Privacy Policy

 
We are pleased about your interest in the Schaeffler Group (Schaeffler AG and affiliated companies, “Schaeffler” or “Schaeffler Group”) and our products. The protection of your privacy when using our online offer is very important for us. If personal data is processed, we observe the applicable data protection laws (the “Data Protection Laws”).  
 

I.     General information about data processing
 

1.     Scope and purpose of processing of personal data

In principle, we collect and use your personal data only insofar as it is necessary to provide a functional website as well as our content and services offered on the website. Your personal data is regularly collected and used only after your consent. An exception to this applies in cases where the processing of the data is permitted by law.
  

2.     Legal basis for data processing

Processing of your personal data is based on the Data Protection Laws.

If you have given your consent to the processing of personal data for specific purposes, such consent serves as the legal basis for processing of personal data. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Please remember that the withdrawal is only effective for the future. Processing based on consent before its withdrawal is not affected.

Processing of personal data may take place in the context of the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps prior to entering a contract at your request. The purposes of data processing are governed by the respective contract documents and the subject matter of the contract.

The processing of personal data may be required to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject.

The processing may be necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by Schaeffler or by a third party (e.g., to establish or defend legal claims; to ensure IT security; to prevent crimes; to conduct business and to further develop services and products) to the extent that your interests, fundamental rights and freedoms as a data subject do not override the aforementioned interest.
   

3.     Data erasure and retention period 

We process and store your personal data for as long as this is necessary to satisfy the respective purpose. In addition, such storage may take place in order to comply with a legal obligation by any applicable law, regulation or other provision to which we as controller are subject. If the data is no longer necessary or if a retention period prescribed by the aforementioned laws has expired, your data will be erased on a regular basis. 
   

4.    Access to personal data within the Schaeffler Group and by third parties

Within the Schaeffler Group, your data is accessible to those parties that require it as a part of “least privilege” (assignment of user rights to the lowest possible extent) and the “need-to-know” principle (knowledge of data only if necessary).  

We may only transfer data to third parties outside the Schaeffler Group if this is necessary, if statutory provision so requires, if you have given your consent or if any commissioned processors have agreed to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Laws. 

Under these conditions, recipients of personal data may be competent internal specialist departments and external service providers, if necessary.
 

5.    Transfer of personal data to a third country or to an international organisation

A transfer of data to other countries (so-called third countries) will only take place as it is necessary or required by law, you have given your consent or as part of data processing by a processor. If service providers in third countries are deployed, in addition to written instructions, they are required to comply with data protection standards that are comparable to those under the Data Protection Laws.
  

6.    IT security and links to third party websites

The Schaeffler Group uses technical and organisational security measures to protect your data that we manage against accidental or intentional destruction, manipulation, loss or access by unauthorised persons. These safeguards are constantly being developed in accordance with the respective new technical possibilities.

Our websites may contain links to the websites of other providers. Our Privacy Policy does not apply to these websites.
  

7.    Obligation to provide personal data

When entering into a contract, you must provide the personal data that is necessary to establish, implement and terminate the contract and to satisfy the resulting duties or that Schaeffler must collect due to legal provisions. Without these data no contract with Schaeffler can be concluded. 

If we provide you with offers and services on this website that you can voluntarily use, there is no duty to provide your data to us, but without your personal data, you may not be able to use our offers and services.
 

8.    “Profiling” and automated decision-making

We do not use fully automated decision-making. Schaeffler generally does not use “profiling”. If we use it in individual cases, we will inform you about this separately, if it is required by law and – if necessary - obtain your prior consent.
  

9.    Sources of your personal data

We use data that we receive from you.
  

II.     Data processing for the provision of the website and the creation of log files  

By default, when you visit our website, our web servers obtain and collect the name of your internet service provider, your IP address, the website from which you are visiting us, the websites you visit on our website, and the date and duration of the visit. This data is stored in the log files of our systems. However, the use of the IP address is limited to the technically necessary extent and is abbreviated and therefore used only anonymously, so that it is not possible to assign the IP address to a user. The data is not merged with personal data.

The temporary storage of the abbreviated IP address by our systems is technically necessary to display the website to your terminal device. Storage in log files is done to ensure the functionality of the website. Such data is not being analysed for marketing purposes in this context. For these purposes, we have a legitimate interest in processing of data according to the Data Protection Laws.

The collection of data for the provision of the website and the storage of data in log files is essential for the operation of the website. Therefore, there is no possibility for you as a user to object to such processing. 
 

III.     Data processing in respect of services offered on the website
 

On our website various services are offered, for the use of which we request personal data from you. In this context, it is always optional for you to provide us with personal data.  
  

