Please note: The English translation of the original German text is provided as a convenience only. Although it was prepared with great care, we cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Only the original German version is legally binding.
ACREDIA Services GmbH (hereinafter: “Acredia Services” or “we“) is a subsidiary of Acredia Versicherung AG (“ACREDIA”). ACREDIA is owned by a management holding company – 49% is held by Euler Hermes AG, Hamburg and 51% by Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (“OeKB”), Vienna. OeKB is a key financial and information service provider for Austria’s export economy and the Austrian capital market. The Euler Hermes Group (“Euler Hermes”) is the world’s largest credit insurer and belongs to the Allianz Group.
Acredia Services is solely active in the business-to-business (B2B) segment. All of the customers of Acredia Services are companies.
We are committed to the protection of your personal data. We handle your data with care and protect them against misuse. We keep your personal data confidential and only use them for the stated purposes.
We comply with the applicable regulations on protection, lawful handling and confidentiality of personal data and on data security, in particular the Austrian Data Protection Act (“DSG”), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the Austrian Telecommunications Act (“TKG”).
- Privacy Policy of Acredia Services GmbH
- General information
- “What are personal data?” and definitions of other key data protection terms
- Who is the controller and who can you contact?
- Who is the subject of this Privacy Policy?
- Which data are processed?
- What are the sources of the processed data?
- For which purposes and on what legal basis are your data processed?
- When is information provided pursuant to Article 14 GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation)?
- Who receives your data?
- Are your data transmitted to a third country?
- How long will we retain your data for?
- What rights do you have?
- Are you obliged to provide data?
- Is automated decision-making (including profiling) conducted?
- How do we protect your data?
- Is it possible to lodge a complaint?
- Will this Privacy Policy be updated?
General information
This Privacy Policy informs you about the processing of your personal data and your entitlements and rights under data protection law, in particular the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
“What are personal data?” and definitions of other key data protection terms
For ease of understanding, an explanation is first given of a number of key data protection terms (Article 4 GDPR).
What are personal data and who is a data subject?
Personal data are any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”). An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, either directly or indirectly, for example by reference to an identifier such as a name or identification number, e.g. IBAN or VAT identification number. Data of legal persons and registered business partnerships (e.g. companies in Austria with the legal form “OG” or “KG”) are not protected by the GDPR, unless the company name enables an individual to be identified. Data of companies that are not legal persons (e.g. sole proprietorships) are, however, protected by the GDPR as natural persons.
What does the processing of data comprise?
“Processing” means any operation performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure (by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available), alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.
Who is a controller?
“Controller” means a natural or legal person that, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data. Acredia Services GmbH, for example, is a controller.
Who is a processor?
“Processor” means a natural or legal person that processes personal data on behalf of the controller. The processor works solely on the basis of the controller’s instructions, is not authorised to make decisions about the data and does not pursue its own business objectives with respect to the personal data.
Who is the controller and who can you contact?
The controller for processing of your data is:
Acredia Services GmbH
Himmelpfortgasse 29
1010 Vienna, Austria
Telephone: +43 (0)50102-0
Email: office@acredia.at or inkasso@acredia.at
If you have any queries concerning data protection, please do not hesitate to contact our data protection staff by sending a letter to the “Datenschutzbeauftragter” (Data Protection Officer) at the above address or by sending an email to datenschutz@acredia.at.
Who is the subject of this Privacy Policy?
This Privacy Policy governs the personal data of the following persons and groups of persons:
- customers of Acredia Services GmbH who are natural persons (“customers[1]”)
- companies that procure goods and services from customers of Acredia Services GmbH, if they are natural persons (“business partners[2]”)
- other natural persons that are in contact with Acredia Services, such as authorised representatives (e.g. insurance intermediaries), assignees and representatives or staff of legal persons
- beneficial owners of our customers
Which data are processed?
In the performance of business activities
- assessment of creditworthiness and risk assessment of companies in Austria and Southeast Europe and
- collection of outstanding receivables worldwide
we work together closely, as a service company, with Acredia Versicherung AG (“ACREDIA”) and companies belonging to the Euler Hermes Group (“Euler Hermes”). In addition, we offer other products and services, such as the “Acredia creditworthiness certificate”.
We primarily process information related to creditworthiness. The processing of personal data is geared to the respective product or service.
