Privacy Policy

DECLARATION ON DATA PROTECTION

 

SGS Group is committed to the responsible use and protection of your personal information. We have created this statement to provide you with clear and understandable information about our privacy practices when you access, register or purchase services onlineservices.sgs.com so that you can make informed choices about how SGS uses your personal information.

Where this statement refers to "SGS", "us" or "we", it means the SGS office that is responsible for processing your data, with whom you have had, are having or will have a business relationship and who may process your personal data for that purpose. The list of SGS member companies can be found at SGS Global office directory. This also means SGS Digital SA, which manages this website and processes your data in accordance with this statement.

This website may contain links to other SGS websites that allow you to purchase certain digital services. These websites may have privacy statements that differ from this one and/or contain additional information. Please read the privacy statements of the websites you visit to understand how they collect and process your personal data. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

SGS reserves the right to update this statement from time to time by posting a new version online. This statement was prepared in October 2018.

What personal data we collect and for what purpose

SGS collects personal information that you provide directly to us when:

  1. You create an account to use our services and online shopping experience.

When you create such an account, we collect your personal information, such as name, email address, password, country and language preference, as determined by the extended URL of the SGS page where you create your account. If you have chosen to create an account with your social media account, we may receive the social media profile data that you either voluntarily provide to us or that we automatically collect, such as your contact details and job title. If you register as a trader (i.e. a business customer, supplier and/or business partner), we may also collect the following additional information: Company name, company address, company telephone number, type of organization, job title/specialty, customer account number. We use this personal information to set up and maintain your SGS account and to fulfill our contractual obligations to which you are a party. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

  1. You buy our services online

When you purchase SGS services from our online store, we collect the following personal information: Billing address; telephone number; billing history, which includes an overview of the SGS services you have purchased; details of any conversations you have had with customer service departments about your questions about your purchase or experience in the Online Store; details of your registered service, such as the type of service, date of purchase and proof of purchase. When you sign in with your SGS account, your purchase and registration details will be added to your SGS account. If you purchase SGS products/services as a "guest", we use your purchase and registration information to process your purchase, but do not add the information to your SGS account. We use this personal information to establish and maintain your SGS account and to fulfill our contractual obligations to which you are a party.

  1. When you sign up for marketing and promotional communications

When you sign up for marketing and promotional communications, we collect the following personal information: Email address, title, your SGS account details (if you already have one), your interaction with SGS pages, the emails you click and open, and event attendance. We will use your personal data, based on your consent, to send you, as a registered user and customer, promotional communications - based on your preferences and behaviour - about SGS services, events and promotions related to the services you have purchased. SGS Group Companies may contact you with promotional communications via email, SMS and other digital channels, such as mobile apps and social media. In order to tailor communications to your preferences and behaviour and to provide you with the best personalised experience, we may analyse and combine all information associated with your account data and data about your interactions with SGS. We also use this information to create segments of our audience that show which of our products and/or services users are interested in and to track the success of our marketing efforts. SGS gives you the opportunity to withdraw your consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any promotional email you receive from us. If SGS processes your personal data on the basis of consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of the processing based on consent prior to the withdrawal of your consent. To do so, please complete our online privacy request form by indicating that your request relates to a service purchased online. The promotional communications you receive may come from the partner with whom you have had a contractual relationship or from SGS Digital SA.

  1. When you visit our website

SGS also automatically collects personally identifiable information when you visit our website. This may include: Device information such as IP address, referring website, the SGS pages your device visited and the time your device visited our website; Internet log data and details collected by our third party providers such as Google Analytics that do not specifically identify you; Information collected by cookies. We use this personal data based on our legitimate interest to improve our services and enhance your user experience by sending you advertising tailored to your interests. We also do this to get a general idea of the category of audiences that are interested in which of our services. You can delete cookies; while certain cookies are necessary for viewing and navigating our website, most features are accessible without cookies. For more information about the use of cookies and other similar technologies and your choices regarding cookies, please see our Cookie Notice.

