Privacy Information and Cookies

Name and contact details of the controller:

Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG
Alfred-Kärcher-Strasse 28-40
71364 Winnenden / Germany

Personally liable partner:
Kärcher Reinigungstechnik GmbH

Board of Management:
Hartmut Jenner (Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Management Board),
Markus Asch (Vice Chairman),
Dieter Grajer,
Christian May

Tel. +49 7195 / 14-0
Fax +49 7195 / 14-2212
E-mail: info@karcher.com

(hereinafter: Kärcher) handles all data processing procedures (e.g. collection, processing and transmission) in accordance with the statutory provisions. The following statement gives you an overview of what kind of data is collected, how it is used and transmitted, what security measures Kärcher takes to protect your data and how you can exercise your rights.

Contact / Data Protection Officer

If you - as the person concerned - have any questions regarding data protection or your rights, please contact the data protection officer of Kärcher at:

Data Protection Officer
Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG
Alfred-Kärcher-Strasse 28-40
71364 Winnenden / Germany

E-mail: datenschutzbeauftragter@de.kaercher.com

§ 1 Collection, use and storage of personal data

If you use Kärcher's online offer, Kärcher collects various data from you, in some cases also so-called personal data. This is information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter referred to as "data subject").

1. Visiting the Kärcher websites in general

When visiting the Kärcher websites, you transmit data to our web server via your Internet browser (for technical reasons). The following data is recorded during a running connection for communication between your Internet browser and our web server:

• Date and time of the request
• Name of the requested file
• Page from which the file was requested
• Access status (file transferred, file not found, etc.)
• Web browser and operating system used
• Complete IP address of the requesting computer
• Transferred data volume

For reasons of technical security, in particular to prevent attempts to attack our web server, these data are temporarily stored by us. It is not possible for us to draw conclusions about individual persons on the basis of this data.

Legal basis of the storage is § 15 TMG (German Telemedia Act) and Article 6 lit. f) GDPR.

Further personal information is only collected if it is freely given, for example as part of an inquiry or registration. Depending on the area concerned, Kärcher uses the personal data you provide to answer your enquiries, to process your order and for the purpose of technical administration of the websites. In detail, the use in the respective areas follows as follows:

2. Contact forms

If you contact Kärcher via a contact form on the Kärcher website, the data you provide will be stored so that your message can be forwarded to the correct contact person. This is done in accordance with Article 6 lit b) GDPR for processing your request. Your data provided via a contact form will not be used for any other purposes, especially not for advertising. After answering your inquiry we will delete your inquiry and the related personal data.

3. Market research (e.g. Register&Win)

Within the statutory framework Kärcher uses your data for market research purposes and if you have expressly given your consent by ticking the checkbox next to the following text:

"I am interested in further surveys via phone or e-mail in the context of Kärcher’s market research!"

As part of "Register&Win" or other market research activities, Kärcher stores your salutation, your name, your address, your e-mail address, your telephone number, the area to which you assign yourself (private or commercial) and - if you have filled in these fields or ticked the box - your year of birth as well as the part number, the product name, the date of purchase of your Kärcher product and that you are interested in further market research surveys. Kärcher will only use your data for market research in accordance with Article 6 lit a) GDPR if you have given your consent by ticking the appropriate box. Otherwise, your data will be used exclusively for your information in the event of a win pursuant to Article 6 lit b) GDPR.

4. Applications at Kärcher

To process your application the personal date you have provided will be used and processed according to Article 6 lit b) GDPR and § 26 BDSG.

The application process at Kärcher is supported by interpool Personal GmbH, Berliner Allee 24, 13088 Berlin which will also get access to your personal data.

§ 2 Transfer and deletion of personal data

1. Visiting the Kärcher websites

The data stored when merely visiting the Kärcher websites (§ 1) will not be passed on to third parties.

2. Contact form

Only if your inquiry or comment is made to another company of the Kärcher-group other than the company whose contact form you have used, your message and the associated data will be transmitted to the correct contact person within the correct company. The data you have entered in a Kärcher online contact form will not be passed on to other third parties unless you are specifically notified of this.

3. Transmission to authorities and other public bodies

Your data will only be passed on to third parties outside the Kärcher-group, if the responsible public authority or state institution orders its disclosure in individual cases, then Kärcher is obliged to do so.

4. Market research

All data collected on the Kärcher websites for the purpose of market research will be used exclusively for Kärcher internal purposes and will not be passed on to third parties. They are deleted when their knowledge is no longer necessary for the market research.

5. Competitions

The data collected within the scope of a competition on the Kärcher websites will be completely and immediately deleted after the end of the campaign and also not passed on to third parties.

§ 3 Security note

1. General technical and organizational measures:

Kärcher has taken a variety of security measures to adequately protect personal information.

All data stored at Kärcher is protected by physical and technical measures as well as procedural measures that restrict access to the information to specially authorized persons in accordance with this data protection declaration.

The Kärcher websites are located behind a software firewall to prevent access from other networks connected to the Internet. In addition, only employees who need the information to perform a specific task will have access to personal information. These employees are trained in security and privacy practices and will keep your information confidential.

2. Secure data transmission

The transmission of your personal data within the framework of an order process in the online shop is encrypted using the industry standard Secure Socket Layer ("SSL") technology (SSL encryption version 3).

§ 4 Cookies / usage-related advertising (behavioural advertising)

Pursuant to § 15 Section 3 TMG and Article 6 lit f) GDPR, Kärcher creates user profiles for purposes of advertising, market research or for the demand-oriented design of Kärcher websites, provided the user does not object to this. Their possibility of objection is described in the individual technical measures.