We process the following personal data in particular:
- form of address, title, name, position (“contact person”)
- address, email address, telephone number and fax number (“contact details”)
- company name and address, commercial register data, VAT identification number (“business partner”)
- company name and address, commercial register data, VAT identification number, data for proof of identity, bank account details (“customer”)
- turnover data, payment terms, data and measures for collection of receivables (“receivables data”)
- commercial register data, company indicators, balance sheet data, payment record, affiliated companies, data for collection of receivables, insolvency information and credit reports (“creditworthiness data”)
- data from electronic services and use of the “ACREDIA website” (“online data”)
- advertising and sales data (“marketing data”)
- data processing results for fulfilment of contracts (“processing results”)
- data for fulfilment of statutory and regulatory requirements
Acredia Services will only collect personal data that are necessary for entering into and performance of the business relationship or that Acredia Services is legally required to collect.
Acredia Services does not process any special categories of personal data (Article 9(1) GDPR).
What are the sources of the processed data?
We process personal data that you either disclose to us yourself or that we obtain from third parties.
We collect the following categories of personal data in particular:
- data that you actively disclose to us
- information that we lawfully receive from third parties, especially credit agencies (e.g. KSV1870 or CRIF GmbH), and from public sources (e.g. the commercial register, land register, insolvency records) or that are lawfully transmitted to us (e.g. by ACREDIA or by companies belonging to the Euler Hermes Group)
If you disclose personal data to us, we assume that you are entitled to share those data with us.
For which purposes and on what legal basis are your data processed?
Acredia Services processes your personal data in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations.
Processing for fulfilment of (pre-) contractual obligations
Personal data are processed for the fulfilment of (pre-) contractual obligations (point (b) of Article 6(1) GDPR), in particular for
- processing the customer’s request and drawing up the contract
- assessment of our risk and of the creditworthiness of our customers (e.g. for our “Creditworthiness certificate” product), in particular for
- assessment and monitoring of creditworthiness
- risk assessment
- issue and monitoring of ratings
- generation and monitoring of credit recommendations
- assessment of the risks of our customers, in particular
- for conclusion and fulfilment of the contract
- for assessment of creditworthiness and solvency
- fulfilment of due payment obligations, in particular
- for processing the contract and/or for enforcement of legal claims
- for receivables management
- customer care
- invoicing
Please see the respective contract documents and terms and conditions for the specific details of the purpose of the data processing referred to here concerning the products and services of Acredia Services.
Processing for fulfilment of legal obligations
The processing of personal data may be necessary for fulfilment of legal obligations (point (c) of Article 6(1) GDPR), such as retention obligations under company law and tax law, for compliance with sanctions, for prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism and pursuant to the Austrian Securities Supervision Act of 2018 (“WAG”), the Austrian Stock Exchange Act (“BörseG”) and the EU Market Abuse Regulation.
Processing for legitimate interests
Furthermore, in the case of overriding interests of Acredia Services or a third party, data processing may be conducted beyond fulfilment of the contract to safeguard our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of third parties (point (f) of Article 6(1) GDPR).
We or a third party have a legitimate interest in data processing in the following cases, for example:
- obtaining credit reports to determine our risk and the risk of our customers, ACREDIA and the Euler Hermes Group
- measures to secure receivables and minimise the risk of bad debt
- review and optimisation of methods for needs analysis and for direct customer contact
- advertising or market research and opinion research if you have not objected to the use of your data
- ensuring IT security and IT functionality
- generation of statistics
- measures to combat and prevent fraud, money laundering and terrorism and to ensure compliance with sanctions
- prevention and investigation of crimes
- measures for business management and enhancement of products and services
Processing on the basis of your consent
We will obtain your consent if none of the aforementioned legal bases apply
(point (a) of Article 6(1) GDPR). Acredia Services requires your consent for the following purposes in particular:
- marketing purposes, such as sending emails and messages through the online system
- tracking of user behaviour on the “ACREDIA website”.
If you have consented to the processing of your personal data, processing will only be conducted for the purpose specified in the declaration of consent and to the agreed extent. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future.
When is information provided pursuant to Article 14 GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation)?
Information about the commercial activity, creditworthiness and solvency of companies as “data subjects”[3] forms the basis for commercial decisions of our customers and for credit decisions of ACREDIA or Euler Hermes. We are permitted to process personal data of companies without their knowledge and consent if a legitimate interest in the information can be demonstrated and there is no reason to assume that the company concerned has an overriding legitimate interest in excluding the collection, storage or modification of said data.
If Acredia Services stores personal data for its own purposes without the knowledge of the company concerned for the first time, it will inform said company about the storage, the type of data and the data source, the purpose of the processing, the categories of recipients, the duration of the storage, the contact details of the controller and the data protection officer and the rights of the company, including its right to lodge a complaint. Acredia Services will fulfil that requirement by sending a formal letter headed “Information pursuant to Article 14 GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation)”.
Who receives your data?
