Privacy Policy

Last updated: February 2023

The following Privacy Policy applies to the hansgrohe home app, the "hansgrohe home" Alexa Skill for the Amazon Alexa voice service and the "hansgrohe home" Google Action for the Google Assistant voice service.

Collection and use of personal data

This Privacy Policy gives you an overview of how your personal data is used and handled at Hansgrohe. ‘Personal data’ means information that can be used to identify and contact a person.

If you contact Hansgrohe or a company affiliated with Hansgrohe, you may be asked to provide personal data. Hansgrohe and its affiliates may share this personal data with one another and may use such data in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You may also associate such data with other information in order to offer or improve our products, services, content and advertising. You are not under any obligation to provide the personal data requested. In this case, however, we will in many cases be unable to inform you about our products or services, or reply to your enquiries. However, you need to provide your e-mail address, name and country to use the hansgrohe home app and language skills.

Which personal data do we collect?

Hansgrohe offers you a very wide range of services that you can use in different ways. Different data is generated from different sources depending on whether you contact us online, by phone, in person or in some other way, and depending on which services you use.

A lot of the data we process is provided by you when you use our services, contact us, take part in marketing campaigns or interact with our customer service, e.g. when you provide your e-mail address, name and country when you register, or e.g. when you enter your address or phone number in the settings.

Further information that we collect and that you provide consists of location information and payment information. In some countries, we enter the official identification number for purposes of invoicing and compliance with tax guidelines.

We collect additional information that you make available to us, such as when you submit reviews, decide on preferences or settings, or any other information about our service.

However, we also receive technical device and access data, which we collect automatically when you interact with our services. This may, for instance, be information about the device you are using or the corresponding device identifiers.

If you share content with family or friends using Hansgrohe products, send gift certificates and products or invite others to participate in Hansgrohe services or forums, Hansgrohe may collect the information you provide about these people, such as their name, address, e-mail address and phone number. Hansgrohe uses this data to process your requests, to provide products or services, and to combat fraud.

We collect further data on app usage behaviour using our own data analyses within the hansgrohe home app.

Personalised services

Our top priority is to develop and provide personalised functionalities and services for you. Regardless of location, time and the devices used, we offer you an individual shower experience and offers tailored to your individual interests. The processing of your data to personalise our services is thus an integral part of Hansgrohe’s service.

Cookie policies and tracking pixels

The cookies we use are described here. In an effort to improve our offers, we collect information about visitors to our website and users of our hansgrohe home app. For this purpose, we use various types of ‘cookies’ and ‘tracking pixels’ (also referred to as ‘web beacons’). Cookies – small text files that allow your browser to be identified – are sent to your computer or mobile device. A web server can use a cookie to store text information (e.g. a unique ID) on your computer or smartphone/tablet. Cookies are used, for example, to recognise you automatically when you return to our website or the hansgrohe home app. The cookie is either sent from the web server to your browser or generated using client-side scripting (such as JavaScript). The cookie information is stored locally on your device and usually has a limited validity period. We use cookies to offer you a user-friendly and secure website, and to adapt our services to your needs and interests.

We use different types of cookies:

Session cookies
Session cookies allow your activities to be stored on the website and are used to simplify the use of our website. These cookies are deleted after you close your browser or after you close the website.

Tracking cookies
When you return to the website, tracking cookies (also known as ‘persistent cookies’) help us recognise your browser and user behaviour, among other things, and adapt the website accordingly.

You can also use our website without cookies. This may affect the display of the website, however, and you may not be able to use all of the functions. You can use the hansgrohe home app without cookies, too. If you do so, however, you might not be able to use all of the app functions as conveniently.

Tracking pixels are tiny graphics found in HTML e-mails or on websites. If you access the page in question, this access to the tracking pixel is recorded in a log file. This allows statistical analysis and can be used, in turn, to improve offers. You can set your e-mail software or browser to display HTML e-mails as plain text only; this prevents the use of some tracking pixels.

What information is automatically collected?

We collect information relating to you and your use of our service, your interactions with us and our advertising, as well as information relating to your smartphone or other devices used to access our service. This information includes:

• Your activities in the hansgrohe home app, such as the selection of shower scenarios;
• Your interactions with Hansgrohe via e-mail, push notifications or text messages;
• Details on your interactions with Customer Service, such as the date, time and reason for contacting us, logs of e-mail conversations and, if you call us, your phone number and call recordings;
• Device ID or other unique device identifiers;
• Link between user and gateway/device;
• Statistical data about your usage with the Rainfinity shower, which involves providing telemetry data on water consumption, temperature, type of jet and number of changes;
• Statistics and telemetry data when using your Pontos Base. The following telemetry data is collected and sent to us:
  • Water volume (consumption in litres) per hour
  • Water pressure (in bar)
  • Water conductivity (used to derive (an approximate value for): water hardness)
  • Water temperature (in °C)
  • Battery level (in percent)
  • Wifi signal strength (in percent)
  • Water supply open/closed
  • Active profile
  • Self-learning phase active/inactive
  • The set profile parameters of all profiles
• To be able to help you with a service request in the best possible way, the following event data is sent to us by the Pontos Base:
  • Valve opening
  • Valve closing
  • Possible leak, due to
    • Volume exceed
    • Time exceeded
    • Flow rate exceeded
  • Leak detected by connected Pontos Scout
  • Micro-leak detected
  • Internet connection established
  • Internet connection disconnected
  • Battery level low
  • Pontos Scout connected to Pontos Base
  • Pontos Scout disconnected from Pontos Base
  • Connecting Pontos Scout to Pontos Base failed
  • Disconnecting Pontos Scout from Pontos Base failed
  • Self-learning phase finished
  • Temperature sensor error occurred/occurring
  • Sensor for measuring water pressure defective
  • Firmware update installed
  • Information about whether an action (open/close valve, reset to factory settings) has been carried out directly on the device or via the hansgrohe home app
• Statistics and telemetry data when you use your Aqittura SodaSystem. The following telemetry data is collected and sent to us:
  • System temperature (in °C) 
  • Remaining fill level of the CO2 cartridge (in %)
  • Remaining level of the filter cartridge (in %)
  • Water volume per water type, "Classic, Medium and Still" (absolute consumption in millilitres since first starting)
  • Water delivery time per water type, "Classic, Medium and Still" (absolute delivery in milliseconds since first starting)
• To be able to help you as effectively as possible with a service request, your Aqittura SodaSystem sends us the following event data:
  • Water delivery (one of the 3 water types) started
  • Water delivery (one of the 3 water types) stopped
  • Water delivery (one of the 3 water types) of a preset amount of water not completed successfully
  • Water delivery (one of the 3 water types) of a preset amount of water completed successfully
  • Rinse (with still water) started
  • Rinse (with still water) could not be started
  • Rinse (with still water) completed successfully
  • Rinse (with still water) failed/not completed successfully
  • Rinse (with still water) could not be stopped/interrupted
  • Calibration ready
  • Calibration could not be initiated
  • Calibration started
  • Calibration stopped
  • Calibration completed successfully
  • Calibration failed/not completed successfully
  • Calibration cancelled
  • Calibration could not be cancelled
  • Chemical cleaning necessary
  • Chemical cleaning started
  • Chemical cleaning interrupted
  • Chemical cleaning completed successfully
  • Away mode activated
  • Away mode could not be activated
  • Away mode deactivated
  • Away mode could not be deactivated
  • Plant watering started
  • Plant watering could not be started
  • Plant watering failed/not completed successfully
  • Plant watering completed successfully
  • Firmware update process started
  • Firmware update process failed/not completed successfully
  • Firmware update process completed successfully
  • Device error detected (various device errors)
  • Device error reset
  • Fill level of the CO2 cartridge is low
  • CO2 cartridge needs to be replaced
  • CO2 cartridge replaced successfully
  • Filter cartridge must be replaced
  • Filter cartridge replaced successfully
• Statistical and telemetry data when using your Pontos Scout. The following telemetry data is collected and sent to us:
  • Temperature (in °C)
  • Air humidity (in percent)
  • Battery level (in percent)
  • Wifi signal strength (in percent)
• In order to be able to help you with a service request, the following event data is sent to us by Pontos Scout:
  • Water leak detected
  • Air humidity below lower limit
  • Air humidity above upper limit
  • Air temperature below lower limit
  • Air temperature above upper limit
  • Internet connection established
  • Internet connection disconnected
  • Battery level low
  • Firmware update installed
     
• Advertising identifiers, such as those on mobile devices, tablets and streaming devices that include such identifiers (for further information, see the ‘Cookie Policy’ section below);
• Device and software features (such as type and configuration), connection information, page-view statistics, referring sources (e.g. referring URLs), IP addresses (which let us know your approximate location);
• Information that is collected using cookies, web beacons and other technologies, including advertising data (such as information on advertisement availability and display, the associated URL, as well as the date and time of page views). (For further information, please refer to our ‘Cookie Policy’ section.)

Information from other sources

We also collect information from other sources. This data is protected in accordance with the practices described in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with any additional restrictions imposed by the data source. These sources change over time but may include the following:

• Service providers with the assistance of which we determine a region based on your IP address in order to customize our service, and for other usages in accordance with the Privacy Policy;
• Selected partners the services of which we provide through our product on your devices, or with which we offer jointly marketed services or implement joint marketing projects (e.g. Philips Hue, Harman);
• Online and offline data providers from which we receive demographic, interest-based and online-advertising-related data;
• Publicly available sources such as freely accessible official databases.

