Data Protection Policy

Thank you for your interest in our website. The protection of your privacy is very important to us. Therefore, we will process your data carefully, for a specific purpose and on the basis of your consent, and only in accordance with the legal requirements for data protection.

In this data protection policy we inform you about the aspects of data processing within our website.

The responsible body within the meaning of the data protection laws is:

Villeroy & Boch AG
Saaruferstraße
66693 Mettlach
Tel. +49 (0) 68 64 / 8 10
E-mail information(at)villeroy-boch.com
(hereinafter “Villeroy & Boch”)

I. When and for what purpose does Villeroy & Boch collect personal data?

It is generally possible to use our websites without submitting personal data.

If you use one of our services (e.g. our newsletter, the Bathroom Planner, our online shop or our contact form), you enter your data voluntarily. We use this data (such as name, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax number) exclusively for the purpose for which you provide it (e.g. for processing contact requests, processing orders and payments, delivery of goods and provision of services such as, in particular, the dispatch of newsletters or bathroom planning) and only for the execution of our own business purposes. Information we receive from you helps us process your order as smoothly as possible, improve our service for you and prevent misuse and fraud.

When you access our website, information of a general nature is automatically recorded. This information (server log files) includes, for example, the type of web browser, the operating system used, the domain name of your internet service provider and such like. This is only information that does not allow conclusions to be drawn about you. This information is technically necessary in order to correctly deliver the contents of websites requested by you and is mandatory when using the internet. Anonymous information of this kind is statistically evaluated by us, in order to optimise our internet appearance and the technology behind it.

We do not sell your data, nor do we use it for unspecified purposes.

Your personal data will only be used within the Villeroy & Boch Group and by our business partners who may be commissioned to fulfil your wishes.

Below we inform you in detail about the handling of your data.

II. General information about our services

If you use our services, we will ask you for personal data (at the time of collection, we will explain which information is required and which you may voluntarily provide).

To protect the security of your data during transmission, we use state-of-the-art encryption techniques (such as SSL) over HTTPS.

For users who have signed up for one or more of the following services, it is possible to change or delete the information provided at registration at any time. Of course, we will also provide you with information about the personal data we hold about you at any time. We are happy to correct or delete this at your request, as long as no statutory retention requirements prevent this. To contact us in this context and to revoke your consent, please use the contact details provided at the end of this data protection policy.

III. Our services in detail

In the following, we would like to explain our services to you in detail, and in particular the legal basis for and purpose of the data processing.

1. Shopping in our online shop
Our website also offers the possibility of convenient online shopping. We use the data provided by you without your separate consent exclusively for the fulfilment and processing of your order. With complete processing of the contract and full payment of the purchase price, your data will be blocked for further use and deleted after expiry of the tax and commercial regulations, unless you have expressly consented to its further use.

Purpose of data processing: Implementation and processing of the purchase process initiated by you as well as compliance with legal requirements such as, in particular, customs provisions.

Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (required to fulfil the contract) and Article 6 (1) (c) GDPR (fulfilment of a legal obligation)

For shopping in the online shop, provision of the data is required by you. Without this data no contract can be concluded. Failure to provide the data would result in your being unable to shop on our website.

1.1 With a customer account
A free and password-protected customer account gives you the opportunity to take full advantage of our website. When you register to use personalised services via a customer account, some of your personal information is collected, such as your name, address, contact and communications data (e.g. telephone number and e-mail address). If you are registered with us, you can access content and services that we only offer to registered users.

1.2 Without a customer account
Of course, you can also use the online shop without a customer account. In this case, you will need to enter the information required to process your order into the ‘Personal Data’ order form integrated on the website. You complete each entry by clicking the ‘Next’ button, which takes you to the payment screen. In order to avoid typing errors and to ensure that you have entered the correct address, the completeness and correctness of your address will be checked during entry.

1.3 Purchase on account
In order to be able to offer you the payment methods of Klarna, we pass on your personal contact and order data to Klarna during the ordering process. On this basis, Klarna evaluates and provides the available payment methods. Your transmitted personal data will be processed in accordance with the following provisions Klarna data protection notice. https://www.klarna.com/de/datenschutz/

1.4 Security
Your payment details are protected during transmission to our servers through the use of SSL security procedures. You can check the security of the connection using the information in your browser's URL display. If the beginning of the address line changes from ‘http’ to ‘https’, there is a secure connection. In addition, all service providers used for payment processing are certified and comply with the highest safety regulations of e-commerce industry standards.

1.5 Compliance with customs legislation
Due to several EU regulations (2580/2001/EC, 881/2002/EC and 753/2011/EC) as well as other legal requirements, we as a company are required to check our customers' data against publicly available foreign trade and embargo lists before concluding a sales contract. We carry out this comparison to fulfil legal requirements. We carry out the comparison only when you order a product in our online shop and are liable to pay. Only the following stock data is compared: First name, surname and address.

2. Personal newsletter
If you have specifically subscribed to our newsletter, we will use your information to periodically send you personalised information about new products, promotions, competitions and our many customer services.

For a successful registration we need a valid e-mail address. In order to verify that an application is actually made by the owner of an e-mail address, we use the ‘double opt-in’ procedure. For this purpose we record the order of the newsletter, the dispatch of a confirmation e-mail and the receipt of the requested answer. The data will be used exclusively for the newsletter and will not be shared with third parties.

Your consent to the storage of your personal data and its use for newsletter distribution can be revoked at any time. Each newsletter has a corresponding link for this purpose. In addition, you can unsubscribe at any time via the contact options indicated at the end of this data protection notice.

By unsubscribing, we consider your consent to the creation of your personalised user profile and the receipt of newsletters based on it to be revoked.

Purpose of data processing: Regular dispatch of newsletters by e-mail to the e-mail address provided by you.