1.    Registration for the use of the website

Parts of the website are access-protected. 

Access to medias is also possible for all users without registration. 

Free registration is required to use medias Plus. After registering, medias Plus users receive a welcome e-mail containing a link to confirm account creation. After clicking on this link, users are directed to their personal account page, where they can enter further data and set a password. The personal data entered by the user is stored by us. 

Access to medias Business is available to Schaeffler customers. To use medias Business, a central administrator must be activated by us. The central administrator, in turn, can activate access to our website for employees (users) of his or her organization. By logging in using their personal log-in (personal e-mail address and password), users can use the website with their personal user profile. 

For medias Business users, a welcome e-mail will be sent to the user’s e-mail address upon initial registration, which the user must use to change his or her initially created password. The user’s personal data (e-mail address) will be stored by us. 

For these purposes, we have a legitimate interest in processing of data according to the Data Protection Laws.

The activation and respective registration are necessary for the provision of the contents and services of the website. The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required to achieve the purpose for which it was collected. This is the cast for the e-mail address provided to us when the personal user profile on our website is deleted or modified. We do not receive any other personal data of the user. The user has the option to delete his user profile at any time. The user can have the data stored about him/herself changed at any time. To do so, please go to the “Contact” section mentioned on the website. 
 

2.    Sending of offers

Within the scope of a medias plus membership you have the possibility to send request for offers to our dealers. Here, with your consent, your location will be localized to display the relevant dealers. In this context, we obtain your consent for the use of your data. 

The legal basis for processing of personal data is your consent. 
 

3.    Order of goods

On this website the offered goods can be ordered. The ordering process is handled via our internally implemented ordering systems. Personal data is processed in such a way that the personal data of the user initiating the order (e-mail) is stored. Further personal data is not processed, but only the company data of the ordering customer stored with us is used. 

The processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract. 

The personal data of the ordering user is stored in our ordering systems together with the order information and it is deleted as soon as the legal retention periods have expired. 

During the ordering process cookies are placed on your terminal device for storing your shopping cart. Further information on the cookies used can be found in our Cookie Policy.
 

4.    Use of our contact and request forms

The website has contact and request forms that can be used to contact us electronically. 

To use the contact forms, you must fill mandatory information in the respective input mask marked by an asterisk (e.g., your e-mail address). All other information is optional for you. This personal data will be sent to a department of our company that is responsible for processing and stored in our systems. At the time of sending your message, the date and time of the entry will be saved. We will obtain your consent for processing of the data during the inquiry process.  

The data filled in the input mask will be used exclusively to process your inquiry.

The legal basis for the processing of your personal data is your consent. 

The data will be erased as soon as the communication process is completed.

You have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of personal data at any time to by sending an e-mail to dataprivacy@schaeffler.com. In this case, all personal data stored as part of the contact will be deleted with effect for the future. Depending on the time of your withdrawal, we may not be able to answer your request or process your order.   
 

5.    Use of the Schaeffler medias offers 

On the website we offer the possibility to register for Schaeffler medias offers free of charge.

When you register for medias Plus info service offers and give your corresponding consent, you will receive advertising and information (e.g., newsletter, invitations to trade fairs and events, information about products, services, offers and promotions  including opinion polls and company news) of the Schaeffler Group, for example, by e-mail, telephone, SMS and/or instant messenger services, such as WhatsApp, to the contacts provided by you when registering for the medias service offers via an input mask. In order to use the medias services, you need to provide your e-mail address and other information marked as mandatory in the input mask, such as: name, company and telephone number. This data is being collected to send you the advertising and information. For this purpose, we may also engage third parties (service providers) with whom we have a data processing agreement and transfer your data to any of these third parties. After submitting the registration form, you will receive from us a confirmation e-mail to the e-mail address you provided. The registration will only take effect if you confirm it by clicking on the link in the e-mail.

The legal basis for the processing of your personal data after registration is your consent. 

The data will be erased as soon as it is no longer necessary for the purposes of its collection. Therefore, the data will be stored as long as the registration for the info service is active. You have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of the personal data at any time by sending an e-mail to dataprivacy@schaeffler.com or by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in received messages, with effect for the future, thereby deregistering from the info service. In this case, all personal data stored for communication will be erased. The withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on this consent before its withdrawal.   
 

6.    Creation of a user profile for individualised advertising and information

We want to provide you with offers as individual as possible. We would like to use the information about your user behaviour that you provide and generate automatically when you visit our website in order to create advertising tailored to you and your interests. For this purpose, we request your separate consent to the creation of a personalised user profile in the registering process from your medias-Profile (personal data & password / company).

