PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: July 1, 2019.

Vorwerk Canada, Ltd, including all of its affiliates (referenced herein as “VORWERK” or “we” or “us” or “our”), 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 and discloses the personal information you may choose to provide to us, whether online or otherwise.
By using VORWERK’s website (or any of our affiliate’s international websites or applications) 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 of personal information.
This Policy went into effect on the date noted at the top of this webpage. We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated statement on this page and change the date at the top of this statement webpage. We encourage you to look for updates and changes to this statement by checking this date when you access our websites and mobile applications. We will notify you of any modifications to this statement that might materially affect the way we use or disclose your personal information prior to the change becoming effective by means of a message on this website.

 

COLLECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

“Personal information” refers to information that specifically identifies you as an individual and is provided to or collected by us. As you use our Sites, we collect information about you and the services you use to help us personalize and improve your experience. The information we collect falls into three different categories: (1) information you give us; (2) information we collect from you automatically; and (3) information we collect from other sources.

Information You Give Us

We may collect and store any information you provide us when you use our Site. For example, when you decide to complete a book a demo or join us form, sign up for our newsletter, register for an event, complete an online survey or make a purchase, you may be asked to provide certain information such as your contact information (first and last name, email address, mailing address, and residential or mobile phone numbers). If you decide to place an order, we will also need to know your billing and shipping address, credit card number, expiration date, and CVC. Enrolling Independent Consultants are also asked to provide their date of birth, Social Insurance number, banking information, and other personal information, which is required in order to become a Consultant.

We may also collect information from or about you from other sources, such as through your contact with us, including our Help Center or your results when you respond to a survey. Additionally, for quality and training purposes or for our own protection, we may monitor or record our telephone conversations with you or anyone acting on your behalf. By communicating with VORWERK over the phone, you acknowledge that your communication may be overheard, monitored, or recorded without further notice or warning.

By making a purchase, you become a registered user of canada.thermomix.ca. Once you are a registered user, information required to make a purchase is stored in your account—such as your shipping and billing addresses. If you change your mind about storing this information, you can email the Help Center at [email protected] to amend or delete this information. If you would prefer that we not collect any such personal information from you, please do not provide us with any such information.

When you submit personal information on the Site, you are giving your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information about you as set forth in this Privacy Policy. Please note that if you choose to share information about yourself in an open format, such as through a Third-Party Site such as Facebook or WeChat, we may consider some of that information to be public information—and not personal information.

Information We Collect Automatically

• IP Addresses: The collection of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses is standard practice on the Internet and is done automatically by many websites. When you visit the Site, we (independently or through service providers) may collect certain device and usage information from you. This information may include your computer’s IP address, browser type, operating system, the specific web pages visited during your connection (along with dates(2) and time(s) of your visit(s), the areas or pages of the Site that you visit, the amount of time you spend viewing the Site), the number of times you return to the Site and other clickstream data, and the domain name from which you accessed the Site.
  We use your IP address, and the IP addresses of all users, for purposes such as calculating Site usage levels, helping diagnose problems with the Site’s servers, administering the Site, analyzing trends, internal statistics / research, including suspicious activity detection and prevention, administering the Site, tracking traffic patterns, and gathering demographic information for aggregate use. If you access the Site or application via a mobile device such as a smartphone, the collected information may also include your phone’s unique device ID, location, and other similar mobile device data.

• Cookies: Like many commercial websites, we may collect this information using “cookie” technology. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer when you access the Site and allows us to recognize you each time you visit the Site. We may also use web beacons and other similar technologies on the Site, in our emails and in our advertisements on other websites. Web beacons are tiny graphic images that are used to collect information about your Site visit, such as the pages you view and the features you use, as well as information about whether you open and/or act upon one of our emails or advertisements. We may use these technologies to collect information for a variety of purposes such as to analyze how the Site is used, personalize your experience on the Site, or improve our content or offerings. Your browser may provide tools to block or delete cookies. However, if your browser is set to reject cookies or you manually delete cookies, you may have some trouble accessing and using some of the pages and features that are currently on our Site, or that we may put on our Site in the future.

• Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager: We may also use Google Analytics and the Google Tag Manager, which are both web analysis services provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). The information generated by the cookie regarding your use of the Site is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and is stored there. You can prevent collection by Google of the data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the Site (including your IP address), as well as processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plug-in provided at the following link:

  https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

  .

• Pixel Tags: We and our service providers may also use so-called “pixel tags,” “web beacons,” “clear GIFs” or similar means (collectively, “Pixel Tags”) in connection with some Site pages and HTML-formatted email messages to, among other things, compile aggregate statistics about Site usage and response rates. A Pixel Tag is an electronic image, often a single pixel (1×1), that is ordinarily not visible to Site visitors and may be associated with cookies on the visitors’ hard drives. Pixel Tags allow us to count users who have visited certain pages of the Site, to deliver branded services, and to help determine the effectiveness of promotional or advertising campaigns. When used in HTML-formatted email messages, Pixel Tags can tell the sender whether and when the email has been opened.