1. Use of cookies

"Cookies" are used for behavioural targeting on our website. These are text files by means of which data containing usage information (websites visited, number of visits, visiting times, length of stay on individual pages, etc.), i.e. usage profiles, are stored on your hard disk. These user profiles are anonymized and evaluated in a technical (statistical) evaluation procedure, in order to enable a selection related to the interests of the respective user when Internet advertising (e.g. banners) is uploaded to other websites. In no case personal data such as name, address, e-mail address are stored in the cookies.

2. Behavioural Advertising

The IP address is collected directly from the service provider of behavioural targeting - on the Kärcher websites this is the GroupM Competence Center GmbH - but only stored and further processed there either in shortened or encrypted form (i.e. replaced by another sequence of numbers that does not allow any conclusions about the original IP number sequence and cannot be traced back again). GroupM Competence Center GmbH also offers advertising for websites of other providers and uses its targeting systems to select the collected data for the purpose of user-oriented advertising. Further information on data protection and behavioural targeting of GroupM Competence Center GmbH and its technology can be found at http://www.xaxis.com/de/page/privacy-policy/. There you can also object to the anonymous analysis of your surfing behaviour.

You can also use your browser settings to prevent cookies from being saved. However, it is possible that not all of Kärcher's internet pages will then be displayed completely and/or correctly.

3. Adobe Analytics

This website also uses Adobe Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Adobe Systems Software Ireland Limited ("Adobe"). Adobe Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. If the information generated by the cookie about the use of the website is transmitted to an Adobe server, the settings ensure that the IP address is anonymized before geolocalization and replaced by a generic IP address before storage. On behalf of the operator of this website, Adobe will use this information to evaluate users' use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services relating to website use and internet use to the website operator. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Adobe Analytics is not merged with other Adobe data. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, we would like to point out that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of this website to their full extent. You can also prevent Adobe from collecting the data (including your IP address) generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website and from processing this data by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: http://www.adobe.com/de/privacy/opt-out.html

4. Target

Once the user visits and interacts with websites and displays using Xaxis services, information about browsing, usage and interactions is collected. Xaxis may also collect information that identifies browsers and devices with which the user has previously interacted. Such information collected through the Xaxis services may include the type of internet browser, browser language and operating system used, internet protocol address ("IP address"), unique identifiers available on the user's device, connection type (wired or Wi-Fi), region where the device is located, network to which the device is connected, latitude/longitude of a (mobile) device, mobile operator (if available), the site and the page from which the user came previously and visited afterwards, display an advertisement and information about the website and page viewed by the user.

Devices include computers, mobile phones, tablets, e-readers or other digital devices that can maintain an internet connection.

Xaxis does not collect any user names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses or similar personally identifiable information about its services.

Xaxis may also receive information from other companies, including their customers, which is collected outside their services and made available to them for use in connection with the services. Xaxis may integrate this information into information collected through its services.

Xaxis uses the information collected through its services to ensure that users receive the most useful and relevant online advertising on websites.

5. Integration of media data by Cliplister

(1) This online offer uses interfaces to services of Cliplister GmbH, Schauenburgerstraße 116, 24114 Kiel ("Cliplister"). Cliplister is a professional enterprise cloud infrastructure from Germany for the organization, processing and distribution of media data such as images, videos, audio, PDF or 3D content. The content is stored on Cliplister and integrated into our website and can be played or accessed directly from our website.

(2) If you access a corresponding website of our offer, we establish a connection to Cliplister via web interfaces in order to make such content available to you in an optimal form. Your IP address and device-specific information are transmitted to Cliplister for the purpose of optimal and legally compliant presentation of the contents and recorded by Cliplister in encrypted and anonymous form.

(3) Further information on the purpose and scope of data collection and its processing by Cliplister can be found in the data protection declaration. There you will also receive further information on your rights to protect your privacy: https://cliplister.com/privacy.html

(4) The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR.

§ 5 Your rights

1. Information

You have the right to be informed at any time about the data stored concerning your person, its origin and recipient as well as the purpose of data processing. Please contact the Kärcher data protection officer.

2. Right to Object (market research)

You can object to the future processing of the data concerning you in accordance with Art. 21 GDPR at any time. The objection may be made in particular against processing for direct marketing purposes. Please send a short e-mail to kaercher.marketresearch@de.kaercher.com (no reason required).

3. Withdrawal of consent (e.g. newsletter dispatch)

You can withdraw your consent to the use of your personal data by Kärcher, for example for sending you the Kärcher newsletter, at any time. If you wish to withdraw your consent to receive the newsletter, please click on the link "Unsubscribe newsletter" in one of the received newsletter e-mails at the very bottom. In all other cases, please contact the data protection officer of Alfred Kärcher Vertriebs GmbH.

4. Your other rights

You have the right to rectify or erase or to restrict the processing of your personal data, a right to object to future processing and a right to data transferability.

Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right lodge a complaint to a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State where you are staying, working or the place of suspected infringement, if you consider that the processing of personal data concerning you is contrary to data protection rules.

5. Competent supervisory authority

You can also contact the responsible supervisory authority of Kärcher, the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Baden-Württemberg, Königstraße 10a, 70173 Stuttgart, phone 0711/615541-0, fax 0711/615541-15, https://www.baden-wuerttemberg.datenschutz.de/ e-mail: poststelle@lfdi.bwl.de in the event of complaints regarding the use of your personal data.

The online complaint filing form can be retrieved at: https://www.baden-wuerttemberg.datenschutz.de/online-beschwerde/