Privacy Policy
Last Updated: October 20, 2023
This website (“Site”) is operated by Vorwerk Canada, Ltd (referenced herein as “Vorwerk” or “we” or “us” or “our”). We recognize the importance of protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains our information practices and how Vorwerk collects, uses, maintains, protects, and discloses the personal information you choose to provide to us, whether online or otherwise. By using Vorwerk’s website and any products, services software, tools, applications, features, or functionality offered on or through the website or mobile application (collectively, the “Site” or “Sites”) you signify your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
Privacy laws in Canada generally define "personal information" as any information about an identifiable individual, which includes information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person. Personal information does not include business contact information, including your name, title, or business contact information.
This Site may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins, services, social networks, or applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow the third party to collect or share data about you. If you follow a link to a third-party website or engage a third-party plugin, please note that these third parties have their own privacy policies and we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. We do not control these third-party websites, and we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.
Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Site. By accessing or using this Site, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This policy may change from time to time (see CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY below). Your continued use of this Site after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT ADDRESS THE PRIVACY PRACTICES OR POLICIES OF THIRD PARTIES WITH WHICH WE MAY SHARE YOUR INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN THIS POLICY, INCLUDING THERMOMIX INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS. Thermomix Independent Consultants are independent third-party contractors of Vorwerk, are not otherwise affiliated with Vorwerk, and are responsible for their own practices with respect to the collection, sharing, and use of your information.
INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU
We collect and use several types of information from and about you, including:
- Personal information, that we can reasonably use to directly or indirectly identify you, such as your name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, user name or other similar identifier, billing and account information, as well as banking information and social insurance number, if you register as a Thermomix Independent Consultant (“personal information”).
We provide an opportunity for any user to cancel their account or unsubscribe from our marketing emails on an ongoing basis by using the unsubscribe mechanism at the bottom of our e-mails or e-mailing to service@thermomix.ca.
- Non-personal information, that does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity or directly relate to an identifiable individual, such as statistical or aggregated information. Statistical or aggregated data does not directly identify a specific person, but we may derive non-personal statistical or aggregated data from personal information. For example, we may aggregate personal information to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific Site feature.
- Technical information, including your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, or information about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Site, and usage details.
- Non-personal details about your Site interactions, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), clickstream to, through and from our Site (including date and time), products you viewed or searched for, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), methods used to browse away from the page, or any phone number used to call our customer service number.
HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
We use different methods to collect your information, including through:
- Direct interactions with you when you provide it to us, for example, by filling in forms or corresponding with us by phone, email, or otherwise.
- User contributions. You may also provide information for us to publish or display on public Site areas or transmit to other Site users or third parties.
- Automated technologies or interactions, as you navigate through our Site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies.
- Third parties or publicly available sources, for example, our business partners and Thermomix Independent Consultants.
Information You Provide to Us
The information we collect directly from you on or through our Site may include:
- Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Site. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our Site, creating an account, placing or attempting to place an order on our eShop, requesting a product demonstration or additional information regarding our Independent Consultant business opportunity, subscribing to our service, posting material, and/or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information [when you enter a contest or promotion sponsored by us, and] when you report a problem with our Site.
- Registering as a Thermomix Independent Consultant;
- Records and copies of your correspondence (e.g., emails, chats, phone calls, etc.), if you contact us.
- Your responses to surveys that we might ask you to complete for research purposes.
- Participation in our Loyalty Program;
- Signing-up for our newsletter;
- Forward information to a friend;
- Enter a contest or sweepstakes or promotion sponsored by us; and
- Details of transactions you carry out through our Site and of the fulfillment of your orders. You will be required to provide financial information before placing an order through our Site.
You also may provide information to be published or displayed (hereinafter, “posted”) on public areas of the Site or transmitted to other users of the Site or third parties (collectively, “User Contributions”). Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. Additionally, we cannot control the actions of other users of the Website with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that your User Contributions will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.
Information We Collect Through Cookies and Other Automatic Data Collection Technologies
As you navigate through and interact with our Site, we may use cookies or other automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:
- Details of your visits to our Site, including traffic data, location data, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Site.
- Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type.
The information we collect automatically is only statistical data and does not include personal information, but we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. It helps us to improve our Site and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:
- Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
- Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Site according to your individual interests.
- Speed up your searches.
- Recognize you when you return to our Site.
The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:
- Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting, you may be unable to access certain parts of our Site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Site.
- Web Beacons. Pages of our Site and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit Vorwerk, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).
Third Party Use of Cookies
Some content or applications on the Site, including advertisements, are served by third parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our Site. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioural) advertising or other targeted content.
