Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy to Article 13 GDPR

for website vwg-digitalsolutions.de

The Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH (hereinafter referred to as “we“) is obliged, pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) (“GDPR“), to provide you with the following information when collecting your personal data:

A. Controller

Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH, Major-Hirst-Str. 11, 38442 Wolfsburg, Germany, info@vwgds.de, registered in the commercial register of the Local Court (Amtsgericht) of Braunschweig under number HRB 203508.

B. Purposes and Legal Basis for Processing Your Personal Data, Retention Periods, and Recipients of Your Personal Data

Contacting Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH by Email

When you contact us by email, the data you provide (your email address and, if applicable, your name and telephone number) will be stored by us in order to answer your inquiries.

The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. The processing is necessary for the performance of a (pre-contractual) contractual relationship with you.

We store your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the originally intended purpose (e.g., contract performance) and, beyond that, for as long as we are legally obliged to do so. If the data is no longer required for the fulfillment of contractual or legal obligations, it will be deleted in accordance with our deletion concept.

Processing of Personal Data During an Informational Visit to Our Website

When you use the website for informational purposes only, meaning you merely view the website without otherwise providing information to us, we process the personal data that your browser transmits to our server. The data described below is technically necessary for us to display our website to you and to ensure its stability and security, and must therefore be processed:

IP address
Date and time of the request
Time zone difference from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
Content of the request (visited page)
Access status / HTTP status code
Amount of data transferred in each case
Previously visited page
Browser
Operating system
Language and version of the browser software

The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. We have a legitimate interest in presenting our products and services competitively via a website that operates without disruptions.

The retention period for this personal data is the duration of the website visit.

Recipients of Your Personal Data

Within Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH, only those departments that require your personal data for the respective purposes will have access to it.

Internal Recipients

Marketing / Communication

In addition, we use external service providers for the provision and operation of our website and for IT administration. These act as processors pursuant to Article 28 GDPR (e.g., hosting and IT service providers).

External Recipients

Hosting providers
Web analytics tools
Support and maintenance service providers

Your personal data will only be disclosed to other third parties if we are legally obliged to do so or if you have previously consented.

Transfer of Your Data to a Third Country (Outside the European Union) or an International Organization

Your personal data will not be transferred to a third country or an international organization.

C. Use of Photographs and Video Recordings

We process personal data (photos and videos) of individuals depicted on our website. The processing is carried out for the purpose of presenting and promoting our company to the public.

Legal basis: Processing is generally based on your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). In individual cases, it may also be based on our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) in public relations and the presentation of our company.
Retention period: Your recordings will be stored as long as the publication purpose exists or until consent is withdrawn. The necessity of continued storage is reviewed regularly.
Recipients: Once published on the Internet, the recordings can be accessed worldwide, including in third countries outside the EU/EEA. Further use by third parties cannot be technically excluded.

Right to Withdraw Consent

You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future. Processing carried out before the withdrawal remains lawful. The relevant images will be removed without undue delay, generally within 14 days. Please contact the email address specified in the legal notice for this purpose: info@vwgds.de.

D. Use of Cookies and Tracking Tools

I. General Information

Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH uses various cookies on its websites. Cookies are small files containing configuration information that are stored on your device.

Cookies can generally be divided into three categories:

Cookies that are essential for the functionality of the website (“functional cookies”)
Cookies that enhance the convenience of using the website, for example by storing language preferences (“convenience cookies”)
Cookies used to create a pseudonymized usage profile (“tracking cookies”)

Only functional cookies and tracking cookies are used on this website.

The processing of functional cookies is necessary to enable you to visit the website (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). Tracking cookies are only set if the website visitor has given consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). Consent is provided through a cookie banner that must be actively clicked.

You may withdraw your consent to the data processing carried out via the listed cookies and tracking tools at any time with effect for the future by clicking the following link and changing your current preferences in our Cookie Consent Manager: MANAGE MY COOKIE PREFERENCES

Further information about our cookies can be found in the COOKIE POLICY and the following below.

