Privacy Policy

Welcome to the website maintained by Volkswagen AG, Berliner Ring 2, 38440 Wolfsburg, einstieg@volkswagen.de, listed in the register of companies of the District Court of Braunschweig under HRB 100484 (“Volkswagen AG”). We provide information below relating to the processing of your personal data by Volkswagen AG, which is collected when you visit this website.

a. Processing log files

When you visit our website, we process the following log files relating to you:

•     A cookie ID
•    The operating system you use
•     The web browser your use
•     The screen resolution you have set
•     The date and time of your visit

This data is processed in accordance with Art. 6, Section 1 (f) of the GDPR in pursuit of our legitimate interests to show you the website properly. The data is only processed for as long as you access our website.

We use the processor Amazon Web Services (Amazon Web Services, Inc.) to host this website. Access to the data from an unsecured third state cannot be excluded.  Corresponding standard EU data privacy clauses have been concluded, which govern transmission of personal data to processors in third countries (as an appropriate guarantee of data processing in non-European countries), in order to protect your personal data adequately. You can find the EU standard contractual clauses used at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32010D0087.

b. Contact centre

We have a careers contact centre for your questions about starting your career, applying for jobs and available positions. You can reach us on our general hotline (05361-9-36363) and on our apprenticeship hotline (05361-9-46470). Outside of business hours, you can also leave us a message on the answering machine at our general hotline (05361-9-36363). We will then contact you on the phone number you used or by any alternative contact option you provide.

We ask that, when using our hotline, you only disclose the data required to answer your questions about starting at Volkswagen. Particularly sensitive data (this includes ethical background, political views, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, statements about health or sexual orientation etc.) will not be required and may not be passed on.

We process the data and information you provide (email address, phone number for calls if appropriate, optionally your name) exclusively for the purpose of dealing with your request. Insofar as is required for processing, we transmit your data to our Volkswagen Recruiter, Candidate Manager or the relevant departments so that we can clarify your concerns comprehensively, see Art. 6, Section 1 (b) of the GDPR.

The general hotline (05361-9-36363) is manned by Volkswagen Group Services GmbH (Major-Hirst-Str. 11, 38442 Wolfsburg; www.volkswagen-groupservices.com).

Data that has been saved will be deleted after 61 days at the latest.

c. Online application and job portal

Purpose and form of data processing

We process and use your personal data in our online application system only for the purposes required to ensure that the application process runs efficiently and correctly. The same applies to additional data received in the course of the application process, e.g. data obtained from queries and subsequently submitted documents. As part of the online application process, data is requested that is required for online applications. The corresponding fields are marked as “mandatory fields”. Further information can be entered voluntarily in “optional fields”.

Relevant personal data includes:

Core data (e.g. name, title, academic title, gender, place and date of birth, nationality, private contact details, marital status, photos, language skills etc.).

• Job application data (e.g. cover letter and CV, references, testimonies, certificates etc.).
• Marital status details (marriage, civil partnership, children) that could possibly indicate sexual orientation, provided you have disclosed such details as part of your application. 
• Health data (severe disability): You have the option to make a voluntary disclosure concerning particularly sensitive personal data so that we can ensure participation by Volkswagen’s representative body for disabled employees in the selection process.

You are also given the option of approving your applicant profile. This means that your applicant profile can then be considered for jobs matching your applicant profile, regardless of any application you may have submitted. In such a scenario, we would contact you without obligation.

If you do not wish this to happen, you can independently block your applicant profile at any time, with effect for the future. This can be done by clicking the corresponding button (removing the checkmark).

Your registration data (first name, last name, user name, email address and password) is then collected so that we can send you the necessary access data for our careers portal. If you create an individual applicant profile after successfully registering, your registration data will be automatically copied over into your applicant profile, with the exception of your user name and password. You no longer have to enter this data separately. In this respect, your registration data will be treated as application data when it is further processed.

Your data is sent in encrypted format using a suitable system.

Once you have registered, you will have the option to activate the so-called job agent. The job agent notifies you by email as soon as new positions are advertised, which either match the previously defined filter criteria in the job search or have similar criteria to the position via which you activated the job agent. There are two ways to activate the job agents as indicated below:

1. Right at the bottom of the job portal (black banner with blue “Activate” button). The previously defined job search filters are considered here.
2. Directly when viewing a position with the “Tell me about similar jobs” option. The criteria for the respective position are considered here.

