Data Protection Notice Whistleblowing System
1. General Information
a) Introduction
The following data protection notices are intended to inform you about the processing of your personal data in connection with using our whistleblowing system and your rights according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and similar applicable data protection laws relating to this processing.
b) Data Controller
We, METRO AG, Metro-Straße 1, 40235 Düsseldorf, are the data controller according to GDPR, and thus for the outlined data processing.
c) Data Protection Officer
You can contact our data protection officer at any time at the following contact details:
METRO AG, Data Protection Officer, Metro-Straße 1, 40235 Düsseldorf, E-Mail: datenschutz@metro.de
2. Information regarding the Processing of Personal Data
a) Purpose of the Whistleblowing System and Legal Basis
The whistleblowing system serves the purpose of securely and confidentially receiving, processing and managing reports regarding violations of the compliance rules of the METRO Company Group (METRO). The processing of personal data in the whistleblowing system is based on the legitimate interests of our company to detect and prevent misconduct and thus avoid damage to METRO, its employees and customers. Legal basis for the processing is Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR.
b) Type of the Collected Personal Data
Use of the whistleblowing system takes place on a voluntary basis. If you submit a report via the whistleblowing system, we collect the following personal data and information:
- your name, if you choose to reveal your identity,
- whether you are employed at METRO, and
- the names of persons and other personal data of persons that you name in your report.
c) Confidential Handling of Reports
Incoming reports are received by a small selection of expressly authorised and specially trained employees of the Compliance department of METRO and are always handled confidentially. The employees of the Compliance department of METRO will evaluate the matter and perform any further investigation required by the specific case.
During the processing of a report or the conduction of a special investigation, it may become necessary to share reports with additional employees of METRO or employees of other group companies, e.g. if the reports refer to incidents in subsidiaries. The latter may be based in countries outside the European Union or the European Economic Area with different regulations concerning the protection of personal data. We 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.
As a basic principle we are bound by law to inform the accused persons that we have received a report concerning them, unless this threatens further investigations into the report. In doing so, your identity as whistleblower is not revealed as far as is legally possible.
d) Retention
Personal data is retained for as long as necessary to clarify the situation and perform an evaluation of the report or a legitimate interest of the company exists or it is required by law. After the report processing is concluded, this data is deleted in accordance with the statutory requirements.
e) Data Security and Recipients
Communication between your computer and the reporting system takes place over an encrypted connection (SSL). Your IP address will not be stored during your use of the reporting system. In order to maintain the connection between your computer and the whistleblowing system, a cookie is stored on your computer that merely contains the session ID (a so-called null cookie). This cookie is only valid until the end of your session and expires when you close your browser. It is possible to set up a postbox within the reporting system that is secured with an individually chosen pseudonym / user name and password. This allows you to send reports to the responsible employee at METRO either by name or in an anonymous, safe way. This system only stores data inside the reporting system, which makes it particularly secure. It is not a form of regular email communication.
When submitting a report or an addition, you can simultaneously send attachments to the responsible employee of METRO. If you wish to submit an anonymous report, please take note of the following security advice: Files can contain hidden personal data that could compromise your anonymity. Remove this data before sending. If you are unable to remove this data or are unsure 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.
The reporting system is operated by a specialised company, EQS Group GmbH, Bayreuther Str. 35, 10789 Berlin in Germany, on behalf of METRO. Personal data and information entered into the reporting system are stored in a database operated by EQS Group GmbH in a high-security data centre. Only METRO has access to the data. EQS Group GmbH and other third parties do not have access to the data. This is ensured in the certified procedure through extensive technical and organisational 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 METRO.
3. Your Rights
As the data subject, you can contact our data protection officer at any time by sending an informal communication to the contact details mentioned above under 1. c) to exercise your rights according to GDPR. These rights are as follows:
- The right to receive information about the data processing and a copy of the processed data (Right of access, Art. 15 GDPR)
- The right to demand the rectification of inaccurate data or the completion of incomplete data (Right to rectification, Art. 16 GDPR)
- The right to demand the erasure of personal data and, if the personal data has been made public, the information to other controllers about the request of erasure (Right to erasure, Art. 17 GDPR)
- The right to demand the restriction of the data processing (Right to restriction of processing, Art. 18 GDPR)
- The right to receive the personal data concerning the data subject in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to request the transmittance of this data to another controller (Right of data portability, Art. 20 GDPR)
- The right to object to the data processing in order to stop it (Right to object, Art. 21 GDPR)
- The right to withdraw a given consent at any time in order to stop a data processing that is based on your consent. The withdrawal has no affect on the lawfulness of the processing based on the consent before the withdrawal (Right of withdrawal, Art. 7 GDPR)
- The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you consider the data processing to be an infringement of the GDPR (Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, Art. 77 GDPR).
If your personal data are processed on the basis of legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data pursuant to Art. 21 DSGVO, provided that there are reasons for doing so arising from your particular situation. If you wish to exercise your right of objection, all you need to do is send an email to the contact details mentioned above under 1. c).