With whom we share your personal data

SGS shares and transfers your personal information as described herein and only in accordance with all privacy practices and local privacy requirements. The following are the parties with whom we may share personal information and why:

  • To other companies in the SGS Group and to companies in which SGS has more than a 50% shareholding, where this is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which you provided your personal data, in particular where it is necessary for the provision of services, account management, sales, marketing and support. We take steps to ensure that SGS affiliates, including those located outside the European Economic Area, comply with our Global Privacy Policy, this Privacy Policy and applicable local laws when processing personal data. When you interact with SGS as a business customer, supplier or business partner, SGS may disclose personal data contained in reports and other materials provided by you and/or your company in the course of working with another business partner and/or a supplier.
  • Occasionally to third party contractors and vendors who perform certain functions on behalf of SGS, such as sample collection and delivery, inspection order fulfillment, emailing, removal of repetitive information from customer lists, data analysis and credit card payment processing, direct marketing services, and cloud hosting services. These parties have access to this information only to the extent necessary to perform their functions and may not use it for any purpose other than to provide services to us.
  • SGS may also use and disclose your personal information as we deem necessary or appropriate, including (i) to comply with any law, regulation or governmental or legal request for such information; (ii) in the event of a merger, sale, reorganization or acquisition; (iii) to enforce our terms and conditions; and (iv) to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property and/or the rights of our affiliates or subsidiaries, you or others.

How personal data is protected

SGS uses strict security procedures in storing and disclosing the information you provide to us to prevent unauthorized access, loss or destruction of your personal information. These may include:

  • Physical security measures that include locked doors and filing cabinets, controlled access to our facilities, and secure destruction of media containing your personal information.
  • Technological safeguards such as the use of anti-virus and endpoint protection software, and monitoring of our systems and data centers to ensure they comply with our security policies
  • Organizational safeguards, such as security and privacy training and awareness programs, to ensure that employees understand the importance of protecting your personal information and the means to do so

SGS does not seek to collect sensitive personal data (also known as special categories of data). If we do, we will always collect the data in accordance with local data protection laws. If you choose to provide us with unsolicited sensitive personal data, you will be asked to consent to our processing of such data on a case-by-case basis by using a special explicit consent form.

SGS does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 16. If you are under 16, please speak with your parent/guardian to obtain their consent before providing any personal information to SGS, as you may not provide us with your personal information without such consent. If we learn that we have collected data from a person under the age of 16, we reserve the right to delete that data without prior notice or consent.

SGS will retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfill the original purposes for which it was collected. Please note that in certain cases a longer retention period may be required or permitted by law or to enable SGS to pursue its business interests, conduct audits, comply with our legal obligations, enforce our agreements or resolve disputes.

The criteria for determining our retention periods include: (i) How long is the data needed to provide you with our products or services or to operate our business? (ii) Do you have an account with us? If so, we will retain your data for as long as your account is active or for as long as is necessary to provide the services to you; (iii) Are we subject to any legal, contractual or similar obligation to retain your data? Examples include data retention laws in the relevant jurisdiction, government orders to retain data relevant to an investigation, or data that must be retained for the purposes of a contract or litigation.

How to access and control your personal data

We are committed to ensuring that you can exercise your right to access and control your data.

If you have registered for an account on onlineservices.sgs.com and/or its local equivalents, you may directly and independently access your online profile and other personal information and update, change if legally possible, add or delete information about yourself by logging in to the appropriate website or service using your credentials.

Otherwise, and in accordance with our internal procedures, we will respond to the following requests as described below. All requests should be made through our online privacy request form or by contacting us in writing as described in the "Contacting Us" section:

  • Access to personal information: You have the right to know what personal information we hold about you, subject to our right to verify your identity. If you request a copy of your data, we may charge you a fee unless this is not permitted under local law.
  • Correction and deletion: In some jurisdictions, including the EU (under EU data protection laws for data subjects), you have the right to correct or amend your personal data if it is inaccurate or needs to be updated. You also have the right to request the deletion of your personal data, although this may not always be possible due to legal requirements and other obligations to retain such data. If we are asked to delete your data, we may retain some minimal information about you to demonstrate that we have complied with our obligations.
  • Filing a Complaint: Complaints about our compliance with the practices described in this Statement should be handled as described here. In some jurisdictions, including EU data protection laws for complaints by individuals in the EU, you have the right to file a formal complaint with a data protection authority.
  • Unsubscribe from marketing communications: SGS may periodically send you marketing communications about our Services through various channels such as email, telephone, SMS, direct mail and third party social networks in accordance with relevant marketing laws. If you receive these communications, you will have the option to opt out of receiving them at any time via the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any promotional email you receive from us. In this case, we will retain a minimum amount of personal information to note that you have unsubscribed so that we do not have to contact you again. Please note that even if you opt out of receiving marketing communications, you may continue to receive administrative communications from us, such as technical updates for our products or services, order confirmations, notifications of your account activity, and other important communications.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about your privacy, please write to us: