General Data Protection Information

Revised: March 18, 2024

Pepperl+Fuchs is pleased that you have chosen to visit this website and that you are interested in the company and its products.

Data protection is important to us and we would like to inform you about the methods we use to collect personal data during your visit to the website, as well as the scope and purpose of data collection. This information relates to the website www.pepperl-fuchs.com and its sub-pages. To the extent that our website contains links to third-party websites, these are not covered by our privacy policy.

The responsible authority for this website is Pepperl+Fuchs North America, 1600 Enterprise Parkway, Twinsburg, OH 44087, USA ("Pepperl+Fuchs").

To the extent that personal data is requested on our websites (e.g., registration or contact forms, subscribing to a Pepperl+Fuchs newsletter, ordering literature, online orders, comment function in the blog portal), this data is disclosed voluntarily by the user. This data is processed and used by Pepperl+Fuchs to answer your inquiries or to provide you with access to specific information, for example.

Your movements on one of these websites cause the following data to be transmitted to our web server from your Internet browser:

• Browser type and version
• Operating system used
• Referrer URL
• Host name of the requesting computer
• The date and time of the server request
• Full IP address of the requesting computer

This data is stored in a log file. The data is stored to ensure the technical safety of our web server, in particular to prevent attacks. The data will be deleted automatically at regular intervals.

This data cannot be connected to individuals. This data is not combined with data from any other sources. We reserve the right to check this data retrospectively if we have specific indications of unlawful use.

Pepperl+Fuchs will only pass personal data provided by you on to third parties if you have previously consented to the forwarding of such information. We then transfer such information to our subsidiaries, partner companies, or other trusted business partners solely for the purpose of using that personal data on our behalf. The company requires assurances from the recipients of the personal data that this data will be used exclusively according to our instructions and in compliance with this privacy policy and any other industry-standard confidentiality and security measures.

We are of the firm belief that access, use, storage, or disclosure of such information to a reasonable extent is necessary to

(a) comply with applicable laws and regulations, meet legal requirements or applicable official directives,

(b) enforce the provisions laid down in our legal notices, including pursuing potential violations of these provisions,

(c) identify, prevent, or combat fraud, security concerns, or technical problems, or

(d) protect the rights, property, and security of the company and the public against impending damage, insofar as this is legally required or permitted.

To secure all of the data we store, we use technical security measures to safeguard your information against damage, loss, and unauthorized access. The security measures are regularly updated and improved in line with technological developments.

We use the services of our processor Tealium, 11095 Torreyana Road, CA San Diego 92121, to control tags and for cookie consent management. EU standard contractual clauses have been concluded to ensure an appropriate level of protection.

Client-side tag management with Tealium iQ
Tealium enables needs-based activation of various pixels, cookies, scripts and similar technologies on the basis of the user's consent. The functionality of these technologies may vary. Data is mainly processed to record user interactions and to collect data with third parties for analysis or marketing purposes. This allows us to gain insights into the use of our websites in order to optimize them for our users or to display more relevant advertising with our marketing partners. Furthermore, Tealium iQ is used to operate the consent management. The legal basis is GDPR Art. 6 para. 1 c).

Server-side tag management with Tealium EventStream
We also use the product Tealium EventStream. This is a web service to which we send data collected for analysis and marketing functionalities (user interaction data, user origin data, cookie IDs, hashed log-in IDs, hashed order numbers, IP addresses, user agent string) before we share them with the third party data processors listed in this privacy policy (of course only if you have given your consent). This gives us the opportunity to retain more control over data processing and to be independent of third-party programs. In addition, this way of processing the data relieves our website, so that your user experience is improved by a faster page.

The legal basis is GDPR Art. 6 para. 1 f), as EventStream allows us to take further measures to protect user data, such as masking the IP address that would otherwise be transmitted when connecting to third-party servers. 

Integrated consent management with Tealium
In order to comply with our obligation to provide evidence, we store the status of the Cookie Consent Manager (approved categories and timestamp) of all users by means of a pseudonymous identification number. No other personal data is processed. A technically necessary cookie with a functional duration of one year is set for the operation of Tealium. The technical necessity exists for the reason that consent settings made can be recognized on the basis of the cookie.

The processing is based on our overriding interest in the verifiability of given consent, which does not conflict with any rights and freedoms of the user that require protection (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR).

This website uses cookies to record user preferences and to optimize the website design accordingly. When you use our website, you consent to the use and storage of cookies on your device.