ACREDIA Services
Only those units and staff of ACREDIA Services will receive your personal data that require that information for fulfilment of contractual, statutory or regulatory obligations and for legitimate interests.
Processing by contracted service providers
In addition, we work together with selected external service providers. They will receive your personal data if those data are required for fulfilment of their task. Our processors include IT service providers in particular. All processors are contractually required to keep your personal data confidential and only to use them for provision of the respective service.
ACREDIA and members of the Euler Hermes Group
When applying for the conclusion of a debt collection agreement, you consent to us sharing all data disclosed by you, and any data you may disclose in the future, with ACREDIA Versicherung AG, Himmelpfortgasse 29, 1010 Vienna, Austria, for the purpose of risk assessment and with Euler Hermes SA, 56 Avenue des Arts, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, for the purpose of risk assessment by companies belonging the Euler Hermes Group (a list of companies belonging to the Euler Hermes Group [“Euler Hermes”] is available here). This consent to the sharing of data is required for the conclusion of the debt collection agreement and the processing of debt collection orders.
Why does data need to be shared for performance of the contract?
ACREDIA Services carries out the debt collection process for ACREDIA policyholders who use ACREDIA Services’ ACREDIA Debt Collection product. As such, ACREDIA processes all data concerning the debtor that is transferred to ACREDIA Services by the debt collection agent for the purposes of debt collection. ACREDIA Services also assesses and monitors the creditworthiness and evaluates the risks associated with companies that are customers of ACREDIA policyholders, for which ACREDIA underwrites insurance sums. The data is therefore processed for the purpose of risk assessment; this processing forms the basis for credit decisions made by ACREDIA, according to which insurance sums are underwritten.
The data is likewise shared with Euler Hermes for the purpose of risk assessment; the shared data forms the basis for credit decisions by Euler Hermes with respect to its insurance contracts.
Sharing data with ACREDIA and Euler Hermes is necessary for the operation of a central, group-wide information system for the coordinated, mutual exchange of information between ACREDIA Services, ACREDIA and Euler Hermes. On one hand, this group-wide information system enables the identification, monitoring and management of the insurance risks assumed by ACREDIA and Euler Hermes, and forms a prerequisite for providing insurance cover commensurate with the risks. On the other, the use of this group-wide information system forms the necessary technical and commercial assessment basis for ACREDIA Services to be able to provide its policyholders with its products and services. The consent to the sharing of data may be revoked by the data subject at any time.
Sharing of data with third parties
We will only share your personal data with third parties insofar as it is necessary for fulfilment of the contract, for legitimate interests, as required by regulatory or statutory provisions or on the basis of your consent. Recipients of your personal data may, for example, include reinsurers, insurance intermediaries, ACREDIA, companies belonging to the Euler Hermes Group, credit agencies, assignees, authorities and courts. Like the staff of ACREDIA Services, those recipients are required to comply with data protection.
Are your data transmitted to a third country?
If personal data are transmitted abroad, we will ensure compliance with the applicable laws and regulations. Acredia Services will only transmit your personal data to a third country outside the European Union (“EU”) or the European Economic Area (“EEA”) insofar as it is necessary for fulfilment of the contract with the company concerned, for legitimate interests, as legally required or on the basis of your consent. In addition, the European Commission must have established that said third country offers an adequate level of data protection, or other suitable and appropriate safeguards (e.g. EU standard contractual clauses) must be implemented to ensure the transmission of your data to the respective third country is in compliance with data protection law.
Examples of processing of personal data outside the EEA are measures to collect outstanding receivables from debtor companies that have their registered office outside the EEA and data processing for the purpose of risk assessment by companies belonging to the Euler Hermes Group that have their registered office outside the EEA.
How long will we retain your data for?
Acredia Services will process your personal data insofar as they are required and for the duration necessary for the purposes for which they were collected (e.g. for the duration of the business relationship, from steps prior to entering into the contract and performance of the contract through to termination of the contract). In addition, we will process your personal data in accordance with the statutory retention and documentation obligations and for as long as required for the establishment, clarification and defence of legal claims.
The statutory retention and documentation obligations are based, for example, on the Austrian Company Code (“UGB”) and the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code (“BAO”). In addition, Acredia Services takes into account the statutory limitation periods of between three and thirty years.
What rights do you have?
You may obtain information at any time about the stored personal data concerning yourself, as well as information about the purpose of the processing and its legal basis, the data categories, the recipients, the duration of storage and the source of the personal data concerning yourself that are processed by us.
If your data are not (or no longer) correct, you may obtain rectification of the data. If your data are incomplete, you may obtain their completion. Furthermore, you have the right to erasure of unlawfully processed data. Please note that this only applies to incorrect, incomplete or unlawfully processed personal data. If it is unclear whether the processed data are incorrect or incomplete or are unlawfully processed, you may obtain restriction of the processing of your data until final resolution of that question. Please note that you can only obtain either rectification/completion of your data or their erasure.
Even if your personal data are correct and complete and are lawfully processed by us, you have the right to obtain erasure of the data in specific cases duly justified by you. Furthermore, you may withdraw your consent to processing of your personal data with effect for the future if your consent is the legal basis for the data processing.
You may receive the personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or require that we transmit those data to another controller.
If your personal data is processed to protect our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of third parties, you have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to the processing of this data. We will then no longer process your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms of, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
You may exercise any of the relevant rights (Articles 15 to 21 GDPR) by sending a letter to the “Datenschutzbeauftragter” (Data Protection Officer) at Acredia Services GmbH, Himmelpfortgasse 29, 1010 Vienna, Austria. The letter must be personally signed and/or bear the authorised signature of the company. As proof of your identity, we require a copy of your personal ID document/passport and/or an extract from the commercial register. You may also send a scanned copy of those documents by email to datenschutz@acredia.at.
Thank you for your understanding that in case of doubt we will require further details concerning your identity. That protects you by ensuring that only authorised persons have access to your data. We regret that we must therefore reject any requests for information without proof of identity and cannot provide information by telephone.
We will inform you accordingly about the relevant measures without undue delay and by no later than within a month of receipt of your request.
Are you obliged to provide data?
By default, our contracts with customers state that, in the scope of the business relationship, you will provide us with the data that are necessary for entering into and performing the business relationship.
If you do not provide the required data to us, we will have to decline conclusion of the contract or performance of the relevant service or will be unable to perform an existing contract and will therefore have to terminate the contract. Please note that the above would not be deemed contractual non-fulfilment on our part.
You are not obliged to provide us with data that are not needed for fulfilment of the contract or for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of third parties and that are not legally required.
If you are not our customer, you are not obliged to provide data to us. However, we kindly ask you to provide us with relevant information on request – in particular, to avoid the storage of incorrect data from the outset.
If we process your data on the basis of your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time, with the result that we will stop processing your data for the purposes stated in the declaration of consent following receipt of the withdrawal of consent.
Is automated decision-making (including profiling) conducted?
Acredia Services uses automated data processing methods to assess the creditworthiness of companies and in some cases generates automated ratings and credit recommendations, including processing of data using profiling (Article 22 GDPR), in order to perform credit checks faster and more efficiently.
We check the creditworthiness of companies on the basis of information they have provided themselves (self-disclosure about their economic and financial position), taking into account other information such as commercial register data, balance sheet data, payment record, affiliated companies, data for collection of receivables, media monitoring, insolvency information and credit reports.
We calculate a rating. The likelihood of a company fulfilling its payment obligations is calculated. The automatically generated results of the calculation are based on appropriate, recognised mathematical/statistical methods and are supplemented by the know-how of the Acredia Services experts. The Acredia Services experts have the authority to modify automatically generated decisions.
If we use such a method in your case, we will notify you if required by law. You have the right to require a personal review of the automated individual decision. If you have any objections to automated decision-making, please make use of our contact details to inform us of your objections.
How do we protect your data?
We take the security of your data in our systems very seriously. We have taken suitable technical and organisational measures to secure our data processing, in particular for the protection of your personal data. We protect your data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, accidental destruction or accidental damage. The measures taken by us include, for example, the use of modern security software and encryption methods, physical access controls and precautions to prevent external and internal attacks. In addition, all staff of Acredia Services, processors and third parties that we share your data with are required to keep all customer information and facts confidential which solely come to their knowledge on the basis of their work.
Is it possible to lodge a complaint?
If you have any complaints, questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact our data protection staff.
In addition, you may lodge a complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority if you believe that the processing of your personal data is unlawful:
Austrian Data Protection Authority
Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Telephone: +43 (0)1 52152-0
Email: dsb@dsb.gv.at
www.dsb.gv.at
Will this Privacy Policy be updated?
Acredia Services will review and update this Privacy Policy on an ongoing basis, especially in the event of any technical or legal changes or in connection with offering new products or services. We therefore kindly request that you peruse this information regularly.
Version dated October 2020
[1] “Customers” are chiefly policyholders of ACREDIA and Euler Hermes.
[2] “Business partners” include, in particular, customers of policyholders of ACREDIA and Euler Hermes and potential insurance customers of ACREDIA and Euler Hermes.
[3] For details, please see the explanation in the “What are personal data?” chapter and other key data protection terms under “What are personal data and who is a data subject?”.