• Environmental Variables: We and our service providers may also collect certain environmental variables, such as your computer type (Windows or Macintosh), screen resolution, OS version, and Internet browser. These environmental variables are collected by most browsers and can be used to optimize your experience on the Site.

 

Information We Collect from Other Sources

Some information we collect is publicly available. We may collect information about you from other companies and organizations. By gathering additional information about you, we can correct inaccurate information, enhance the security of your transactions, and give you product recommendations and special offers that are more likely to interest you.

USE OF INFORMATION

We may use the information we collect from and about you to process your requests and otherwise operate and improve our business. For example, we may use information for any of the following purposes:

• to process your request for information (e.g., product/services, cooking demonstrations, Independent Consultant opportunities).
• to process transactions and send notices about your transactions.
• to provide marketing information and newsletters to you regarding our products and promotions. If you prefer not to receive such emails, you may opt out of receiving certain communications from us by emailing us at [email protected] with the subject “Unsubscribe.” You may receive the benefit of hearing from VORWERK via postal mail or phone even if you have opted-out from receiving these marketing emails, unless you explicitly withdraw your consent to our use of your personal information as outlined in this Privacy Policy.
• to provide targeted marketing and advertising, provide service update notices, and deliver promotional offers based on your communication preferences.
• to provide sales support.
• to permit emails to friends. We may provide functionality to permit you to send messages regarding Site-related content to a friend through the Site. 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.
• to verify your identity, including account related questions.
• to send administrative communications regarding the Site, service-related announcements, etc., which are necessary to serve you, respond to your concerns and to provide the high level of customer service that VORWERK offers. Because this information may be important to your use of the Site, you may not opt-out of receiving such communications unless you explicitly withdraw your consent to our use of your personal information as outlined in this Privacy Policy.
• to review Site usage and operations.
• to address problems with the Site, our business or our services.
• to maintain, improve, and analyze our websites, mobile applications, ads, and the products and services we offer.
• to contact you at any telephone number, by placing a voice call or through text (SMS) or email messaging, as authorized by our Terms and Conditions and the Independent Consultant Agreement.
• to manage and protect the security or integrity of the Site and our business.
• to detect, prevent, or investigate security breaches, fraud, or other suspicious / prohibited/ illegal activity; or violations of our Independent Consultant Agreement or Consultant Handbook.
• to monitor the Site for compliance with our Terms of Use and the law.
• maintain appropriate records for internal administrative purposes.
• to provide important product safety information and notice of product recalls.

 

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

We may disclose information collected from and about any Site user in the following circumstances:

• Affiliated Entities. When disclosure to an affiliated entity is necessary for purposes of management and analysis, decision making, and other business purposes.
• Protect Lawful Interests. When disclosure is necessary to protect lawful interests, if we believe that the disclosure is required by law, is necessary to enforce our Site Terms of Use, or if we believe that the disclosure will help us protect the rights, property, or safety of VORWERK or our any third-party.
• Law Enforcement; Emergencies; Compliance. When disclosure is necessary to respond to legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order, and provide information to law enforcement agencies or in connection with an investigation on matters related to public safety, as permitted by law, or otherwise as required by law.
• Emails to Friends / “Expression of Interest” to become an Independent Consultant.  feature, such as when you express interest on your or a friend’s behalf. Please note that any personal information you provide in connection with sending messages regarding Site-related content to a friend through the Site, such as your name and your email address, will of course be disclosed to your friend.
• Assignment. When disclosure is necessary in the event of a business transaction, such as if our company is involved in a merger, acquisition, partial or total sale of assets including in bankruptcy, or other corporate change, your personal information may be shared with business entities or people involved in the negotiations or transfer.
• Communications to Independent Consultants. When disclosure is necessary to connect you with an Independent Consultant. For example, if you request to order products through an Independent Consultant or to otherwise interact with an Independent Consultant, VORWERK may provide your personal information (e.g., your name, phone number, email address and order information) with your agreement to such Independent Consultant to fulfill your request. Independent Consultants who receive your personal information may then use it for their own direct marketing purposes to contact you about additional offers that may interest you. If you are an Independent Consultant, we may disclose limited personal information to current and potential customers who are seeking the assistance of an Independent Consultant, to customers who buy products through you, and to other Independent Consultants. We may share information, including aggregate or de-identified information, with third-parties in our discretion, including but not limited to the types of sharing described above.
• Other Non-affiliated Parties, including service providers, such as:
  1. Suspicious Activity Prevention and Risk Management: to help prevent suspicious activity or assess and manage risk. For example, at the time of order, we may collect and share your email, phone number, billing and shipping addresses and device information (including IP address and geographic location) with our service provider.
  2. Shipping: in connection with shipping products you may have ordered through the Site.
  3. Other Service Providers: to enable service providers under contract with us to support our business operations, such as processing non-cash payments, bill collection, sending marketing communications, customer service, promotion/contest/sweepstakes administration, event management/planning, IT hosting, servicing products, conducting surveys, order fulfilment, data aggregation, and technology services. Our contracts dictate that these service providers only use your information in connection with the services they perform for us and not for their own benefit.

