Privacy Policy

Hitachi Europe GmbH, of Niederkasseler Lohweg 191, 40547 Düsseldorf ("Hitachi Europe") has prepared this Customer Data Protection Notice ("Notice") to be provided to its customers and potential customers. In connection with your contact and requests to Hitachi, we have to process your personal data.  We think that it is very important that you understand how we use your personal data, and we take our obligations in this regard very seriously. The purpose of this Notice is therefore to give you information about how Hitachi Europe collects, processes, stores and otherwise uses information about you, and your rights in relation to that information.

Hitachi Europe needs to process your personal data in order to stay in contact with you and your company and to provide you with information on Hitachi in general as well as its products and services in particular.  There are also statutory requirements and other contractual requirements we have to comply with in relation to your contract with Hitachi Europe as well as business and operational needs we have to meet.  If we are not able to carry out the processing activities we describe in this Notice, we may not be able to comply with your inquiry, request or our contract. 

Before responding to your inquiry or request, we ask you to take note in detail how we process your personal data.  In any way, you are entitled to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us as set out at the end of this Notice.  However, in most cases, we will process your personal data for the reasons set out in this Notice and it will not be appropriate or necessary for you to provide consent. 

When we say "Hitachi Europe", "we" or "us" in this document, we mean the entity with which you entered into contact.

In this Notice, you will see reference to "GDPR" - that refers to the European Union General Data Protection Regulation which is a European law governing your rights in relation to your personal data, and how organisations should protect it.

 

What categories of personal data does Hitachi Europe collect about me?

"Personal data" means any information relating to you. Hitachi Europe will collect, process and use the following categories and types of personal data about you:

• identification data, such as your name (including nicknames), title, job title, business email address, business address, business landline and facsimile;

together " Data".

Processing Purposes

Legal Bases

administering our customer relationship management including managing work activities, providing data subject and their company with information on Hitachi in general and with regard to Hitachi’s products and services as deemed necessary at the discretion of Hitachi Europe. Communication with Hitachi’s distribution and reselling network. We will combine your Data with data on the company you are working for and manage them with our CRM  throughout our business relation with that company or as long as there is an interest in Hitachi, its products and services.

Legitimate interests of Hitachi Europe; Necessary for performing a contract with you as the data subject.

 

Why does Hitachi Europe need to collect, process and use my Data and what is the legal basis for doing so?

We collect and use Data for a variety of reasons linked to your contact with Hitachi Europe. To help clarify these we have set out below the reasons why we collect and use this data (the "Processing Purposes"). However, we can only collect and use this data if we have a valid legal basis for doing so, and we are required to explain the various legal bases that we rely on to you.

 

Who might Hitachi Europe share my personal information with?

As you know, we are part of the global Hitachi Group, and several entities in this group may be involved in the Processing Purposes. To ensure that the Processing Purposes can be completed, your information may be shared with other entities within the Hitachi Group network. Where we do share data in this way, however, it is our policy to limit the categories of individual who have access to that personal information.

Hitachi Europe may transfer personal data to third parties, including to entities within and outside the Hitachi Group located in any jurisdictions where Hitachi Group entities are located, for the Processing Purposes as follows:

• Within the Hitachi Group. As Hitachi Europe is part of a wider group headquartered in Japan, it may be necessary that we transfer the Data to Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Ltd., Japan, (“HIES”) or other Hitachi Sales offices in the country in which your office is located or from which your country is supported.
• Communication with third parties. As necessary in connection with business operations, the Data may be transferred to existing or potential business partners or government officials and other third parties. For example, if we believe that your request, inquiry or other reason for entering into contact with us, is better answered by our distribution partners, resellers, other Hitachi Sales offices or HIES we are entitled to transfer the Data to the distribution partner or reseller located in the country in which your office is located respectively HIES or the local Hitachi sales office which covers your country.
• Data processors. As necessary for the Processing Purposes described above, the Data may be shared with one or more third parties, whether affiliated or unaffiliated, to process personal information under appropriate instructions
  ("Data Processors"). The Data Processors may carry out instructions related to customer relation administration (e.g. currently salesforce™), IT system support and maintenance, compliance, and other activities, and will be subject to contractual obligations to implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to safeguard the personal information, and to process the personal information only as instructed.

As you may expect, some of the recipients we may share Data with may be located in countries outside the European Union and/or European Economic Area ("EAA").

Some countries where recipients may be located already provide an adequate level of protection for this Data (e.g. Canada), and transfers to other countries such as the USA may be protected under arrangements such as the EU-US Privacy Shield. Nonetheless, for transfers to Hitachi Group entities outside of the EEA, Hitachi Europe will be bound by the EU Standard Contractual Clauses pursuant to Article 46(2)(c) GDPR, which the European Commission has assessed as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data, to ensure that your data is protected adequately.

If recipients are located in other countries without adequate protections for personal data, Hitachi Europe will take all necessary measures to ensure that transfers out of the EEA are adequately protected as required by applicable data protection law. You can ask for a copy of such appropriate safeguards by contacting us as set out below (Who can I contact about these matters?).

 

How long will Hitachi Europe keep my personal information for?

It is our policy not to keep personal information for longer than is necessary.  We may, for example, keep your personal information for a reasonable time after you have place the last order to ensure that Hitachi Europe has the records it needs in the event of a dispute or regulatory investigation and to ensure that any ongoing obligations can be complied with, such as complying with requests from regulators, and to contact you about future products and services which may be of interest for you. Where personal information is kept, that period will be determined based on the applicable local law.  For further information, please contact us as set out below to request further details on how long Hitachi Europe will retain different categories of personal information.

 

What rights do I have in respect of my personal information?

Your are able to opt-out at any time and we will immediately delete your Data from our database.

In addition, you have a number of formal rights in relation to your Data.  These can differ by country, but can be summarised in broad terms as follows:

(i)        Right of access
You have the right to confirm with us whether your personal data is processed, and if it is, to request access to that personal data including the categories of personal data processed, the purpose of the processing and the recipients or categories of recipients.

(ii)       Right to rectification
You may have the right to rectify inaccurate or incomplete personal data concerning you.

(iii)      Right to erasure (right to be forgotten)
You may have the right to ask us to erase personal data concerning you (although please note that this is not an absolute right. There are circumstances where you may not be able to exercise this right, and there are also circumstances where we can refuse to comply with your request, for example, where we need to process your data to defend legal claims).

(iv)      Right to restriction of processing
In limited circumstances, you may have the right to request that we restrict processing of your personal data, however where we process.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us as stated below (Who can I contact about these matters?).

 

Who can I contact about these matters?

If you have concerns or questions regarding this Notice you can contact the Hitachi ICEG:

• by email at info@hitachi-eu.com or
• by post to, Hitachi Europe GmbH, Niederkasseler Lohweg 191, 40547 Düsseldorf, Germany, Attn: ICEG

If you would like to exercise your rights as a data subject or lodge a complaint, please send a written request to either:

• by email to protection@hitachi-eu.com or
• by post to The Data Protection Committee, c/o Legal Services, Hitachi Europe Limited, Whitebrook Park, Lower Cookham Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 8YA; or
• Hitachi Europe GmbH’s data protection officer, Mr Harald Eul, Auf der Hoehe 34, D-50321 Bruehl, Germany, phone +49 2232 2001-0, facsimile +49 2232 2001-884, email datenschutz@hitachi-eu.com