Data Protection Notice
Protecting your personal data is important to us, and our business processes are designed to take this into account. We process the (personal) data shared by you within the context of a report as strictly confidential and only in accordance with the statutory provisions.
In the following, we would like to inform you about the collection, processing and use of personal data within the framework of the whistleblowing system. Please read this privacy information carefully before submitting a report.
1 Controller
The controller for the whistleblowing system (BKMS® System – accessible at https://www.bkms-system.net/voestalpine) in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 1 (“GDPR”) is
1. voestalpine AG
voestalpine-Straße 1
4020 Linz, Austria
Email: group-dataprotection@voestalpine.com
2. its subsidiaries
(for current contact details see https://www.voestalpine.com/locations)
as independent controllers (hereafter “voestalpine”, “we” or “us”)
1 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).
2 Purpose and legal foundation of the whistleblowing system
The whistleblowing system (BKMS® System) serves the purpose of receiving and processing reports of (suspected) violations of laws or the compliance regulations of voestalpine via a secure and confidential channel. The processing of the (personal) data shared by you within the context of the BKMS® System serves to uncover and prevent malpractices and to avert associated damages not only for the voestalpine Group but also for our employees and our customers. The legal basis for this processing of (personal) data is Article 6 paragraph 1 point f GDPR (legitimate interests of the controller in uncovering and preventing malpractices and averting the associated damages, not only for the voestalpine Group but also for our employees and our customers). Furthermore, the data processing is in the important public interest (Art. 6 para. 1 point e GDPR) to prevent and uncover criminal offences through information received and to deter the commission of criminal offences through the existence of whistleblowing systems. For those subsidiaries for which a whistleblowing system is mandatory according to the Whistleblowing Directive and its national implementation laws, Art. 6 para. 1 point c GDPR (fulfilment of a legal obligation) must also be used as a legal basis.
We request that you not include in your report any special categories of personal data (including data that indicates racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership as well as genetic and biometric data, health data or data concerning the sexual activity or sexual orientation of a natural person). Insofar as you nevertheless share such data, the legal basis for this processing is Article 9 paragraph 2 point f GDPR (establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims).
Data concerning court judgements under criminal law and criminal acts or associated security measures are only processed insofar as this is permitted according to the laws of the European Union or the Member States, which provide suitable guarantees for the rights and freedoms of the persons involved.
3 Use of the whistleblowing system and type of collected personal data
3.1 Types of processed personal data
Use of the whistleblowing system takes place on a voluntary basis. If you submit a report via the whistleblowing system, we process the following personal data and information concerning the involved persons listed below that you provide voluntarily within the context of your report:
Whistleblower/report submitter: - Your name, if you choose to (voluntarily) reveal your identity
- Whether you are an employee of the company concerned
- What relationship you have with the company concerned
- Designation and short description of the situation
- Other personal data concerning you and the persons named in the report that you provide voluntarily within the context of the report
In the course of the processing, we may also request that you provide additional data that would assist in the processing of your report. The sharing of information always takes place voluntarily. These data fall into the following categories:
- Private and professional contact information (e.g. name, telephone number, email, address)
- Date of birth
- Relationship to voestalpine (e.g. supplier, employee, customer, business partner)
- Employee data of voestalpine employees
- Other personal data that assist in the processing of the concrete case and that you share voluntarily
Other affected parties named in the report by the whistleblower (e.g. accused persons, witnesses, people with information): - Name and other personal data that are shared by the whistleblower within the context of the report
Providing full answers to the questions asked within the context of the report helps us to process your report. Please note that insofar as the described (personal) data is not provided or not provided to the necessary extent or if we are not able to collect such data, we may not be able to process your report or the processing of your report may be delayed.
3.2 Use of the whistleblowing portal
Communication between your device (PC, tablet, mobile phone, etc.) and the whistleblowing system takes place over an encrypted connection (SSL). Your IP address will not be stored during your use of the whistleblowing system. In order to maintain the connection between your device and the BKMS® System, a cookie is stored on your device that merely contains the session ID (a so-called session cookie). This cookie is only valid until the end of your session and expires when you close your browser.
Any information received will be processed by the Whistleblower Committee of voestalpine AG as standard or, in individual cases, directly by the subsidiary concerned and will always be treated confidentially.
4 Transfer and further sharing
Within the context of processing a report, it is necessary to share a report in whole or in part with the employees of voestalpine AG responsible for the processing, the respectively competent departments and those subsidiaries that are involved in the subject matter of the report as well as external consultants in some cases (e.g. lawyers, auditors, interpreters/translators or forensic experts who are investigating your report on behalf of voestalpine).