"Cookies" are encrypted strings transferred from our web server or a third-party web server to the user’s web browser, where they are stored to be accessed at a later date.

The cookies we use are either "session cookies" or "persistent cookies."

Session cookies are time-limited and are automatically deleted at the end of the visit to the website. We use session cookies to store information that we would like to use to make our website more user-friendly for you.

Persistent cookies can be stored on your computer after your visit to our website, and our website may access these on each future visit (so-called "ID cookies"). Some cookies stored during your visit to our websites can be stored and accessed by other companies.

Using the security settings in your browser, you may control whether any cookies are saved at all. You have the option to either prevent cookie storage altogether, require a prompt each time, or have cookies deleted every time you close your browser. Please note that doing so may limit the usability of certain services or of the website as a whole. Certain services or parts of the website will only function correctly when cookies are permitted.

For the purpose of pursuing our legitimate interests (i.e., interest in the analysis, optimization, and economic operation of our website in line with article 6, paragraph 1, clause F of the GDPR), we use a number of different methods to analyze your usage patterns. All methods have in common that data will only be collected, processed, and used in an anonymous or pseudonymous manner. While anonymous data is impossible to match with a specific person, pseudonymous data could theoretically be matched to you personally with some effort. Regardless of this, no procedure will assign any data to a specific person or combine that data with other data held by Pepperl+Fuchs without your explicit consent. More detailed information on the analytical services we employ and your options for revoking consent for them can be found below:

Google Search Console

The Google Search Console is a service provided free of charge by Google that serves to monitor and analyse our own website. The tool allows us to detect errors on the website, such as faulty page links. We can see which third-party sites link to our site, how many clicks were made, from which countries and from which devices (desktop, tablet, mobile phone), as well as which images or videos were viewed. However, personal data is neither collected nor stored or displayed. Therefore, it is not possible to trace which clicks were made by whom or which users viewed which content.

We use this service exclusively for the ongoing optimisation of our website performance and our ranking in the Google SERP (the position in the search results pages of the Google search engine). This data will not be passed on to third parties. You can find more information here: https://​support.google.com, and in Google's data protection statement: https://​poli­cies.google.com/​privacy.

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Google Analytics

Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, will be used on this website if you give your consent. The data controller for users in the EU/EEA and Switzerland is Google Ireland Limited, Google Building Gordon House, 4 Barrow Street, Dublin, Ireland, D04 E5W5 ("Google").

Scope of Processing
Google Analytics uses cookies that enable us to analyze how you use our website. The information relating to your use of this website is obtained by the cookies and then sent to a Google server in the USA, where it is stored.

IP address anonymization is enabled by default with Google Analytics 4. IP anonymization means that Google shortens the IP address of users within the member states of the European Union and other contracting states that are party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transferred to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. Google states that the IP address transferred from your browser in the context of Google Analytics will not be combined with other data held by Google.

When you visit our website, your user behavior is recorded in the form of "events." Events can be:

• Page views
• First visit to the website
• Starting the session
• Your "click path," interaction with the website
• Scrolls (whenever a user scrolls to the bottom of the page (90 %))
• Clicks on outbound links 
• Internal searches
• Interaction with videos
• File downloads
• Ads that you have viewed/clicked on
• Language setting

It also records:

• Your approximate location (region)
• Your IP address (in shortened form)
• Technical information about your browser and the end devices you use (e.g., language setting, screen resolution)
• Your internet provider
• The referrer URL (the website/advertisement that took you to this website)

Purposes of Processing: Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website to analyze your pseudonymized use of the website and to compile reports on website activity. The reports produced by Google Analytics are used to analyze the performance of our website and the success of our marketing campaigns.

Recipients: The recipients of the data are/can be:

Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, 4 Barrow Street, Dublin, Ireland ("data processor" as defined by Article 28 GDPR)
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
Alphabet Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

The possibility of the US authorities accessing data stored by Google cannot be ruled out.

Transfer to a Third Country: If data is processed outside the EU/EEA and the level of data protection does not meet the European standard, we have entered into EU standard contractual clauses with the service provider to establish an adequate level of data protection. Google LLC is the parent company of Google Ireland and is based in California, USA. The possibility of data being transferred to the USA and the US authorities accessing data stored by Google by cannot be ruled out. In terms of data protection law, the USA is currently considered a third country. The regulations there do not correspond to those within the EU/EEA. You may not be entitled to legal remedies against the authorities accessing your data.

Duration of Storage: The data sent by us and linked to cookies will be deleted automatically after 14 months. Data that has reached the end of its storage period is automatically deleted once a month.