II. MATOMO

Matomo is a tracking tool used to collect the following data. The data is not disclosed to third parties.

User IP address (anonymised)
Date and time of the request
Title of the page viewed (Page Title)
URL of the page viewed (Page URL)
URL of the page visited before the current page (Referrer URL)
Screen resolution used
Time in the user’s local time zone
Clicked links leading to external domains
Page generation time (time required for page generation and download)
User location: country, region, city, approximate latitude and longitude
Primary browser language (Accept-Language header)
Browser User-Agent (User-Agent header)

For statistical evaluation of our website, we additionally use technologies provided by Matomo (InnoCraft, 7 Waterloo Quay PO625, 6140 Wellington, New Zealand; matomo.org). By using Matomo, we collect anonymous statistical data regarding the use of our web services. This data is used to optimize our website and services, making them more attractive and user-friendly.

When using our website, the following information transmitted by your browser is collected and analyzed:

Browser information
Date and time of visit
Device information
Referrer URL
Anonymised IP address
Usage data (pages accessed, duration of use, login status, etc.)
Referrer
User hash

This is carried out by using cookie technology.

Direct personal identification is excluded at all times. The shortened IP address is not combined with any other data collected by us.

These functions and cookies are activated only with your consent. The legal basis for this processing is your voluntary consent provided via our Consent Manager tool pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time via our Consent Manager tool or through your browser settings, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

Retention periods for these temporary and permanent cookies, as well as the names of the cookies, can be viewed in our Consent Manager.

We have implemented Matomo as an on-premises solution. Analysis of your data takes place exclusively on our own servers and not by third parties.

E. Social Media

Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH only uses links directing users to its own social media profiles on various third-party platforms. By clicking such a link, you are informed that you are leaving our website and accessing the website of a third-party provider.

Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH has no influence over the data collected by the respective provider or the further processing of such data. Information regarding the purpose and scope of data collection, the further processing and use of data by the providers, and your rights and privacy settings can be found in the privacy policies of the respective providers.

F. Your Rights

You have the following rights vis-à-vis us:

Right of access (Article 15 GDPR)
Right to rectification (Article 16 GDPR)
Right to erasure (Article 17 GDPR)
Right to restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR)
Right to data portability (Article 20 GDPR)

Where the processing of your personal data is based on your consent, you may withdraw this consent at any time without giving reasons by contacting Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH, Major-Hirst-Straße 11, 38442 Wolfsburg, Germany, in writing or by email at datenschutz@vwgds.de, with effect for the future. The withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out prior to the withdrawal.

With regard to our tracking tools, consent may be withdrawn at any time via our Consent Manager tool or through your browser settings.

With regard to photographs and video recordings, consent may be withdrawn at any time by emailing info@vwgds.de. Processing prior to withdrawal remains lawful. Further details can be found under Section C. Use of Photographs and Video Recordings.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates the GDPR. This right is without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy.

Information on the Right to Object Pursuant to Article 21 GDPR

You have the right, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you that is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (processing on the basis of legitimate interests).

If you object, we will no longer process your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or if the processing serves the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

The objection may be submitted free of charge and without a prescribed form to:

Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions GmbH
Major-Hirst-Straße 11
38442 Wolfsburg
Germany

Email: datenschutz@vwgds.de

G. Provision of Data

In contractual relationships, we collect your personal data only for the purposes described above, insofar as necessary, for example for the proper performance of the contract. You are not obliged to provide personal data. However, if you do not provide personal data, the contract cannot be fulfilled.

If you provide consent, we will use your personal data solely for the purpose covered by the consent; the purpose is described precisely in the consent text. Consent is voluntary, meaning that you are free to decide whether to grant consent.

Where the processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interests, an obligation to provide data may arise from general duties of cooperation. In all cases, we assess before processing whether the processing is necessary and whether your interests in non-processing outweigh our interests. Where processing is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, you have a right to object pursuant to Article 21 GDPR.