All active job agents are listed in your applicant profile under the “Job Agent” option. You can likewise deactivate the job agent at this point in the applicant profile by clicking the waste bin icon for the respective entry.

In order to make our offers more attractive to future applicants, you can also tell us how you became aware of Volkswagen and/or the job offer. This information is of course voluntary and has no influence on the application process. You’d be helping us out a lot, though.

On what legal basis do we process your data?

We process your data primarily to enable us to conduct the job application process and to decide whether to offer you employment or not based on Article 26 Par. 1 (1) of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). If necessary, we process particularly sensitive personal data to enable us to assess your employability on the basis of Article 22 Par. 1 No. 1 (c)) BDSG.

Who processes my data?

Your application will not be machine-reviewed either as part of the screening process or as part of the subsequent selection process. The application will be read and reviewed by employees in the Human Resources department and by employees/managers in the specialist department of our company that you are applying to. This also applies to when an advised vacancy matches an existing applicant profile, provided you have created such a profile in our system. All of the people involved in processing the application are separately required to maintain confidentiality and will treat your data as strictly confidential. Your data is stored on servers in Germany. We reserve the right to employ service providers to undertake so-called "contract data processing" to enable proper operation of the careers portal.

Third-party processors

• The Volkswagen careers portal (job portal and online application) is provided by the Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi AG, (Auto-Union-Straße 1, 85045 Ingolstadt, Germany; www.audi.com). Your data is accordingly processed by Audi AG as the processor.
• Volkswagen Group Services GmbH can be engaged by us for data processing. Your data will be processed accordingly in this case by Volkswagen Group Services GmbH as the processor.

No disclosure of data

Applications are only reviewed for jobs within Volkswagen AG in Germany. If you are interested in vacancies outside Volkswagen AG, but within the Volkswagen Group, you are requested to apply to the relevant company. Your data will only be passed on to other Group companies outside Volkswagen AG with your express consent.

Deletion of data

Once the application process, for the purposes of which we have received your data, has been completed, your data will be automatically deleted from our system after a period of 180 days. Your applicant profile will be automatically deleted if you have not logged in to your profile for more than 180 days. You will receive an automated notification e-mail to this effect 30 days before expiry of this deadline. Automatic deletion will not take effect if

• you log in to your profile within this 180-day period
• you are in the midst of an active application

The automatic deletion of your applicant profile will be extended by 24 months if

• you have been assigned to a Talent Group
• you have activated your applicant profile

In the case of applications for an apprenticeship or the dual-study programme (Volkswagen dual), your data will be deleted by 1 September of the following year, based on the selection process.

Furthermore you can update or delete your data/your applicant profile in/from the system yourself at any time.

You can withdraw your application at any time and/or deselect your approval. These options are included within the application process.

In addition, you can delete your external profile at any time or ask us to do so.

d. Online aptitude tests when applying for training and dual work/study programs (Volkswagen dual):

The application procedure for a training place at Volkswagen includes an online aptitude test. This can be found on the following page: http://onlinetest.vw-azubi.de. Upon successful completion, aptitude tests are carried out on computers on site. The on-site aptitude tests are also part of the application procedure for the dual study programme (Volkswagen dual).
The software for conducting and evaluating the aptitude tests is provided by the Volkswagen Group subsidiary AUDI (see "Third parties as contract data processors").

The aptitude tests are completed and calculated without using personal data. The corresponding applicant identification is carried out via an identification code generated in the Volkswagen HR system. The results of the aptitude tests are used exclusively for the purpose of checking your current application(s). Once the procedure has been completed, the assignment of the tests to your person will be deleted (see "Data deletion"). Test results are therefore no longer available for any subsequent applications for the next recruitment year.

The completely anonymous test statistics are retained in order to constantly ensure the quality of our selection process.

To ensure the quality of our test procedure we use a so-called first party session cookie which is required for the procedure and is exempt from the obligation to obtain consent and provide notification in accordance with EU regulations.

e. Use of Google Maps

Personal data is passed on to Google LLC if you use the directions to find the shortest route to our locations and this is then shown to you in Google Maps. More information on data processing at Google Maps can be found at the following link: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de

a. General information

Volkswagen AG uses various cookies on its websites. Cookies are small files containing configuration information and are saved on your device. Cookies can essentially be divided into three categories. There are cookies that are essential for the functionality of the website (referred to as functional cookies), cookies that make it easier to use a website and, for example, save your language settings (referred to as convenience cookies), and cookies on the basis of which a pseudonymised user profile is created (referred to as tracking cookies).  Only functional and tracking cookies are used for this website.

