Privacy policy

In the following, we inform you about the processing of personal data in connection with the use of our online services.

1.  General information

1.1. Controller

CORE Automotive GmbH
Friedrichstraße 111
10117 Berlin, Germany
Email: [email protected]

1.2. Purposes and legal basis of data processing

As part of our business activities, we process personal data of various data subjects (e.g. website users, interested parties, and customers). We will inform you of the purposes and legal basis as well as further details of the respective processing further down in this privacy policy.

1.3. Recipients

Depending on the processing situation, your personal data may be shared with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website. These recipients include our IT and technical service providers (such as web hosting and software providers) and third-party tools used to deliver online content or services. Additionally, data may be disclosed to authorities in connection with official inquiries, court orders, or legal proceedings if required for legal prosecution or enforcement. For specific details, please refer to the notes on the respective processing activity.

Recipients within the meaning of the GDPR are also the subsidiaries belonging to the AUTODOC Group. Further information on the group of companies can be found here.

1.4. Third-country transfer

We use services whose providers have locations or process personal data in so-called third countries (outside the European Union or the European Economic Area), i.e. countries where the level of data protection does not correspond to that in the European Union. Insofar as the European Commission has not issued an adequacy decision for these countries (Art. 45 GDPR), we have taken appropriate measures to ensure an adequate level of data protection for any data transfers. These include, among others, the standard contractual clauses of the European Union. Where this is not possible, we will base the transfer of data on the exceptions in Art. 49 GDPR, in particular your express consent or the necessity of the transfer for the performance of the contract or for the implementation of pre-contractual measures.

1.5. Storage period

Personal data will be kept for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, for as long as we are required by law to retain it, or for other legal reasons.

1.6. Rights of data subjects

You have the right to obtain information about the data stored about you, including any recipients and the intended storage period in accordance with Article 15 of the GDPR. If the processed data is not (or is no longer) correct, you have a right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR). If the relevant legal requirements are met, you may request the deletion (Art. 17 GDPR) or restriction (Art. 18 GDPR) of the data processing as well as object to the processing (Art. 21 GDPR). If you believe that the processing of your personal data violates data protection law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR).

1.7. Right to object

You have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of your personal data which is carried out based on Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR. We will then no longer process your personal data unless there are compelling legitimate reasons worthy of protection that outweigh your interest in protection, or the processing serves the assertion, exercising, or defence of legal claims. You may object at any time, without giving reasons, to the processing of your data for the purposes of direct marketing and to any profiling that may be associated with it.

2. Processing situations

2.1. Website use

Our internet offers serve to provide information about our company and our products, as well as communication and interaction with our customers and interested parties.

We also process personal data for the aforementioned purposes. The scope and legal basis of the data processing depends on the services requested by the user, the relevant browser configuration, and the scope of any consent given.

Web technologies (cookies and similar technologies)

In order to improve communication and interaction with our customers as well as to optimise the user experience, we use various software solutions and web technologies, including tools for web analysis and marketing provided by third parties as well as services for the integration of third-party content, such as fonts, maps, or videos.

Analytics tools are used to collect, measure, and analyse data points such as visitor numbers, visitor sources, pages visited, time spent on the website, or scroll depth.

In some cases, the use of such tools requires the consent of the respective user. We use a so-called consent management tool to obtain and manage the necessary consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a GDPR and, if applicable, Section 25 (1) TDDDG [Act on Data Protection and Protection of Privacy in Telecommunications and Digital Services] (see the following section).

Detailed information about the subject and scope of the relevant consents and the data processing based on them will be provided to you directly via the consent management tool.

Insofar as consent is not required, personal data processing is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR for the purposes described, which at the same time represent the interests pursued by us or our partners ("necessary services"). The collection of data for the provision of the website and the storage of log files are absolutely necessary for the operation of the website.

Consent management tool

We use a consent management tool ("CMT") for the purpose of consent management. You can access the CMT at any time here or by clicking on the link "Cookie settings" in the footer of the website. When you access our website, a CMT cookie is set, which is used to store the consent given for the individual services and to control the corresponding activation or deactivation of the respective functionalities.