Legal Basis: The legal basis for this data processing is your consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) GDPR // Article 49(a) GDPR.

Withdrawal: You can withdraw your consent at any time with future effect by accessing the cookie settings from this website and changing your selection. The lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal remains unaffected.

a. Not consenting to the cookie being used or
b. Downloading and installing the browser add-on HERE to deactivate Google Analytics.

You can find more information about the Google Analytics Terms of Service and Google's Privacy Policy at https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/ and https://policies.google.com/?hl=us.

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WiredMinds

This website uses products and services from wiredminds GmbH (Lindenspürstraße 32, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany www.wiredminds.de) to optimize and design our Internet presence in line with visitor needs. As part of this, data will be collected, processed, and stored. From this data, a user profile will be created under a pseudonym. Where possible and practical, the usage profiles will be completely anonymized. Cookies may be used for this purpose. Cookies are small text files that are stored in the visitor's Internet browser and are used to recognize that browser again at a later point.

The collected data, which may also include personal data such as xxx, will be transmitted to WiredMinds or collected directly by WiredMinds. WiredMinds is permitted to use information collected from visits to the websites to create anonymized usage profiles. Data obtained in this way is not used to personally identify visitors to this website without the explicit consent of the person concerned and is not combined with personal data relating to the bearer of the pseudonym.

To the extent that IP addresses are collected, these are anonymized immediately after collection by deleting the last number block. Consent for data processing may be revoked at any time with effect for the future. To prevent further monitoring of your visitor sessions in the future, please install the following browser-independent cookie: Don't track my visits.

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etracker

In addition, this website uses the etracker analysis service from etracker GmbH (Erste Brunnenstraße 1, 20459 Hamburg, Germany, www.etracker.com). The data can be used to create anonymous user profiles. Cookies may be used for this purpose. Cookies are small text files that are stored locally in the cache of your Internet browser. The cookies make it possible to recognize your browser again in the future. Data collected with etracker technologies is not used to personally identify visitors to our website without the explicit consent of the person concerned and is not combined with personal data regarding the bearer of the pseudonym.

Consent for data processing may be revoked at any time with effect for the future. To prevent future processing of your visitor data, you may obtain an opt-out cookie from etracker. With this cookie in place, etracker will not collect or store any usage data from your browser: https://www.etracker.de/privacy?et=V23Jbb.

This will set an opt-out cookie from etracker with the name "cntcookie." Please do not delete this cookie unless you wish collection of your data to resume. Further information can be found in the etracker data protection provisions: https://www.etracker.com/en/data-privacy/.

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Use of Hotjar

This website uses Hotjar, an analytics software tool from Hotjar Ltd. (“Hotjar”) (https://www.hotjar.com, 3 Lyons Range, 20 Bisazza Street, Sliema SLM 1640, Malta, Europe). With Hotjar we are able to track, measure, and evaluate user behaviors such as clicks, mouse movements, and scroll heights on our website. All information collected by the “tracking code” and cookies during your visit to our website is sent and stored on the Hotjar server in Ireland.

All touchpoints that require or show personal data (from you or third-parties) will be disabled so that no personal information will be visible at any time.

Protecting personal data is crucial. Therefore, automatically collected data is completely anonymized. Personal data will only be stored if you provide it to us directly as part of a survey.

The following information may be delivered and saved based on your device and browsers:

• IP address of your device (completely anonymized format)
• your email address incl. first and last name if you entered these on our website
• screen size
• device type and browser data
• geographical position (country only)
• preferred language
• log data

The following data is automatically created when Hotjar is activated/in use:

• referring domain
• visited pages
• geographical position (country only)
• preferred language
• date and time of website visit

Hotjar will use this information to analyze your visit to our website, to create reports on usage and user behavior, and to evaluate other services offered on the website.

Hotjar also uses the services of third-party companies such as Google Analytics. These third parties may store information that your browser sends when you visit the site, such as cookies or IP requests. For more information on how Google Analytics tracks and processes data, please refer to the respective data protection declaration.

All cookies used by Hotjar have a specified lifetime. Some are available for up to 365 days, others are only valid while you are on the website itself.

At any time, you can prevent data capture by Hotjar. Simply go to this website and follow the instructions: https://www.hotjar.com/opt-out

Apart from that, please feel free to activate the “Do Not Track” setting on your browser. It forbids Hotjar from collecting any data, and nothing will be delivered to Hotjar. This setting is available in the current versions of all common browsers.

Find more on Hotjar’s privacy policy at: https://www.hotjar.com/privacy

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Mouseflow

This website uses Mouseflow, a web analysis tool by Mouseflow ApS, Flaesketorvet 68, 1711 Copenhagen, Denmark. The data processing allows for analysis of this website and its visitors.

Data is also collected and stored for marketing and optimization purposes. This data can be used to create anonymous user profiles. Cookies may be used for this purpose. The Mouseflow web analysis tool records randomly selected individual visits (using only anonymized IP addresses).

This creates a log of mouse movements and clicks with the aim of replaying individual website visits at random and deriving potential improvements for the website from this data.

Data obtained using Mouseflow is not used to personally identify visitors to this website without the explicit consent of the person concerned and is not combined with personal data relating to the bearer of the pseudonym.

Data processing is based on Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR in the legitimate interest of communicating with customers directly and designing the website to meet users' needs.

You have the right to object at any time to this processing of your personal data, which is based on Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR, for reasons that arise from your particular situation.

To do this, you can disable recording on all websites that use Mouseflow for the browser you are currently using at the following link: https://mouseflow.com/opt-out/

Pepperl+Fuchs SE and Mouseflow have entered into a contract for data processing.

Service provider information and address: Mouseflow ApS, Flaesketorvet 68, 1711 Copenhagen, Denmark. For information on how the Mouseflow service complies with GDPR requirements, please visit: https://mouseflow.com/gdpr/.

Legal basis for the use of Mouseflow in accordance with the GDPR: When you visit our website for the first time, a cookie banner will ask you whether you accept cookies relating to the use of Mouseflow. If you accept, this means we have obtained your consent in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR. We also invoke our legitimate interest in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR.

Withdrawing your consent to your feedback being collected by Mouseflow / objecting / opting out: If you would like to opt out of Mouseflow collecting your data, please click on the following link: https://mouseflow.com/opt-out/

For the purpose of pursuing our legitimate interests (i.e., interest in the analysis, optimization, and economic operation of our website in line with article 6, paragraph 1, clause F of the GDPR), plugins from the following social networks are integrated:

• LinkedIn (LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland),
• Xing (XING AG, Dammtorstraße 30, 20354 Hamburg, Germany),
• Twitter (Twitter Inc., 1355 Market St, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA) and
• Facebook (Facebook Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California, 94025, USA).

If you visit one of our websites, a direct connection may be established between your browser and the social network's server via these plug-ins. Through this, the social network receives the information that you have visited our site with your IP address. If you click on the respective social network button while you are logged in to your account on that network, it may be possible for you to connect the content of our websites with your social network profile, depending on the provider. As a result, the social network can link your visit to our sites with your user account.

We would like to indicate that we, as providers of these websites, have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or of its use by the social network providers. For more information on the purpose and scope of data collection by Twitter, Facebook, etc., as well as information on the processing and use of this data, and details of your rights and options in terms of protecting your privacy, please refer to the respective provider's data privacy policy.

To prevent the immediate undesired transfer of your usage data (e.g., the address of the website you are currently visiting) to these services, our website uses "Shariff." The "Shariff" project from the computing magazine c't replaces the usual social network share buttons and only establishes direct contact between social networks and the user once the user actively clicks on the share button. However, a single click on the button to share information with others is sufficient. You need take no further action.

If you do not want the provider of the social network to be able to associate your visit to our pages with your user account on the network, please log out of your social network user account.

The data we store will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for its intended purpose and no statutory retention obligations prevent its deletion. If the data cannot be deleted because it is required for other legally permissible purposes, its processing will be restricted. This means the data is locked and cannot be used for other purposes. This applies to data from users that must be stored for commercial or tax reasons, for example.

Pepperl+Fuchs reserves the right to amend this privacy policy and will announce any changes in this location.

Where the processing of your personal data is based on your consent, you can revoke this consent at any time in accordance with Article 7(3) GDPR. This has the consequence that, in the future, we are no longer permitted to continue the data processing based on this consent.

In accordance with the general provisions stipulated in Article 12 GDPR, you have right of access in accordance with Article 15 GDPR, the right to rectification in accordance with Article 16 GDPR, the right to erasure in accordance with Article 17 GDPR, the right to restriction of processing in accordance with Article 18 GDPR, as well as the right to data portability in accordance with Article 20 GDPR.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in accordance with Article 77 GDPR.

For information, explanation, or to exercise the rights mentioned above, please contact us at:

Pepperl+Fuchs North America
1600 Enterprise Parkway
Twinsburg, OH 44087
USA