Privacy Policy (US)

HARTING, Inc. of North America Privacy Statement

Effective: August 2, 2023

HARTING, Inc. of North America (“HARTING”, “we” or “our”) is pleased with your visit to our website and interest in our company. 

Access from Outside the United States

This website is operated and maintained by HARTING, Inc. of North America and is intended solely for United States users. Users located in the European Union should visit: www.harting.com/DE/en-gb.  If you access this website from outside the United States, please be aware that personal data collected may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States. U.S. data protection and related laws may not be as comprehensive as those from where you access the website.  If you do not want any personal information to be transferred to the U.S., please do not provide that information to HARTING via this website.

Responsible contact partner 

The data controller in the context of the processing of data collected on this website and through use of the online shop is: HARTING, Inc. of North America, 1370 Bowes Rd. Elgin, IL 60123 

To contact HARTING regarding this policy, please refer to the Contact section listed below.

Storage and processing of personal data 

Every time a user accesses a page on one of our websites, and every time a file is accessed, access data regarding these actions is anonymised and stored in a log file on our server or on the servers of our service providers. This procedure immediately and automatically deletes any references to specific persons in the data. 

The basic components of each data set are: 

  • the page from which the file was requested 
  • the name of the file 
  • the date and time of the request 
  • the IP address of the computer from which the request originated 
  • the quantity of data transmitted 
  • the access status (file transmitted, file not found, etc.) 
  • a description of the type of web browser used 

This anonymized stored data is exclusively processed for statistical purposes. 

Where there is an option to enter personal or commercial data (email addresses, names, addresses) on one of our websites, this disclosure of this data by the user is always expressly voluntary. We only use the data provided to fulfil the desired purpose. Data is strictly processed in accordance with legal provisions. Mandatory information is clearly marked as such. 

We exclusively store and process your personal details to fulfil our own business purposes. We handle your data confidentially and do not disclose it to third parties without justification. 

We use third parties as service providers to process data, including personal data in the context of our own business purposes. These third parties are cloud providers, activity analysis service providers and web analysis services. The following text contains more detailed descriptions of these services providers. 

You can, on request and at any time, obtain information on the type and scope of personal data we hold concerning you. Additionally, in accordance with legal provisions, you have the right to rectification, the right to block and the right to deletion of this personal data.

Tracking mechanisms 

The purpose of tracking mechanisms is to allow the operator of a website to monitor – and in some cases control – online marketing measures with reference to their efficacy. Commonly used synonyms for the term “tracking” include “web controlling”, “web analysis” and “traffic analysis”. Tracking encompasses success monitoring, control and efficiency analysis of a website and the online marketing measures it uses. 

Measures used for tracking purposes generally examine where a website’s visitors come from, their behaviour and actions on the platform as well as, in some circumstances, what they do after leaving the page. There are essentially two different methods used to carry out tracking. 
We use tracking mechanisms to measure and analyse its reach and personalize its web content. If you are a registered user and are also signed in, we will also use tracking mechanisms for profiling purposes. 

Reach measurement and analysis 

Reach measurement and analysis (as well as clickstream analysis, data traffic analysis, traffic analysis, web analysis, web controlling, etc.) denotes the collection and evaluation of data regarding the behaviour of website visitors. An analysis mechanism typically examines where visitors come from, which areas of a website are visited and how often, and for how long individual subpages and categories are viewed. First and foremost, it serves to optimize the website and achieve specific objectives more effectively (e.g. to increase page visits, visitor frequency or newsletter subscriptions, etc.). At a fundamental level, a differentiation can be made in web analysis between analytical procedures to measure site efficacy on a permanent basis and methods to find weak spots in a website and identify potential ways to improve these. 

Third Party services and Cookies 

On this website we use cookies which are stored on your end device as soon as you use the website. Cookies are small text files which are stored on your hard disk, assigned to the browser you use. These cookies transfer information, e.g. about the use of a website, to the processing unit which sets the cookie. This could be us as the website operator, but also a third parties. Cookies do not execute programs and are not able to transfer viruses to your computer.  

Using cookies enables us to make it easier to navigate a website and also offers a high degree of user-friendliness. Moreover, cookies help us to identify particularly popular areas of our website. They make it possible to collect information regarding a specific period of time and identify the visitor’s computer. We use permanent cookies to improve user guidance and provide personalized content (“persistent cookies”). We also use so-called session cookies, which are automatically deleted when you close your browser (“transient cookies”).  

Control cookie deployment and third-party services: Cookies required for the operation of this website are set automatically when the website is called up. Other cookies and functionalities not required for use by us as website operator and by any third party may be used. To this end, in the cookie settings on our website, you may find further information about the specific cookies used. There you are able to select different cookie categories or cookies from individual providers.  By activating the respective checkbox, you can give your informed consent to the use of cookies for statistical or tracking technologies and for personalization purposes.  You can also change or withdraw your consent and individual settings in at any time with effect for the future.

