Handling of personal data

How we handle your personal data and your rights under EU data protection law – information pursuant to Art. 13 GDPR

The following information is intended to give you an overview of how we process your personal data and your rights under data protection law. Which specific data is processed and how it is used depends largely on the services requested or agreed upon. Therefore, not all sections of this information will apply to you.

Furthermore, this privacy policy may be updated from time to time. The current version can be found on this page at any time.

As of: July 16, 2025 (for German version click here).

Responsible

The controller within the meaning of data protection law is your contractual partner. You will find information on this in the contract concluded with your company or in the email signature.

Joint responsibility

The companies also use joint database solutions within the scope of their activities and access a joint database where necessary. The companies are independently responsible for the lawful processing of personal data and for granting the rights of data subjects, including the provision of mandatory information. Where necessary, the companies support each other in this regard.

We have appointed a data protection officer for the German companies:

c/o activeMind.legal Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
Potsdamer Str. 3
80802 Munich
Phone: 089/919294900
Email: dataprotection-support[at]freudenberg.com
 

We process your data for the following purposes and on the following legal basis:

To fulfil contractual obligations
The processing is necessary for the fulfilment of our contract and/or contractual ancillary services (e.g. warranty notifications or return by the manufacturer).

If you enquire about an offer, data processing will be carried out at your request and is necessary for the implementation of pre-contractual measures.

Due to legal requirements
We are subject to various legal obligations that entail data processing. These include, for example, tax laws and statutory accounting, the fulfilment of requests and requirements from supervisory or law enforcement authorities, and the fulfilment of tax control and reporting obligations.

In addition, the disclosure of personal data may be necessary in the context of official/judicial measures for the purposes of evidence gathering, criminal prosecution or the enforcement of civil law claims.

Within the scope of balancing interests
Where necessary, we process your data beyond the actual fulfilment of the contract to protect our legitimate interests or those of third parties. Examples of such cases are:

• If you contact us, the data you enter will be stored for the purpose of individual communication with you.
• Processing in the CRM system (e.g. storage of additional contact persons in the CRM system for further communication).
• Surveys to improve our products and communication.
• Direct marketing to existing customers. Unless you have objected to the use of your email address for advertising purposes, you will receive information about news and events by email.
• Assertion of legal claims and defence in legal disputes.
   

Who receives your data?

Within the companies, employees receive your data for the purpose of contacting you and for contractual cooperation (including the fulfilment of pre-contractual measures).

Your data will only be passed on to service providers (processors) if this is necessary for the fulfilment of our contractual tasks (e.g. support/maintenance of EDP/IT applications, accounting, data destruction). All service providers are obliged to treat your data confidentially on the basis of a data processing agreement.

With regard to the transfer of data to recipients outside our company, it should first be noted that we only pass on necessary personal data in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations.

Under these conditions, recipients of personal data may include, for example:

• public authorities and institutions (e.g. tax authorities, law enforcement authorities) if there is a legal or official obligation to do so
• Credit and financial services institutions (payment processing)
• tax advisors, auditors and payroll tax/company auditors (statutory audit mandate)

For data subjects in the EU/EEA: Will data be transferred to a third country or to an international organisation?

The transfer of personal data to a third country outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA) cannot be ruled out in this context. In such cases, however, we ensure that an adequate level of data protection is guaranteed. This is achieved in particular by concluding standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission, by the existence of an adequacy decision or by other suitable guarantees.

Furthermore, we use service providers for certain tasks who may have their registered office, parent company or data centres in a third country. Here too, personal data will only be transferred to service providers in a third country if appropriate safeguards are in place (standard contractual clauses, adequacy decision or other appropriate safeguards).

We have also contractually agreed with our service providers that their contractual partners must also always provide guarantees for data protection in compliance with European data protection standards.

How long will your data be stored?

We process and store your personal data for as long as this is necessary to fulfil our contractual and legal obligations. If the data is no longer required for the fulfilment of contractual or legal obligations, it is deleted on a regular basis.

Exceptions to the above deletion criteria apply to data

• that are subject to national statutory retention obligations or
• for the preservation of evidence within the framework of the statutory limitation provisions.

If data processing is carried out in the legitimate interest of us or a third party, the personal data will be deleted as soon as this interest no longer exists. The exceptions mentioned above apply here.

In the case of advertising measures, each mailing contains an opt-out link so that you can object at any time.
 

What are your data protection rights?

Every data subject has the right to information, the right to rectification, the right to erasure, the right to restriction of processing, the right to object and the right to data portability.

National restrictions apply to the right to information and the right to erasure.

If you have given us your consent, you can withdraw it at any time with effect for the future. The revocation of consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent until revocation.

In addition, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority. In principle, you can contact the data protection supervisory authority of the country in which you reside. A list of supervisory authorities in the European Union with addresses can be found at: https://www.edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en
 
Am I obliged to provide data?

Within the framework of the contractual relationship, you may provide us with personal data that is necessary for the establishment, execution and termination of the contractual relationship and for the fulfilment of the associated contractual obligations, which we are legally obliged to collect. Without this data, we will not be able to contact you, conclude the contract with you or execute it.