You can opt-out of several third-party ad servers' and networks' cookies simultaneously by using an opt-out tool created by the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada or an opt-out tool created by the Network Advertising Initiative. You can also access these websites to learn more about online behavioural advertising and how to stop websites from placing cookies on your device. Opting out of a network does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the network from which you opted out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your web preferences and usage patterns.
We do not control these third parties' tracking technologies or how they are used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. For more information about how you can opt out of receiving targeted advertising from many providers, see Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.
HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:
- To present our Site and its contents to you. This would include the use of any interactive features on our Site.
- To respond to your inquiries, resolve technical issues, market to you, and fulfill your requests. We may use your personal information to provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us; fulfill your product orders; connect you to a Thermomix Independent Consultant, resolve technical issues, and fulfill any other request you may have. For example, we may reach out to you if you submit a “Join Us” form, or we may connect you with a Thermomix Independent Consultant to provide you with a Cooking Demonstration / Experience or Welcome Service or send you information about other Thermomix products or products from selected partners that may be of interest to you.
- To send servicing and transactional emails. We may use your personal information to send you emails for servicing and transactional purposes, including but not limited to: (i) confirm your account registration on our Sites; (ii) confirm transactions through our Sites; (iii) inform you that we have received your personal information; (iv) provide you with notices about your account; (v) provide you with information regarding Thermomix; (vi) notify you about changes to any products or services offered through our Sites; (v) verify your identity, including account related questions; (vii) to inform you of any changes related to our Sites, including our Terms of Use
- To communicate with you if you are a Thermomix Independent Consultant. We may reach out to provide you with sales and/or business support, or contact you as needed by sending an email, placing a voice call, or sending a text (SMS), as authorized by our Terms of Use and/or the Independent Consultant Agreement.
- To permit emails to and gifts to friends. We may provide functionality to permit you to send messages regarding Site-related content to a friend through the Site or send gifts directly to friends. If you wish to use this feature, you may provide us with your friend’s email address so that we can facilitate the sending of your message to your friend.
- Other uses. We may use your personal information to: (i) fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it; (ii) carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection; (iii) provide you with targeted marketing and advertising; or (iv) fulfill any other purpose we may describe when you provide the information.
We may also use your information to contact you about our own goods and services that may be of interest to you, as permitted by law. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please do not check the relevant box located on the form on which we collect your data, use the unsubscribe mechanism at the bottom of our e-mails or e-mail us at service@thermomix.ca. For more information, see Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.
DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION
We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.
We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy, as follows:
- To our subsidiaries and affiliates. We may share your personal information with other businesses that are part of the Vorwerk Group.
- To third parties for direct marketing purposes. We may share your personal information with Thermomix Independent Consultants as requested by you, or to provide you with the services contemplated and/or included as part of your order. For example, if you request a Cooking Demonstration, place an order through a Thermomix Independent Consultant’s personal link or identify a Thermomix Independent Consultant ID with your order, we will disclose your personal information to such Thermomix Independent Consultant. If you make a Thermomix unit purchase without identifying a Thermomix Independent Consultant, we will also share your personal information with one or more Independent Consultants so they can follow up with you and provide you with a Welcome Service, which is the Cooking Demonstration that is included with the purchase of a Thermomix unit. Thermomix Independent Consultants who receive your personal information may then use it to contact you about additional offers that may interest you.
- Thermomix Independent Consultant Information. If you are a Thermomix Independent Consultant, we may disclose certain of your personal information (e.g., your name and contact information) and other information to current and potential Vorwerk customers who are seeking the assistance of a Thermomix Independent Consultant, to customers who are or who become connected to you, and to other Thermomix Independent Consultants (e.g., if you are a “downline” Thermomix Independent Consultant, we may make your personal information and other information about you available to your “upline”). If required by law, we will get your consent to such disclosures or allow you to opt out of such disclosures.
- To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business. We may share your personal information with third parties who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
- Referral. If you wish to refer our products to a friend, you may be asked to provide your name and email address, as well as your friend’s name and email address, so that we may facilitate your referral or message. Your name and your email address may be disclosed to your friend in such email.
- Business Transfer. To a buyer or other successor in the event of a potential or actual merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, joint venture, assignment, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Vorwerk’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by Vorwerk about our Site users is among the assets transferred.
- Other Disclosures. We may disclose your personal information to: (i) fulfill the purpose for which you provide it, or (ii) subject to your consent, fulfill any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
- With Your Consent.