The CMT is used to obtain the necessary consents and to document them in accordance with our obligation to provide evidence. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. c GDPR.

The collected data is stored until you delete the cookie. Details on data processing by the CMT can be found in the tool’s user interface. 

Google Tag Manager

Our website uses the Google Tag Manager of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Tag Manager is used to manage tracking tools and other services, so-called website tags. The Google Tag Manager does not require the use of cookies.

The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR, based on our legitimate interest in integrating and managing multiple tags on our website in a straightforward manner.

You can find more information here.

YouTube

We have integrated videos on this website that are stored on YouTube and can be played from our website. We have activated YouTube's extended data protection mode. This means that Google does not receive any usage information and does not set any cookies until the user actively clicks on the play button. After this click, the video starts playing and Google sets its own cookies to improve its services and to play individualised advertising on the Google advertising network.

The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

For more information, please see YouTube's privacy policy.

2.2. Customer management, direct marketing

For the purpose of central management of sales-relevant contact and marketing information within the AUTODOC Group, we use a so-called customer relationship management system ("CRM"). Data managed in the CRM includes both existing customer contacts and registered website users, including newsletter subscribers and other marketing contacts.

Customer/User profiles

The CRM enables us to collate and analyse marketing information from multiple sources to optimise our marketing strategy and target direct mail. This may include the creation and analysis of customer or user profiles to determine which products and services are most popular and to tailor marketing campaigns to individual interests.

Our aim is to make the sales and marketing efforts of the various business units within the AUTODOC Group efficient and targeted, and to coordinate them across divisions. For this purpose, we process (also with the help of service providers) the relevant CRM data in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR on the basis of a balancing of interests.

Consent Management (email advertising)

Another component of our CRM is consent management. According to Section 7 (2) Nos. 1 and 2 UWG (German Act against Unfair Competition), certain direct advertising measures, such as email advertising in particular, require consent.  

If and insofar as you give us advertising consent within the scope of our Internet offers (e.g. when registering for the newsletter), we document and store the information required to prove our obligation to provide evidence (Art. 7 para. 1 GDPR and, if applicable, § 7a UWG) based on Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. c GDPR.

In the event of withdrawal of consent, we will retain the evidence for documentation purposes pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR until the expiry of the statutory limitation periods. This serves our interests in any legal defence that may be necessary. The same applies to the documentation of advertising objections, which we also store in a blacklist for email delivery to ensure that no advertising is sent to recipients who expressly do not wish to receive it.

(Personalised) direct mail and newsletters

If consent has been given, the data processing for the purposes covered by the consent is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR. The sending of email marketing and the use of tracking technologies are carried out exclusively on the basis of your consent.

Further, we process personal data from our CRM systems and, where applicable, from permissible other sources (including service providers) for other marketing activities on the basis of our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR for the purposes of direct marketing and customer engagement. This includes, in particular, the planning and implementation of marketing campaigns, customer segmentation, the analysis of interests and preferences, and the preparation of targeted offers and communications for which no consent is necessary. You may object to the use of your data for marketing purposes at any time with effect for the future.

On our website, you have the option of subscribing to a free and regular newsletter, which contains, among other things, customised information, news about our products and current special offers.

To subscribe to our newsletter, we use the double opt-in process, which means that we will only send you the newsletter by email if you consent thereto and click on a link in our notification email to confirm that you are the owner of the email address provided. If you confirm your email address, we will store your email address, the time of registration, and the IP address used for registration until you unsubscribe from the newsletter. The sole purpose of the storage is to send you the newsletter and to prove your registration. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. A corresponding "Unsubscribe" link can be found in every newsletter. Notification to the contact details given above or in the newsletter (e.g. by email or letter) is also sufficient.

The legal basis for the processing is your consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a GDPR. The logging of the registration process is based on our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR for the purpose of proving consent.

