for a position with us, we process your contact, application, and qualification data to conduct the application process and to decide whether to establish an employment relationship. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR. If an employment relationship is not established, we generally delete your data no later than six months after the conclusion of the application process. Temporary retention is based on Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR to defend against potential legal claims. If you are hired, the necessary data will be transferred to your personnel file. Longer-term storage for future job openings will only occur with your consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR.

※ Data Privacy Declaration (German)

You can find our data privacy declaration in German, too.

Datenschutzerklärung