In the user profile, we store the personal data you have provided us while registering for medias Plus together with data about your movement on this website and/or in the information and advertising communication we have sent to you. Movement data is information about your user behaviour, e.g., which columns, articles and content you access on this website or in our newsletter, and at which time, including receipt and read confirmations of e-mails and newsletters. 

We analyse this usage profile exclusively to send you individually customised information and advertising, provided that we have obtained your separate consent to the use of data for information and advertising purposes due to your registration for “Schaeffler medias”. For this purpose, we may also engage third parties (service providers) with whom we have a data processing agreement and transfer your data to any of such third parties.

The legal basis for processing of your personal data after registration is your consent. 

The data will be erased as soon as it is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes of its collection. Therefore, data is being stored as long as your consent to data tracking is active. You have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of personal data at any time by sending an e-mail to dataprivacy@schaeffler.com or by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in received messages, with effect for the future, thereby deregistering from data tracking. In this case, all personal data stored for communication will be deleted. Withdrawing the consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing based on this consent before its withdrawal. 
  

7.    Performance Dashboard

We use a “Performance Dashboard” on our website. Visiting behaviour on the website namely calls and frequency of use of pages and functions, such as the website search, is tracked and stored by us, specifying the time of the visit session, the local website visited, the company name provided and the Schaeffler Customer ID. It is not possible to draw conclusions about you other than as a user of medias. By analysing your visit, your usage behaviour and your ordering behaviour on our website, we continuously optimize the content and offers of our website, as well as the products offered, in order to provide you with the best possible user experience. We obtain the anonymized data from you using Google Analytics (for more information, see the Schaeffler Cookie Policy.
 

IV.     Use of cookies
 

We use cookies to enable you to make the best possible use of the website. Cookies are text files that are stored in the Internet browser or saved by the Internet browser on the terminal device of the user. If a user visits our website, a cookie can be stored on the user’s operating system. This cookie contains a characteristic string that allows clear identification of the browser when the website is accessed again.

In the following, we provide you with general information about the use of cookies on our website and the associated processing of personal data. For further information on specifically used cookies, please refer to the Schaeffler Cookie Policy published on this website.

We use cookies to make our website more user-friendly. Some elements of our website require the requesting browser to be identified even after a page break.

In addition, we use cookies on our website to allow the analysis of the user’s surfing behaviour. 

When visiting our website, the user is informed about the use of cookies and referred to this privacy policy. 

The purpose of using technically necessary cookies is to simplify the use of our website for the users. Some features of our website cannot be offered without the use of cookies. It is necessary that the browser is recognised even after a page break. The user data collected through the technically necessary cookies will not be used to create user profiles. Further information can be found in the Schaeffler Cookie Policy.

Analysis cookies are used to improve the quality of our website and its content. Analysis cookies show us how the website is used, so that we can constantly optimise our offer. Further information can be found in the Schaeffler Cookie Policy.

For these purposes, we have a legitimate interest in processing of data according to the Data Protection Laws.

Cookies are stored on the terminal device of the user and transferred from it to our website. Therefore, as user, you have full control over the use of cookies. You can disable or restrict the transmission of cookies by changing the settings in your Internet browser. Already saved cookies can be deleted at any time. This can also be done automatically. If cookies are disabled for our website, it may not be possible to use all features on the website.
 

V.     Your rights as data subject
 

If your personal data is being processed, you are the data subject pursuant to the Data Protection Laws, and you have the following rights:
 

1.     Right of access

Upon request you can obtain from us confirmation as to whether we are processing personal data relating to you. If such processing is taking place, you will have the right to request access to the information that we may hold about you. 
 

2.    Right to rectification 

You have a right to rectification and/or completion if the processed personal data is inaccurate or incomplete. 
 

3.    Right to erasure 

You have the right to demand from us erasure of your personal data, and we are obliged to erase this data if there is a valid reason, and such deletion is not restricted or prohibited under the Data Protection Laws. 
 

4.    Data Protection Authority

You have a right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority for data protection subject to the conditions stated under the Data Protection Laws.

VI.    Name and contact details of the controller
 

Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG

Industriestraße 1-3

91074 Herzogenaurach

Germany

Call: +49 9132 82-0    

Fax: +49 9132 82-49 50

E-Mail: info.de@schaeffler.com

VII.    Contact details of the data protection officer
   

Schaeffler AG

Data Protection Officer  

Industriestraße 1-3

91074 Herzogenaurach

Germany

Call: +49 9132 82-1476

Fax: +49 9132 82-5901

Email: Dataprivacy@schaeffler.com