In general, you can pre-set the use of cookies on your hard drive in your browser settings. Please note in this case: If you completely block cookies from being used in the settings of the web browser you use, you will be unable to use certain functionalities of our website or will be restricted in doing so. 

We use the following categories of cookies on our website: 

Essential cookies: These cookies are required for you to be able to move around the website and use specific functions, esp. relevant for security reasons. They ensure the stability of the website, offer a secure log-in, store e.g. the progress of your order, your log-in data and your shopping cart. It also saves your language settings. 

Functional cookies: They are used to provide the services you request, for example, if you want to watch a video. Functionality cookies are also used to maintain settings you make on the website (e.g. location). These cookies are not able to track your browsing on other websites and cannot track where you have surfed the Internet outside of our website. Without these cookies, we will not be able to provide certain services you request. All information collected by these cookies is anonymous and is used solely to improve the functionality and service of the website. 

Statistic cookies: To further improve our offer and our website, we collect anonymous data for statistics and analysis. With the help of these cookies, we can, for example, determine the number of visitors and the effect of certain pages of our website and optimize our content. In addition, we use cookies on our website which enable us to analyse the surfing behaviour of our users. Analytical cookies enable us to analyse the website so that we can measure and improve the performance of our pages. The data collected from you in this way is pseudonymized by technical precautions so that it is no longer possible to assign the data to you. The data will not be stored together with other personal data about you. 

Personalization cookies: We use personalisation cookies to recognize you when you visit our website again and to personalize content and save your settings. These cookies are used to display personalized content to you according to your interests. We also use retargeting or remarketing cookies to help us deliver ads that are relevant to your interests based on your individual browsing habits within the respective advertising network. On these pages, you may be presented with advertisements relating to content that you have previously viewed on other websites 

Newsletter and Microsoft Marketing 

As part of your registration for an email newsletter, we need your email address to which the newsletter is to be sent. Any other information is given voluntarily and will be used to address you personally and tailor the newsletter to your personal preferences and clarify queries regarding your email address. 

A valid email address, the country and a language are needed to receive the newsletter. The IP address through which you register for the newsletter as well as the date and time when you order the newsletter are also stored. We need these data as evidence in the event of abuse, in case the email address registered for the newsletter does not belong to the user.

We would draw your attention to the fact that we will evaluate your user habits when sending newsletters. To do so, we use the tracking functions of  Microsoft Marketing (Sandyford Business Estate, Dublin 18, Ireland).The emails sent contain so-called web beacons or tracking pixels which represent one-pixel image files which are stored on our website. For these evaluations, we combine the data collected and the web beacons with your email address and an individual ID. Links received in the newsletter also contain this ID. We use the data thus acquired to create a user profile to tailor the newsletter to your individual interests. In the process, we record when you read our newsletter, which links you click on and from this we deduce your personal interests. We combine these data with the actions you perform on our website. 

The data is stored in Microsoft Azure Services of Microsoft Ireland Operations (Sandyford Business Estate, Dublin 18, Ireland) such as MS Dynamics or Power BI. Your data is not stored on servers outside the EU. 

Tracking by means of web beacons or tracking pixels is not possible if you have deactivated the display of images in your email program as your standard setting. In this case, the newsletter will not be fully displayed, and you may not be able to use all its functions. If you have the images displayed manually, the tracking described above will be performed. In the cookie policy on our website, you may find further information about the specific cookies and technologies used. 

You have the option at any time to revoke your consent to the storage of your data, email address and their use for the dispatch of the newsletter, with effect for the future. We provide you with a link in every newsletter for such revocation. You also have the option to communicate your desire to revoke your consent in writing to be sent to the contact options listed in the legal notice. 

myHARTING 

If you would like to use myHARTING, you must register by giving your email address (user name), a password of your choosing, the company name, company address, the country, language, surname and mode of address — any further details requested are not mandatory but can be supplied by you as additional information. 

Once registered for myHARTING, you can revoke your consent to storage of your data and email address by deactivating your account through the account settings feature of myHARTING.

To prevent unauthorized access to your personal data by third parties, the connection is encrypted by means of TLS technology. 

User-based and/or personalized offers 

Our web offers should be as useful and interesting as possible for our users. For this reason, we present offers and product recommendations that correspond as closely as possible to user’s personal interests (personalized and user-based offers). We use cookies and other technologies to collect this data. 

Usage-based online advertising: Our website, and linked websites from where a user originates, collect and process a visitor’s usage behaviour. The user benefits from this as the advertisements generated are tailored to their specific areas of interest; on the whole, fewer randomly scattered advertisements are displayed. A cookie is stored on the user’s computer to collect information on their usage behaviour. 

We use tools of the following companies to collect data in order to provide user-based online advertising and videos: 

  • Google  
  • Facebook 
  • Quora 
  • Twitter 
  • LinkedIn 
  • Bing 
  • Leadfeeder

In the cookie settings on our website, you may find further information about the specific cookies and third-party services used. 

Personalized offers: Personalized offers are based on analysis of purchasing behaviour of our customers and interested leads as well as the respective visitor’s use of our electronic media. We also use these technologies to recognize returning users. 