In addition, we reserve the right to disclose and use your information if we believe that we are required to do so: (i) by law; (ii) in response to legal process, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena; (iii) in response to a law enforcement agency’s request; (iv) to enforce our Terms of Use or our other terms, conditions, or policies; (v) to protect our operations; (vi) to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of Vorwerk, you or others; and/or (vii) to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain. For example, we may, to the fullest extent the law allows, disclose your information to law enforcement agencies to assist them in identifying individuals who have been or may be engaged in unlawful activities.
TRANSFERRING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We may transfer personal information that we collect or that you provide as described in this policy to contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business (such as analytics and search engine providers that assist us with Site improvement and optimization) and who are contractually obligated to keep personal information confidential, use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them, and to process the personal information with the same standards set out in this policy.
We may process, store, and transfer your personal information in and to a foreign country, with different privacy laws that may or may not be as comprehensive as Canadian law. In these circumstances, the governments, courts, law enforcement, or regulatory agencies of that country may be able to obtain access to your personal information through the laws of the foreign country. Whenever we engage a service provider, we require that its privacy and security standards adhere to this policy and applicable Canadian privacy legislation.
By submitting your personal information or engaging with the Site, you consent to this transfer, storage, or processing.
CHOICES ABOUT HOW WE USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION
We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:
- Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
- Third-Party Advertising. If you do not want us to share your personal information with unaffiliated or non-agent third parties for promotional purposes, you can opt-out by rejecting these cookies. You can also always opt-out by sending us an email with your request to service@thermomix.ca.
- Promotional Offers from the Company. If you have opted in to receive certain emails from us but no longer wish to have your email address/contact information used by the Company to promote our own or third parties' products or services, you can opt-out by sending us an email stating your request to service@thermomix.ca. If we have sent you a promotional email, you may unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe link we have included in the email. This opt-out does not apply to information provided to the Company as part of a product purchase, warranty registration, product service experience, or other transactions.
- Targeted Advertising. If you do not want us to use information that we collect or that you provide to us to deliver advertisements according to our advertisers' target-audience preferences, you can opt out by rejecting these cookies and/or all cookies, or by sending us an email with your request to service@thermomix.ca.
We do not control third parties' collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of several third-party ad servers' and networks' cookies simultaneously by using an opt-out tool created by the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada. You can also access these websites to learn more about online behavioural advertising and how to stop websites from placing cookies on your device. Opting out of a network does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the network from which you opted out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your web preferences and usage patterns.
DATA SECURITY
We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from unauthorized access.
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you or where you have chosen a password for access to certain parts of our Site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Site like message boards, which any Site visitor can view.
DATA RETENTION
Except as otherwise permitted or required by applicable law or regulation, we will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Under some circumstances we may anonymize your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you. We reserve the right to use such anonymous and de-identified data for any legitimate business purpose without further notice to you or your consent.
CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13
Our Site is not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any information to or on the Site. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at service@thermomix.ca.
ACCESSING AND CORRECTING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes. By law you have the right to request access to and to correct the personal information that we hold about you.
To exercise any of the above rights, please contact us using one of the below methods:
- By phone at 1 855-867-9904
- By email at service@thermomix.ca
We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and your right to access, and to provide you with the personal information that we hold about you or make your requested changes. Applicable law may allow or require us to refuse to provide you with access to some or all of the personal information that we hold about you, or we may have destroyed, erased, or made your personal information anonymous in accordance with our record retention obligations and practices. If we cannot provide you with access to your personal information, we will inform you of the reasons why, subject to any legal or regulatory restrictions.
We will provide access to your personal information, subject to exceptions set out in applicable privacy legislation. Examples of such exceptions include:
- Information protected by solicitor-client privilege.
- Information that is part of a formal dispute resolution process.
- Information that is about another individual that would reveal their personal information or confidential commercial information.
- Information that is prohibitively expensive to provide.
If you are concerned about our response or would like to correct the information provided, you may contact our Privacy Officer at service@thermomix.ca.
WITHDRAWING YOUR CONSENT
Where you have provided your consent to the collection, use, and transfer of your personal information, you may have the legal right to withdraw your consent under certain circumstances. To withdraw your consent, if applicable, contact us at service@thermomix.ca. Please note that if you withdraw your consent we may not be able to provide you with a particular product or service. We will explain the impact to you at the time to help you with your decision.
CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY
It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by email to the email address specified in your account and/or through a notice on the privacy policy page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Site and this privacy policy to check for any changes.
CONTACT INFORMATION AND CHALLENGING COMPLIANCE
We welcome your questions, comments, and requests regarding this privacy policy and our privacy practices. Please contact us at service@thermomix.ca.
We have procedures in place to receive and respond to complaints or inquiries about our handling of personal information, our compliance with this policy, and with applicable privacy laws. To discuss our compliance with this policy please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information listed above.