How do we use personal data?

Hansgrohe processes your data in compliance with all applicable legislation for the protection of privacy. Of course, we observe the principles of data-protection law for the processing of personal data. With this in mind, we process your data only for the purposes explained to you in this Privacy Policy or communicated when the data is collected.

With your consent, we may process your personal data for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and to comply with any legal obligations to which Hansgrohe is subject, or if it comes to our attention that disclosure of information is necessary for the pursuit of the legitimate interests of Hansgrohe or third parties, which may include disclosure of data to such third parties.

• With the personal data we collect, we can inform you of the latest Hansgrohe product announcements, software updates and upcoming events. If you prefer not to receive this information, you may unsubscribe at any time by changing the notifications for this in the settings.
• We may use your personal information, including your date of birth, to verify identity, to assist with the identification of users, or to determine appropriate services. The date of birth may be used, for example, to determine your age.
• Occasionally, we may use personal information to send important notifications, for purchases or to inform you of changes to our General Terms and Conditions and Policies. Because this information is important to your relationship with Hansgrohe, it may not be possible to refuse receipt of this information.
• We may also use personal information for internal purposes, such as auditing, data analysis and research, in an effort to improve Hansgrohe products and services and our communication with customers. Wherever possible, we use this data in anonymised form only.
• To be able to help you most effectively for service, we need the telemetry data as well as the event data of your product. We ensure that only authorised employees have access to this data. Our employees are authorised to help you as effectively as possible after authentication and to perform remote maintenance. We use a second factor for authorisation. You will receive a push notification from us in the app with a verification code. We only carry out remote maintenance only if this code matches our code.
• to ascertain your approximate geographic location, offer localised content, provide specially-tailored recommendations for shower scenarios and fragrances that we think you might like, and to permit us to respond to your enquiries as quickly and efficiently as possible;
• to analyse and understand our audience, to improve our service (including the use of the user interface) and to optimise the selection of content, recommendation algorithms and display;
• to prevent, detect and investigate potentially prohibited or illegal activities, including fraud, and enforce our Terms of Use;
• to communicate with you regarding our services and products (e.g. via e-mail, push notifications, text messages, and through online messaging channels) so that we can send you messages about Hansgrohe, details on new functions and on Hansgrohe content, as well as special Hansgrohe offers, promotional announcements and customer surveys, and to assist you with user-related requests, such as password-reset requests. Please refer to the ‘Cookie Policy’ section of this Privacy Policy to learn how you can specify or change your communication settings.

The legal basis for collecting and using personal data as described in this Privacy Policy depends on the personal data involved and on the specific context in which we collect and use this data. Ordinarily, we will collect personal data from you if we need it to fulfil a contract with you (to offer you our service, for instance), if processing is rooted in our legitimate interest and is not cancelled out by your privacy interests or fundamental rights and freedoms (our direct-marketing activities based on your preferences, for example), or if you have granted your consent to these activities (if, for example, you participate in certain ‘consumer-insight’ activities such as special surveys or focus groups). In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to collect personal data from you, or we may need your personal data to protect your vital interests or those of another person (in order to confirm your identity, for example). If you have any questions about our use of your personal data (including the legal bases and the transmission methods upon which we rely), cookies or similar technologies, please contact our Data Protection Officer via e-mail at privacy@hansgrohe.com.

In the event that we link non-personal information with personal information, this linked data will be treated as personal data for as long as it remains linked.

Which external services and partners do we use?

We integrate external services and partners in our effort to make all of the functions and services in the app as easy as possible for you to use, while continuously improving our product at the same time. Finally, we also use tools to support our marketing. Here we explain the tools we use and the purposes for which we use them:

Google/Firebase

We use Google services for our analysis and marketing purposes (Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA – hereinafter referred to as ‘Google’). These tools collect data about your usage behaviour in a variety of ways and evaluate it statistically. You consent thereto through your use of our Hansgrohe services. In what follows, we inform you about the various services, your options for simple withdrawal of your consent, and further information of importance to you. More information about how Google handles the data we share with Google is available here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/partners/.

You can read the Google Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) for more information on how Google uses cookies.

The information generated by Google tools is typically transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Google and its subsidiaries are certified within the framework of the EU-US Privacy Shield.

Firebase is a Google subsidiary with headquarters in San Francisco (CA), USA. In our hansgrohe home app, we use the Firebase SDK. Technologies are used in this connection that operate similarly to cookies, particularly the respective advertising IDs. With these technologies, we collect information about your usage behaviour in the hansgrohe home app. We use this data to perform statistical evaluations, test our offers (e.g. with A/B testing) and improve them. We also use this information for personalised advertising. Through your use our services, you consent to this data collection.