More specifically, we use the following data to create advertisements tailored to you and your interests in our products: 

  • data contained in your customer account and data you share with us when making purchases (master data) 
  • data about your purchases – to date or in future – at HARTING (transaction data) and information derived from the same (e.g. what products you prefer to purchase or configure) 
  • information generated automatically when you visit our electronic media (website or app, including across devices) including the date and time of the visit (usage data) and information derived from the same (e.g. what content you view and how often) 
  • products you have searched for or viewed in our electronic media 

Analyzing and evaluating the aforementioned information enables us to produce offerings and product recommendations tailored to individual users. Personalized offers may be sent by post, presented on a visit to our electronic media (website and app) or – if the user has given their specific consent – sent via email or push notification. 

To optimize our offers on the basis of your user interests, we use the following tool: 

Contentsquare 

Provided you give us your consent, this website uses technologies from Content Square SaaS. Interaction data of the website visitor is collected in a pseudonymized form for the purpose of optimizing the usability of the website using cookies. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website is usually transmitted to a Contentsquare server and stored there. The IP address transmitted by your browser is not merged with other Contentsquare data. Contentsquare guarantees the shortening of your IP address so that all data is collected anonymously. The following cookies are stored by Contentsquare: _cs_id, to recognize returning website users (up to 13 months) _cs_s, a session cookie that is created at the beginning of the website visit, and deleted 30 minutes after the last page view. The use of Contentsquare is based on your consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a) DSGVO).

Reach measurement and analysis using Google Analytics 

To design our website in a way that meets users’ needs, we create pseudonymized user profiles with the help of Google Analytics. Google uses cookies and pixel tags to facilitate analysis of how individual visitors use a website. The information generated by the cookie regarding use of this website may generally be transmitted to and stored on one of Google’s servers in the USA. However, as we have activated IP anonymization on this website, your IP address will be truncated by Google prior to its transmission from within European Union member states or in other signatory countries of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional circumstances will your full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA before being truncated. Google will use this information on behalf of us in order to analyze your use of the website, to compile reports regarding website activities and to provide us with additional services relating to usage of the website and the internet. The IP address transmitted by your browser in the context of Google Analytics will not be combined with other Google data. 

You may find further information about Google Analytics on the cookies and technologies used in our privacy settings. 

Facebook 

We are jointly responsible for the use of Facebook or Instagram with Facebook, Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California, 94025. 

Facebook Inc. processes (personal) data when using Facebook products - including when visiting our Facebook or Instagram page - even from persons who are not logged into any of the Facebook services. Which (personal) data these are in detail, how, for which purposes and on which legal basis they are processed, is described by Facebook in its data policy (https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875?helpref=page_content), which applies to all Facebook products. There you will also find information on how to contact Facebook as well as on the settings options for advertisements, cookies, etc. The data may be transferred to countries outside the European Union. 

For more information about the cookies that Facebook sets when having a Facebook account, using Facebook products (including the website and apps) or visiting other websites and apps that use Facebook products (including the "Like" button or other Facebook technologies), Facebook provides the Cookie Policy (https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies/). Information on how to manage information held about you can also be found at this link: https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies/

When you visit our Facebook or Instagram page, Facebook collects, among other things, your IP address. Together with other information that Facebook receives through cookies, Facebook provides us as the operator of the Facebook page with statistical information about the use of this Facebook page (so-called page insights). These are aggregated data that show how users interact with the page. These Page Insights may be based on personal data collected by Facebook in connection with a user's visit to or interaction with our Facebook Page and its content. Facebook provides more information about this here: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

We may use Page Insights to anonymously evaluate reach, page views, time spent on video posts, actions (likes, comments, sharing of posts) and by age, gender and location (as indicated by users in their respective Facebook profiles). In doing so, settings can be made for the evaluation of the reach or corresponding filters can be set with regard to the selection of a time period, the consideration of a specific post as well as demographic groupings (e.g. female, 20-30 years old). This data is anonymized, aggregated and abstracted. These settings therefore do not allow us to draw any conclusions about individuals. The evaluation serves to optimally design the offer on our pages for the purpose of public relations. 

We, as the provider of the information service, do not collect and process any further data from the use of the pages. 

If you have specific questions about the protection of your data, please contact our data protection officer or the data protection officer of Facebook Ireland Ltd. https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation. 

Data security 

We would like to point out that, given the current state of technology, it is not possible to guarantee complete protection of data transmitted over the Internet. In some circumstances, third parties may be able to penetrate network security and monitor communications. In this regard, please note that the transmission of data via email is fundamentally not encrypted. 

Right to Receive, Correct or Delete Data

At any time, you have the right to request information about your stored personal data, its origin and destination, as well as regarding the purpose of the associated data processing.  Furthermore, you have a right to correction (if it is inaccurate, false, or incomplete), or, except for the prescribed storage of data for business purposes or as otherwise legally required, deletion of your personal data by HARTING. You may do so by sending a written request by post or electronically as detailed in the “Contact Us” section below.