Functional cookies have to be processed to allow you to visit the website (see Article 6(1) (b) of the GDPR).

Tracking cookies are only used if the website visitor has consented to this (see Article 6(1) (a) of the GDPR). Consent is provided via the cookie banner, which has to be actively clicked to do this.

You can revoke your consent to the data processing outlined using the listed cookies and tracking tools at any time and with effect for the future by clicking the following link and changing your current preferences in our Cookie Consent Manager:

Manage my cookie preferences

For further information on our cookies, please refer to the cookie guidelines as well as the details provided below.

• Smart Signals
  Based on the analysis of usage described above, Smart Signals controls distribution of personalised content on Volkswagen’s websites. No personal data is collected or processed as part of that.
      
• Ensighten
  Ensighten is a tag management tool and controls the tag integration described here. Ensighten itself does not collect any personal data as part of that.

b. Adobe Analytics

This website uses the Adobe Analytics web analytics service to evaluate user access to this website. Data is processed on the basis of the consent provided by you (see Article 6(1) (a) of the GDPR).

For the purpose of evaluation, cookies are stored on your computer to collect information, which is also stored on the servers of our processor Adobe Systems Software Ireland Limited (“Adobe”). Access to the information by Adobe Systems Incorporated based in the USA cannot be excluded. Corresponding standard EU contractual clauses have been concluded, which govern transmission of personal data to processors in third countries (as an appropriate guarantee of data processing in non-European countries), in order to protect your personal data adequately. You can find the EU standard contractual clauses used at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32010D0087.   

It is not possible to link the information stored on the Adobe servers directly to a specific person, since Adobe Analytics is used with the “Before Geo-Lookup: Replace visitor’s last IP octet with 0” and “Obfuscate IP-Removed” settings selected. The “Before Geo-Lookup: Replace visitor’s last IP octet with 0” setting ensures that the IP address is anonymised before this geolocalisation by replacing the final octet of the IP address with zeroes. For the purpose of statistical evaluation, the user’s approximate location is added to the tracking package, which still contains the full IP address. Before the tracking package is saved, the IP address is then replaced with an individual, fixed IP address – referred to as a generic IP address – if the “Obfuscate IP-Removed” setting has been configured. This means that the IP address is no longer contained in a data set that is saved.

You may assert the following rights vis-à-vis Volkswagen AG at any time and at no cost: Please see section F for further information about exercising your rights.

Right of access

You are entitled to information (Article 15 GDPR) from us relating to the processing of your personal data.

Right to rectification

You have the right to request that we rectify (Article 16 GDPR) any inaccurate or incomplete personal data concerning yourself.

Right to erasure

You have the right to have your data erased if the conditions set out in Article 17 of the GDPR are met. For example, you may require the erasure of your data if it is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected. You may also request that your data be erased if we process your data on the basis of your consent and you subsequently revoke this consent.

Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to ask for a restriction of the processing of your data if the conditions set out in Article 18 of the GDPR are met. For example, these preconditions will be fulfilled if you dispute the correctness of your data. You may then require the restriction of processing while the correctness of this data is reviewed.

Right of data portability

You have the right to receive your data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and transfer this data to another data processor, provided that data processing is based on consent or contract fulfilment and that automated processing methods are used.

Right to withdraw consent

Where data processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent to data processing with effect for the future at any time and at no cost.

Right to lodge a complaint

You also have the right to lodge a complaint about our processing of your data with a supervisory authority (such as the Data Protection Commissioner for the German State of Lower Saxony [Die Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz Niedersachsen]).

Right to object

If processing is based on an overriding legitimate interest, you have the right to object to the processing of your data. An objection is permitted if processing is performed in the public interest or if it is performed for a legitimate interest of Volkswagen AG or of a third party. If you object to data processing, please specify the reasons why you object to this data processing. You also have the right to object to data processing for direct advertising purposes. The same applies to profiling, insofar as it is related to direct marketing. 

Contact persons for exercising your rights

The contact persons for exercising your rights and for further information can be found on the following website: https://datenschutz.volkswagen.de. 

Data protection officer

Our data protection officer is available to you as a contact for any concerns related to privacy:

Data Protection Officer of Volkswagen AG
Berliner Ring 2, 38440 Wolfsburg
datenschutz@volkswagen.de

Version dated: 21 August 2022