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Privacy policy

MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Brenntag has established a set of binding corporate principles of commitment to personal data protection, regardless of where your personal data is processed, to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applicable since May 25, 2018. This Policy is Brenntag's global data protection standard for the whole of Brenntag and all Brenntag's affiliated entities.

PURPOSE OF DATA PROTECTION STATEMENT

This Privacy Policy is intended to provide you with information about how Brenntag collects and processes your personal information through your use of this website, including any information you may provide through this website when purchasing a product or service.

NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS OF THE VERIFIER

The name and contact details of the data controller can be found in the imprint on this website.

LOGGING

Brenntag's web server tracks the pages visited on Brenntag's website, the time spent on these pages and the types of searches made on them. This automatically records and stores the following information (as transmitted by the visitor's browser or web activity) depending on the choice of privacy settings when visiting the Brenntag website.

Further processing of personal data may take place according to your preferences, such as

  • 1 Date and time of the server request
  • 2 Geographical location
  • 3 Operating system type/version
  • 4 Browser type/version
  • 5 Data transfer volume
  • 6 Screen resolution
  • 7 Access to links and their status

Therefore, Brenntag also records the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which is a unique number dynamically assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to each computer on the Internet. This IP address that Brenntag collects may contain information that can be considered identifiable.

Brenntag uses the information to prevent potentially illegal activities and to enforce our terms and conditions. Brenntag also uses a variety of technological systems to detect and manage abnormal activity and to monitor content to prevent abuse such as spam. These efforts may occasionally result in a temporary or permanent suspension or termination of certain features for some users. Brenntag uses this information for statistical purposes to determine which pages users visit and which products and services are of interest or value to visitors to Brenntag web servers. We collect and process this information in order to ensure the security of this website, which is a legitimate interest under the GDPR. We automatically delete or anonymize this type of personal data after 14 days.

BROWSER COOKIES

Cookies are used by the Brenntag website to keep track of user sessions. A cookie (also called a web cookie, internet cookie, browser cookie or simply cookie) is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user's computer by the user's browser while the user is using the browser, often to store your preferences for a website such as your preferred language or location and/or information that helps you access a website without having to log in. In fact, cookies tell the website that your browser has been on the website before.

Depending on your consent choice for browser cookies on your first visit to Brenntag's websites, Brenntag uses tracking cookies, third-party cookies and other technologies (e.g. web beacons) to process additional information, enable secondary core functions on Brenntag's website and enable referred third-party functions (such as a link for social media sharing).

If you do not want a cookie to be placed on your computer in general or as a result of using a Brenntag website, you can disable cookies altogether by changing the preferences section of your browser. Please note that if you do so, some aspects of the Brenntag website may be unavailable to you. If you choose to accept cookies on your hard drive, but want to be informed about the use of cookies on your visited websites, you can activate a warning message by changing the cookie warning section, also found in the preferences section of your browser. In most cases, browser cookies used by Brenntag are session-based and therefore only last for the duration of the user's session, but in some cases Brenntag uses persistent browser cookies that remain on your hard disk and provide information about the session you are in and wait for the next time you use this site again.

This provides useful information to Brenntag to recognize frequent users, facilitate user access to and use of the website, and allow a website to track usage behavior which helps Brenntag to improve content. Such cookies are only used for this purpose and are not used to identify users or track their use of other websites.

The following cookies will only start once you have given your consent via the cookie banner:

  • Purpose: distinguish between users. Deletion after 2 years
  • Purpose: to distinguish between users. Deletion: after 24 hours
  • Purpose: speed request. Deletion after 1 minute

WEB BEACONS

Brenntag may use "web beacon" technology on Brenntag websites or in marketing emails to track pages viewed or messages opened, the date and time you visited our website, the website you came from, the type of browser you use, the type of operating system you use, and the domain name and address of your internet service provider.

Web beacon is the use of various techniques used on web pages or email to discreetly (usually invisibly) verify that a user has accessed the content. Common uses are email tracking and page tagging for web analytics. Alternative names are web bug, tracking bug, tag, pixel tag, single-pixel GIFs or page tag.

TURN TRACKING OFF (DNT)

Brenntag's web servers will respect your decision to opt-out of our and third parties' tracking services, including behavioral advertising. This opt-out will be subject to your use of the DNT (Do Not Track) setting in your browser, but due to technological limitations, websites do not respond to DNT consumer browser settings. Currently, there is no solid mechanism to guarantee DNT consumer browser settings on commercial websites.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers, usually in the USA, but possibly also in member states of the European Union. In case of activation of IP anonymization, Google will truncate/anonymize the last octet of the IP address for member states of the European Union as well as for other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to and shortened by Google servers in the USA. On behalf of the website operator, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage to the website operator.

Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You can refuse the use of Google cookies by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. See also point 6 above. Please note, however, that if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. Furthermore, you can prevent the collection and use of data (cookies and IP address) by Google by downloading and installing the browser extension available under Opting out of Google Analytics browser extension .

You can prevent the recording with Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie is set which prevents future collection of your data when you visit this website: Opt -out of the Google Analytics browser extension

Here you can find more detailed information on terms of use and data protection: Google Privacy Policy under Google Analytics Terms of Service .

Google Analytics is explained in more detail under the following link Google Analytics . Please note that this website initializes Google Analytics with the option "gat._anonymizeIp();" to ensure anonymized recording by masking the last part of your IP addresses (IP masking).

GOOGLE TAG MANAGER

This website uses Google Tag Manager. Google Tag Manager is a solution that allows marketers to manage website tags from applications like Google Analytics through a single surface/interface. The Tool Tag Manager itself (which implements the tags) is a cookie-free domain and does not collect personal data.

The tool triggers other tags, which can then collect data under certain circumstances. Google Tag Manager does not have access to this data. If deactivation has been made at the domain or cookie level, such deactivation remains in effect for all tracking tags implemented with Google Tag Manager.

BUSINESS CONTACTS

When we do business with you or the company you work for, we collect and use your information as follows. Unless otherwise stated, we have received your information from you personally, your employer or publicly available sources. We have set out below in table format a description of all the ways in which we use your personal data and the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are, where applicable.

Please note that we may process your personal data on more than one legal basis depending on the specific purpose for which we use your data. Please contact us if you need information about the specific legal basis we rely on to process your personal data if more than one basis is listed in the table below.

Purpose/ActivityType of dataLawful basis for processing, including basis of legitimate interest
To register you as a new customer(a) first name, surname (b) business contact details like e-mail and business addressPerformance of a contract with you
To process and deliver your order including: (a) Manage payments, fees and charges (b) Collect and recover money owed to us(a) first name, surname (b) business contact details like e-mail and business address (c) Financial, company bankaccount (d) Transaction(a) Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to recover debts due to us)
To manage our relationship with you which will include: (a) Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy (b) Asking you to leave a review or take a survey(a) first name, surname (b) business contact details like e-mail and business address(a) Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation (c) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how customers use our products/services)
To enable you to partake in a prize draw, competition or complete a survey(a) first name, surname (b) business contact details like e-mail and business address(a) Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them and grow our business)

NEWSLETTERS AND OTHER MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

If you receive a newsletter from us, we have originally added you to the mailing list in compliance with the applicable law at the time of inclusion.

Individuals are added to the mailing list when they subscribe to the newsletter or because they are a customer of Brenntag, whose personal data may be processed for direct marketing purposes in accordance with applicable law to serve our legitimate interest in advertising products and services.

You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every marketing email.

The newsletter is subscribed to and with the help of a double opt-in, so we can make sure you are the right recipient. Double opt-in means that once you have filled out our form to sign up for our newsletter, we will send you an email to the email address provided. You must follow the link to complete your subscription. We need to save the time and IP address of your confirmation to prove that you subscribed to the newsletter.

To show you personalized advertising - Brenntag does not share your information with advertisers without your consent. Brenntag enables advertisers to select the characteristics of users who will see their ads, and Brenntag may use any non-personally identifiable attributes that Brenntag has collected to select the appropriate audience for those ads. When you click on or otherwise interact with an advertisement, there is a possibility that the advertiser may place a cookie in your browser and that your attributes meet the criteria that the advertiser selected.

THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW YOUR CONSENT

If the use of your data is based on your explicit consent, such as ordering a newsletter, you can withdraw your consent to future processing for this purpose at any time. See below for all other subject rights.

RECIPIENTS OF PERSONAL DATA

Brenntag may share the collected information with third parties for further processing to provide a safe, efficient and customized experience. Here are the details on how Brenntag does that:

To provide products: Each entity in the affiliated group of Brenntag may share your personal data within the affiliated group, but also with agents, contractors or partners of Brenntag in connection with services that these individuals or entities perform for or with Brenntag.

These agents, contractors or partners may not use this data in any other way than to provide services to Brenntag or for the cooperation in which they and Brenntag are engaged (for example, some of our products are developed and marketed through joint agreements with other companies). Brenntag may, for example, disclose your data to agents, contractors or partners for the purposes of hosting our databases, data processing or to send you information that you have requested. If processing is to be carried out by agents, contractors or partners on behalf of Brenntag, the contractors provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures in such a way that the processing meets the requirements of data protection law. Processing by an agent, contractor or partner is subject to a written contract.

