Data Protection Policy

Last updated March 2021

1 General

1.1 The following provisions regulate how Vorwerk International & Co. KmG, Verenastrasse 39, CH-8832 Wollerau, Switzerland (“Vorwerk International”) processes your personal data as part of our mission to build a better Cookidoo® and Thermomix® experiences for and with our customers through user research.

1.2 As part of our user research, we want to invite customers to participate in our user research studies. Detailed information about the handling of your data can be found in this data protection declaration. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the data protection officer using the contact details given in Section 8.

1.3 Vorwerk International is the legal entity responsible for data processing for all data that is processed as described below. In certain cases described in this data protection policy data may be transferred to other legal entities, who are then data processors of this transferred data. You can find detailed information about the handling of your data in the policy below. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the data protection officer using the contact details given in Section 8.

2 Details of the data processing activities for user research

2.1 The following personal data is collected by us for the purpose of carrying out user research

• First and last names
• E-mail address
• Phone number
• Year of birth
• Gender
• Place of residence (Country, City, Postal code)
• Preferred language(s)
• Information on your relationship to the Vorwerk company
• Information on usage with respect to Vorwerk products
• Audio or video recordings that may be taken during user research sessions
• Photos that may be taken during user research sessions

2.2 The aforementioned data are required for:

• Participant sampling.
• Contacting participants for communication with respect to user research.
• Conducting user research that may include surveys, online or telephone interactions, moderated user research sessions at our offices or in your home (depending on what you agreed on).
• Maintaining a participation log.

2.3 The use of all of the aforementioned data is optional. This data is processed on the legal basis of consent (Art. 6 Para. 1 a GDPR). You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting the Data Protection Officer.

3 Recipients of personal data

3.1 We may share personal information with individuals who act on our behalf or are otherwise involved in the data processing, including:

• External agencies supporting Vorwerk International in conducting research and analyzing its results

3.2 In case any of the recipients of personal data are located outside the European Economic Area, unless the country to which the data is transmitted has been determined by the European Commission as a country with an adequate level of protection, we require these recipients to comply with data protection measures such as standard contractual clauses, or other suitable guarantees in accordance with the guidelines of the European Commission.

4 Your rights

4.1 Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR) You have the right to request information on whether Vorwerk International processes your personal data and, where this is the case, that Vorwerk International grants you access to the data stored by Vorwerk International about your person or your pseudonym and provides information about it.

4.2 Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR) You have the right to have the data corrected if the personal data you have collected is incorrect.

4.3 Right to cancellation (Art 17 GDPR) You have the right, under certain circumstances, to request the immediate deletion of personal data. This can be the case, for example, if your personal data are no longer required for the purposes for which they were collected or if you revoke your consent to our processing in accordance with Art. 6 (1) a GDPR and if there is no other legal reason for processing.

4.4 Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR) You have the right to request a restriction on processing of your personal data under certain circumstances. Such a circumstance can be the case, for example, if you are of the opinion that your personal data is incorrect, or if we do not need the personal data for the original purpose of processing, but you need this data for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.

4.5 Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR) Under certain circumstances, you have the right to receive your personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable form, and you have the right to transfer this information to another person in charge or to ask us to do so.

4.6 Right to object to processing (Art. 21 GDPR) You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances, in particular if we process your personal data on the legal basis of legitimate interests (Art. 6 Paragraph 1 f GDPR) or if we use your personal data for marketing purposes.

4.7 Right to withdraw consent If we process your personal data on the basis of your consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time in accordance with Art. 6 (1) GDPR. Please note that the revocation of consent does not affect the legality of the processing based on the consent before its revocation.

4.8 How you can make use of your data protection rights If you have any questions about the collection, processing or use of your personal data, the disclosure, correction, blocking or deletion of data or the objection to certain data processing or data portability, please contact the data protection officer using the contact details listed in Section 8 below.

4.9 Right to lodge a complaint
4.9.1 You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the member state of your residence.
4.9.2 If you are not satisfied with any aspect of the data processing of your personal data by Vorwerk International, we would like to understand this and discuss with you how we can improve the situation. Please do not hesitate to contact us using the contact information provided in Section 8 below. Nevertheless, you can also file a complaint with the local data protection supervisory authority.

5 Data security

At Vorwerk International, we have taken appropriate technical and organizational measures to prevent unintentional or unlawful destruction, loss, modification, unauthorized disclosure or unauthorized access to the transmitted, stored or otherwise processed personal data.

6 Storage and deletion of data

6.1 We store your personal data and other information (e.g., data that are collected in research sessions) until the user no longer wishes to participate in user research: We therefore delete personal data as soon as it is no longer required for the purposes mentioned above.

6.2 If the processing is based on consent and you revoke your consent, we will delete or anonymize your personal data immediately after the revocation, unless there is a legal basis for storing the data.

6.3 Video and audio recordings of user research are kept for 6 months, unless you withdraw your consent for participation in user research, then the recording is deleted immediately.

6.4 Photos are used only for internal research and business purposes and are kept for as long as you decide to participate in user research, when you withdraw your consent for participation in user research, then photos are deleted immediately.

7 Status of the data protection policy

This privacy policy was updated in March 2021. We reserve the right to change the data protection declaration from time to time if the data processing changes. If the policy has been updated, we will take steps to notify you of the update in an appropriate manner, e.g., by notifying you when you log in to your account or otherwise, if more appropriate (e.g., by email).

8 Data Protection Officer

You can contact the Vorwerk International data protection officer at:
Vorwerk International & Co. KmG
Verenastrasse 39
CH-8832 Wollerau, Switzerland
dpo@vorwerk.ch