With this privacy policy, we, KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA, KWS LOCHOW GmbH, KWS Berlin GmbH or KWS Klostergut Wiebrechtshausen GmbH (hereinafter “KWS”, “we”, or “us”), inform you of what data will be processed in connection with your application process and what rights you have in this regard.
1. What personal data do we process in connection with your application process?
We may process any of the following personal data in a given case. Not all of the following data from all applicants will be processed.
- Contact information, including name, personal mailing address, telephone number(s), and personal email address
- Nationality, place and date of birth
- Data regarding your training, qualifications, and professional development
- Data regarding any continuing education activities and additional qualifications
- Salary expectations, notice periods, certificates, references, recommendations, work permit, disability, language skills.
2. For what purpose do we process your data?
(a) We process your personal data, which we receive from you, to process your application for a specific job vacancy or as an unsolicited application, to carry out the application process and to decide on the establishment of an employment relationship.
(b) In some circumstances, we may also process your personal data on the basis of a declaration of consent given by you. The purposes of processing are based on the content of the respective declaration of consent. This can apply, for example, in the following cases:
- Your application did not result in employment with our company. However, your profile may be of interest for future job vacancies for a comparable position with our company or another KWS company, and we have added you to our group-wide applicant pool.
(c) In some circumstances, we may also process your personal data in order to comply with statutory obligations under the commercial, tax, financial, or criminal law. The purposes of processing are based on the respective legal obligation. Processing is generally carried out to comply with official supervisory and disclosure requirements.
(d) If necessary, we may also process your personal data in order to safeguard our legitimate interests. We will only process your personal data if, after taking into consideration our interests in processing against your potentially conflicting interests and fundamental rights and freedoms, we find that our interests prevail. This can apply in the following cases:
- Defense against asserted legal claims from the application process. Our legitimate interest, for example, lies in the burden of proof in proceedings in accordance with the General Act on Equal Treatment.
3. On what legal basis do we process your data?
(a) Your personal data, which we process to carry out the application process and to decide on the establishment of an employment relationship, is processed on the basis of Art. 6 (1) point b) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Data about you that may constitute special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 (1) GDPR is only processed by us on the basis of Art. 9 (2) GDPR, that is, when the intended processing is made legitimate by law.
(b) In cases where your application has not resulted in employment with our company, but your profile may however be of interest for a comparable position with our company or another KWS company and we have added you to our group-wide applicant pool, we process your personal data on the basis of a declaration of consent given by you. In this respect, data is processed based on Art. 6 (1) point a) GDPR.
If we process special categories of personal data based on your consent, this is done based on Art. 9 (2) GDPR.
You may revoke consent at any time. Please note, however, that this revocation is only with effect for the future, which means that the legality of the data processing carried out up to the time of revocation based on your consent is not affected by the revocation.
(c) If we process your personal data to comply with legal obligations, data is processed in this respect based on Art. 6 (1) point c) GDPR.
If we process special categories of personal data to comply with statutory obligations, this is done based on Art. 9 (2) GDPR.
(d) If we process your personal data to safeguard our legitimate interests, data is processed in this respect based on Art. 6 (1) point f) GDPR. In this case, our legitimate interests lie in pursuing the purposes specified under Section 2 (d).
4. Are your personal data also collected by third parties?
We mainly process the personal data that we receive directly from you. In certain situations, we also obtain your personal data from third parties. This is done, for example, in the following cases:
- We receive your applicant data from other KWS companies if your application documents were added to the applicant pool.
- We receive your applicant data via a recruitment agency.
- We receive your applicant data from a KWS employee as a recommendation.
- We receive your applicant data from a social network or a job portal where you are registered to be part of an applicant pool.
If necessary, we will inform you of this in greater detail separately.
5. Do we forward your data to third parties? Who are the recipients, and do they reside in third countries?
If you have provided consent, or if another legal basis comes into play, we will forward your applicant data to other KWS companies.
We work with the company’s internal and external service providers (referred to as processors), such as service providers for IT maintenance services. These service providers may only act in accordance with our instructions and are contractually required to comply with the applicable data protection requirements.
Where legally permissible and necessary to comply with applicable law or to assert, exercise, or defend legal claims, we forward your personal data to courts, authorities, and law firms.
The recipients described in this Section 5 can be located in countries outside the European Economic Area (“third countries”) where applicable law does not grant the same level of data protection. In this case, if we transmit your personal data to recipients outside the European Economic Area, we will ensure an appropriate level of protection for your personal data unless this is in accordance with a statutory permission. Please contact the controller at the contact information provided below if you wish to receive a copy of the guarantees that we use with regard to exporting your personal data.
6. How long do we store your personal data?
KWS only stores its applicants’ data as long as necessary to fulfill the given purposes (see Section 2). Data that is no longer needed or that KWS is no longer allowed to store is either irreversibly anonymized or erased. In the event that data is anonymized, KWS may save the data for a longer period because every personal reference has been removed.
If your application is not successful, we will erase your application documents within six months after completion of the application process at the latest, unless you have given us consent to add your data to our applicant pool. In this case, we will erase your data within two years at the latest.
If an employment relationship is established between you and us, we do not erase the data from your application process, but instead include the data in your personnel file as far as this is necessary. We then process these data for the purpose of implementing the employment relationship.
7. What rights do you have?
Within the context of the applicable legal provisions, you have certain rights related to your personal data. Please note that there are certain exceptions to the exercising of these rights, and you therefore cannot exercise them in all cases.
- Information: You have the right to obtain information about all personal data stored by KWS about you.
- Rectification: You can demand that we change incorrect personal data.
- Erasure: You can ask us to erase personal data under certain circumstances, and we will take appropriate steps to inform other controllers who process the data that you have requested the erasure of links to your data, copies of your data, and duplications of your data.
- Revocation of consent: You can revoke your consent to the data processing that you have granted us and prevent further processing if there is no other reason why KWS can or must process your personal data.
- Restriction: In certain cases, you can request that we restrict the processing of your data.
- Portability: If you have provided us with data on the basis of a contract or consent, you can request receipt of the data provided by you in a structured, common, and machine-readable format or that we send it to another controller.
Right to object
Case-based right to object
For reasons arising from your unique situation, you have the right at any time to object to the processing of your personal data that is based on justified interests. This personal data will then no longer be processed for these purposes unless compelling legitimate grounds for the processing are established that outweigh your interests, rights, and liberties, or the processing serves to assert, exercise, or defend legal claims.
To assert the rights above, please contact us using the contact information provided.
- Submit a complaint: You can submit a complaint about our processing to a data protection authority.