To respond to legal requests and prevent harm: Brenntag reserves the right to share your data to respond to duly authorized data requests from public authorities or where required by law. Brenntag will never sell your personal data to third parties such as marketers without your explicit consent. Brenntag does not provide personal data to "pagers", "directories" or "white pages".

SENDING AND STORING DATA ABROAD:

Brenntag may disclose personal data about an individual to recipients abroad after obtaining consent from the individual or otherwise complying with applicable data protection law. Brenntag may also store personal data in the cloud, which may mean that it resides on servers located outside the EU. In cases where Brenntag is required to transfer your personal data, Brenntag shall give preference to transferring your personal data only within countries within the European Economic Area (EEA) and to or from countries that provide adequate protection as confirmed by the European Commission. For more information, see European Commission, "Commission Decisions on the Adequacy of the Protection of Personal Data in Third Countries."

In other cases, the transfer will preferably be made according to the requirements of applicable regulations with appropriate safeguards and on condition that the data subject's enforceable rights and effective legal remedies for data subjects are available or by means of binding corporate rules. Finally, if these choices were not possible, the data transfers that we must make will be in accordance with the provisions of Article 49 of the General Data Protection Regulation, for example with the explicit consent of the data subject.

ERASURE PROCESS

We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purpose of complying with any legal accounting or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from an authorized use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

PROCESSING OF SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL DATA

Brenntag will only use and/or disclose special categories of personal data for the purpose for which it was provided, either based on your consent or if the use or disclosure of the sensitive information is permitted by law.

COLLABORATE WITH AUTHORITIES

The collection of personal data by - and disclosure to - governmental institutions and authorities will only be carried out on the basis of specific legal provisions. In all cases, this Privacy Policy imposes the restrictions necessary to fulfill the legal requirements of the respective laws.

APPLICANTS

If you contact Brenntag regarding job vacancies or in case of a speculative application, we process your data as follows:

We only process personal data that you provide to us for the respective purpose, i.e. the respective position for which you are applying. You can see the categories of personal data that we store directly in the relevant application form before you submit it to us.

In parallel with the HR department, only the corresponding manager has access to your personal data. In the event of a negative decision by the manager, this access is revoked and only the respective person in the HR department has access to your data.

The collection and storage of applicants' personal data is necessary to carry out the application process initiated by the applicant and to make decisions about the potential employment relationship. Brenntag will delete personal data once the application process is completed. However, access to personal data will be restricted if there are any legal obligations to retain it.

YOUR RIGHTS AS A DATA SUBJECT

Brenntag shall respect the data subject's right in accordance with legal obligations and subject to the exceptions defined in applicable laws and regulations.

These rights are:

  • 1. your right to access your personal data
  • 2. your right to correct or amend or update your personal data
  • 3. your right to be forgotten (right to erasure)
  • 4. your right to obtain personal data in a portable form (right to data portability)
  • 5. your right to restriction of processing under the regulation
  • 6. your right to object to the processing of your personal data under the Regulation
  • 7. Your right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Group's Data Protection Officer. Contact details can be found below. You do not have to pay a fee to access your personal data. However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, in these circumstances, we may refuse to comply with your request.

YOUR RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN

If you wish to remove your personal data from our systems as indicated in the section "Deletion process", please contact us.

SAFETY

Brenntag implements reasonable physical, technical and administrative security controls to protect your personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. Your data will be stored in a secure operating environment.

However, Brenntag cannot guarantee the security of information on or transmitted over the Internet, as it is dependent on the security of the system you have used to communicate with Brenntag's systems. Brenntag uses measures to enhance security, such as analyzing account behavior for fraudulent or otherwise abnormal behavior, and Brenntag attempts to encrypt this information to protect against interception.

CONTACT DETAILS FOR THE DATA PROTECTION OFFICER

Brenntag has appointed a Group Data Protection Officer located at the headquarters in Germany together with an international team of local data protection coordinators, so you can contact us in the language of the respective region. We are always available for your questions and comments.

If you have any questions regarding the processing of your personal data and any related rights, you can contact the Group's Data Protection Officer directly as set out below:

Group Data Protection Officer,
Messeallee 11,
45131 Essen,
gdpo@brenntag.de

RIGHT TO CONTACT THE SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY

Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, every data subject shall have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State where he or she resides, has his or her place of work or where the alleged infringement occurred, if the data subject considers that the processing of personal data relating to him or her infringes this Regulation.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES AND LINKS

Brenntag sites may have links to other sites owned and maintained by other organizations. These links are external to Brenntag, but are still provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only. They do not constitute any matter related to or sponsored by Brenntag's services or opinions or any organization or individual. Please contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content and their privacy settings and policies.