Please note that our service providers may be located in foreign jurisdictions, and your personal information may be subject to the laws of those foreign jurisdictions and accessible to law enforcement and other authorities

 

YOUR CHOICES/PRIVACY RIGHTS

You may opt-out of receiving certain communications from us by emailing us at [email protected] with the subject “Unsubscribe.”  In addition, if you receive a promotional email and want to avoid further messages, look at the end of the email for instructions on how to remove yourself from the mailing list.

We will endeavour to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable. Please note that if you opt-out as described above, we will not be able to remove personal information from the databases of Independent Consultants or third parties with which we have already shared personal information (i.e., to which we have already provided personal information about you as of the date that we implement your opt-out request). If you wish to cease receiving marketing-related emails from such Independent Consultants or third parties, please contact such Consultants or third parties directly or utilize any opt-out mechanisms set forth in their respective privacy policies or marketing-related emails.

 

UPDATING AND ACCESSING YOUR INFORMATION

You have the ability to change and/or correct the personal information that you provide us by emailing us at [email protected] You have the right to ask in writing whether we hold any personal information about you, to see that information, and how we collect, use or disclose your personal information. We may not be able to provide you with all the information that you request, depending on the circumstances, and there may be a charge for any copy of personal information requested. You may request that we deactivate your account by emailing us at [email protected]

Please note that we may need to retain certain information for recordkeeping purposes, and there may also be residual information that will remain within our databases and other records, which will not be removed. We also reserve the right, from time to time, to re-contact former users of the Site unless the former user has explicitly withdrawn consent. You may withdraw your permission to collect, use and disclose your personal information at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. However, without your permission we may not be able to provide you with the products or services you have requested.

It is important that your personal information is accurate and complete. Having accurate information about you enables us to give you the best possible service. With some exceptions prescribed by law, you have the right to access, verify or challenge the information we have about you and have it amended if appropriate. You can help us keep personal information up-to-date by keeping us informed of any changes, such as a change of address, telephone number or any other circumstances.

 

SOCIAL COMMERCE AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES

We work with social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, WeChat and YouTube. All of these companies operate Third-Party Sites. We provide access to our Site by third parties and business partners so that we can generate interest in our products among members of your social networks and to allow you to share product interests with friends in your network. The use of any features made available to you on our Site by a third party may result in information being collected or shared about you by us or by the third party. If you do not want us to be able to access information about you from Third-Party Sites, you must instruct Third-Party Sites not to share the information. We cannot control how your data is collected, stored, used or shared by Third-Party Sites or to whom it is disclosed. Please be sure to review the privacy policies and privacy settings on your social networking sites to make sure you understand the information they are sharing. If you do not want a Third-Party Site to share information about you, you must contact that site and determine whether it gives you the opportunity to opt-out of sharing such information. VORWERK is not responsible for how these third parties may use information collected from or about you.

YouTube

At various points on our website, we embed content from YouTube using YouTube API Services. YouTube is a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. When you visit a page with embedded YouTube content and a video is played, a connection is established between your device and YouTube’s servers. Your IP address, our website URL and, if applicable, your IP address. transmits further information to YouTube and uses cookies with your consent. If you are logged in to Google at the same time, the information will be assigned to your YouTube member account. You can prevent this by logging out of your member account before visiting our website.

Information on the processing of personal data by Google can be found here.

YouTube’s terms of use can be found here.

SECURITY

We maintain reasonable and appropriate measures designed to maintain the personal information we collect on this Site in a secure manner.

 

USE BY CHILDREN

We do not intend for our websites or online services to be used by anyone under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we may have collected information about your child, please contact us at [email protected].

 

TRANSFER OF INFORMATION OUTSIDE YOUR HOME COUNTRY

We may have a need to transfer our customer information (regardless of where you live) to other countries or places in which we have affiliates. By using a VORWERK website or application or by otherwise doing business with VORWERK, you are agreeing to allow us to transfer your information outside your home country and to process it inside the United States or elsewhere for the purposes stated in this Privacy Policy.

 

LINKS TO OTHER SITES

The website may contain links to other websites. VORWERK is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such other websites.