You may opt out at any time if you prefer that we do not collect data of this nature. This is easy to do, for example, using the device settings on your mobile device. Details of how to prevent this data being collected on your Android device are available e.g. at: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/.

On your iOS device, you will find the appropriate switch under Settings > Privacy > Advertising.

With whom is my data shared?

When we collect and use personal data, we are assisted to some extent by selected service providers who, under the terms of their contract with us, act subject to strict instructions, and who are checked by us before commencing their activities and subsequently monitored on a regular basis. These service providers may process your data on our behalf only subject to special conditions. If we use the services of these providers as job processors, the service providers will receive access to your data only to the extent and for the period required for the provision of the service in question.

Other third parties

There may be times when Hansgrohe needs to disclose personal data on grounds of provisions of law, legal proceedings, litigation and/or requests from public and government authorities within or outside your country of residence. We may also disclose information about you if we are convinced that this is necessary or appropriate for reasons of national security, law enforcement or other public interests.

We may also disclose information about you if we believe that it is reasonably necessary to do so in order to enforce our General Terms and Conditions, or to protect our business activities or users. In addition, in the event of a reorganisation, merger or sale, we will transmit all the personal data we collect to the relevant third-party provider, if necessary.

You can also opt to disclose your information in the following ways:

• Certain portions of our service may include a function with which you can disclose information via e-mail, telephone contact, social or other messaging apps through the use of clients and apps on your Internet-enabled device.

Which privacy rights do I have?

For enquiries or other questions about our privacy practices, please contact the Data Protection Officer at privacy@hansgrohe.com. We respond to all requests we receive from individuals concerning the exercise of their privacy rights in compliance with applicable data-protection legislation. 
You may object to the processing of your personal data, request that we restrict the processing of your personal data or request the transferability of your personal data. If we have collected your personal data with your consent and process this data, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of your consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing that has occurred up until the time of the withdrawal or processing of your personal data carried out in reliance upon legal grounds for processing other than your consent. You have the right to file a complaint with a data protection authority in regard to our collection and use of your personal data. You will find the contact details for your applications under ‘Contacts’.

Data processing by Alexa

Before you can use the skills we provide, you must conclude a user agreement with the operator of Alexa (Amazon Web Services, Inc., 410 Terry Avenue North, Seattle WA 98109, United States, hereinafter referred to as "Amazon"). Amazon collects and processes your personal data, including the whole voice log, when you use Alexa. We are not party to the user agreement with Amazon and have no influence over their processing of data. Amazon's privacy policy applies in this case.  

When the skill is activated, all that we receive from Amazon is a user ID for the skill that is generated specifically for each user and this skill. This means that we can process and store user-specific data (e.g. game progress) and recognise returning users (who we cannot link to a natural person).

In this process, we do not get access to the voice log processed by Amazon or to your Amazon account data. 

Data processing by Google

The Google Assistant voice platform (e.g. Google Home) is provided and operated by Google LLC. hansgrohe home has been developed based on the Google Assistant voice platform and uses the services provided by the platform to deliver the app features. Data is collected and processed by Google LLC when you use the hansgrohe home Actions.

This is primarily the voice data collected by Google Assistant, which is analysed and then converted into text data. Based on this text data, the hansgrohe home Google Action then processes your request further.

Google also stores the requests you make to Google Assistant (and Actions based on the request) in a personal activity log for your Google Account (voice and text), and your use of Google Assistant (and Actions based on your use) is included when anonymised statistics are created. As the owner of your Google Account, you have the option of deleting your personal activity log history.

For more information about processing of data by Google, go to: https://privacy.google.com/intl/en/ 
 

How does Hansgrohe protect my data?

We take appropriate administrative, logical, physical and organisational steps to protect your personal data from loss, theft, unauthorised access, unauthorised use and unauthorised modification. These steps were developed to provide a level of security that is adequate to the risks of processing personal data.

Amendment of our Privacy Policy

In order to ensure that our Privacy Policy always complies with the legal specifications in force at all times, we reserve the right to make changes at any time. This also applies in the event that the Privacy Policy must be adapted in light of new or updated services, e.g. new service activities. The new Privacy Policy will then apply upon your next visit to our service.

Contacts

Further to the aforementioned rights, you may request information on the data stored about you as well as the correction or deletion of incorrect data at any time. Please address your objections, queries, requests for information or deletion, complaints, etc., to:

Hansgrohe SE
Data Protection
Auestr. 5-9 
77761 Schiltach, Germany
privacy@hansgrohe.com