In this context, voestalpine AG and the respective affected Group companies have a legitimate interest in the transfer and processing of data by voestalpine AG to the extent of case processing, because potential violations are often not, or not sufficiently, clarified and ruled out at the local level, and thus require review and intervention by the Group parent company. For these reasons, the Group company concerned has a legitimate interest in processing the data and transferring it to voestalpine AG, and voestalpine AG has a legitimate interest in receiving and further processing the data using BKMS® System.
Your information will only be made available to those persons who urgently require the information for processing of your report. We will always ensure that the applicable data protection regulations are complied with when sharing reports. All persons who receive access to the data are obligated to maintain confidentiality.
In addition, data may be shared with other competent parties (e.g. public authorities) insofar as we are obligated to do so on the basis of statutory provisions or enforceable decisions by public authorities or courts.
4.1 Processors
The whistleblowing system is operated by a specialised company, EQS Group AG, Bayreuther Str. 35, 10789 Berlin in Germany, on behalf of voestalpine.
voestalpine AG acts as a processor within the meaning of Art. 28 GDPR regarding the use of BKMS® System and First-Level-Support for the group companies.
Personal data and information entered into the whistleblowing system are stored in a database of a high security data centre operated by EQS Group AG. Only voestalpine can access the data. EQS Group AG and other third parties do not have access to the data. This is ensured in the certified procedure through extensive technical and organizational measures. All data are stored encrypted with multiple levels of password protection so that access is restricted to a very small selection of expressly authorised persons at voestalpine (see above under “Transfer and further sharing”). The product video on the website of EQS Group AG (www.eqs.bkms-system.com) provides a short and concise explanation of the functioning of the BKMS® System.
4.2 Sharing with recipients outside of the EU or the EEA
The recipients described in this section 4 may be located in countries outside of the European Union (“third countries”), in which the applicable laws do not guarantee the same level of data protection as in your home country. In this case, any transmission according to the statutory requirements takes place only if an adequacy decision of the European Commission exists for the third country, appropriate guarantees have been agreed upon with the recipient (e.g. EU standard contractual clauses), the recipient participates in an approved certification system, binding corporate rules pursuant to Article 47 GDPR exist or there is a derogation for specific situations pursuant to Article 49 GDPR (e.g. the transfer is required for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims). You can request from us an overview concerning the recipients in third countries and a copy of the specifically agreed rules for ensuring the appropriate level of data protection. To request this, please use the information provided in the Contact section.
5 Duration of saving, retention periods
Personal data are retained for as long as necessary to clarify the situation and perform a final assessment or for as long as a legitimate interest exists on the part of the company or retention is required by law. Afterwards, the data will be deleted or anonymised in accordance with statutory requirements.
6 Rights of the data subjects
Pursuant to European data protection legislation, you as whistleblower and the other data subjects named in the report have a right to information, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection to processing of your personal data. You also have the opportunity to register a complaint with the supervisory authority.
7 Information concerning the other data subjects
If a legal obligation exists, we will inform other data subjects (e.g. accused persons, witnesses, people with information, etc.) that we have received a report about them. Your identity as whistleblower will not be disclosed – insofar as this is legally permissible – and it will also be ensured that it is not possible to draw any conclusions concerning your identity as whistleblower. In the case of deliberate submission of false reports with the intent of discrediting an individual (denunciation), confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. The legal basis for this processing of personal data is Article 6 paragraph 1 point c GDPR (compliance with a legal obligation).
8 Note on sending attachments
When submitting a report or an addition, you can simultaneously send attachments to the responsible voestalpine employee. If you wish to submit a report anonymously, please take note of the following security advice: files can contain hidden personal data that could endanger your anonymity. Remove this data before sending documents. If you are unable to remove this data or are uncertain about how to do so, copy the text of your attachment into your report text or send the printed document anonymously to the address listed in the footer, citing the reference number received at the end of the reporting process.
9 Contact
In the case of questions on the topic of data protection as well as for the establishment of your previously described rights, you may contact the data protection organization of voestalpine at group-dataprotection@voestalpine.com or
voestalpine AG, Legal, M&A and Compliance, voestalpine-Straße 1, 4020 Linz, Austria.
10 Modification of the Data Protection Notice
This Data Protection Notice is modified from time to time. Please therefore always note the current version of our privacy statement.
Version: October 2022
(To simplify the flow of text we do not use any gender-neutral wording. Insofar as references to individuals are worded using the masculine version, any such wording applies to all genders equally.)