If you have provided separate consent, in order to determine when our emails are opened and how they are used, we record and analyse the interactions with the newsletter and the access data (e.g. opening rate or click rate) using standard market technologies. For this purpose, our emails include web beacons. These are small image files loaded by our website that allow us to determine when an email has been opened by you. We also learn which of the links in the email you click on. In this context, information about the device used and the time of access may also be processed. We use this access data to continually improve our services, content, customer communications, and for statistical purposes. We also use this information to better understand what content and products interest you so that we can provide you with the most relevant content in the future. The legal basis for storing information on, or accessing information from, your terminal device through web beacons is your consent pursuant to Section 25 (1) TDDDG. The legal basis for the subsequent processing of the related personal data, including opening and click data, is your consent pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

The access data (opening and click data) are generally processed on a pseudonymised basis and only to the extent necessary for the purposes described above. If you do not want us to analyse your access data or create a personalised usage profile, you may withdraw your corresponding consent at any time with effect for the future. This withdrawal may be exercised separately from unsubscribing from the newsletter. You also can configure your email program to display emails in text format rather than HTML.  This prevents image and graphics files from being displayed, so that tracking is not possible. In these cases, the newsletter will not be displayed in full, and you may not be able to use all functions.

Existing customer advertising

Provided you have given your consent and have entered your mobile number and/or telephone number in your customer account, we will contact you by phone or SMS for satisfaction surveys, special offers and promotions, product information and statistical purposes. You may revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future by notifying us at the above contact details (e.g. by email or letter).

If you give us your consent at the beginning of the call, we will then record the conversation. We will store the information provided during the call for the training of our customer service staff and for the quality assurance of our call centre and will normally delete it after three months unless a longer retention period is required by law or for evidence purposes. We may retain the recording for up to three years for evidence purposes (e.g. conclusion of a sales contract). Your consent is the legal basis (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a GDPR) for recording and analysing the conversation.

2.3. Contact

If you contact us via our contact forms, by chat or by email, we regularly process your personal data (also with the help of service providers) in order to respond to your enquiry or to process your request on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR to protect the fundamental interests of our business, in particular our corporate communications.

Contract-related communication which is necessary for the implementation of a contractual relationship concluded with you or within the scope of pre-contractual measures based on your enquiry is also carried out on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b GDPR.

If you give us your consent at the beginning of a telephone call, we will record the conversation. We will store the information provided during the call for the training of our customer service staff and for the quality assurance of our call centre and will normally delete it after three months unless a longer retention period is required by law or for verification purposes. We may retain the recording for up to three years for verification purposes (e.g. conclusion of a sales contract). Your consent is the legal basis (Art. 6 para. 1 p.1 lit. a GDPR) for recording and analysing the conversation.

3. Online presence on social networks

We maintain online presences in social networks in order to communicate with customers and interested parties, among others, and to provide information about our products and services.

User data is generally processed by the social networks concerned for market research and advertising purposes. In this way, usage profiles can be created based on users' interests. For this purpose, cookies and other identifiers are stored on the users' computers. Based on these user profiles, advertisements are then placed, for example, within the social networks, but also on third-party websites. As part of the operation of our online presences, we may have access to information such as statistics on the use of our online presences provided by the social networks. These statistics are aggregated and may include, in particular, demographic information and data on interaction with our online presences and the posts and content distributed through them. Details and links to the social network data to which we have access as the operator of the online presence can be found in the list below.

The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR, based on our legitimate interest in effectively informing and communicating with users, or Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b GDPR, in order to stay in contact with and inform our customers and to carry out pre-contractual measures with future customers and interested parties.

For the legal basis of the data processing carried out by the social networks under their own responsibility, please refer to the privacy policy of the respective social network. The following links will also provide you with further information about the respective data processing and the options to object.

We would like to point out that the most effective way to address privacy concerns is to contact the social network provider, as only they have access to the data and can take direct action.

Below is a list of information about the social networks on which we have an online presence:

4. Data Protection Officer

You can contact our data protection officer at:

CORE Automotive GmbH
Friedrichstraße 111
10117 Berlin, Germany
Еmail: [email protected]