WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: February 2, 2024

This website (“Site”) is operated by VORWEK, LLC. VORWEK, LLC (referenced herein as “Vorwerk” or “we” or “us” or “our”), recognizes the importance of protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains our information practices and how Vorwerk collects, uses, maintains, protects, and discloses the personal information you choose to provide to us, whether online or otherwise.  By using Vorwerk’s website and any products, services software, tools, applications, features or functionality offered on or through the website or mobile application (collectively, the “Site” or “Sites”) you signify your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. Please note that if you choose to share information about yourself in an open format, such as through a Third-Party Site such as Facebook, we may consider some of that information to be public information—and not personal information.

Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Site. By accessing or using this Site, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This policy may change from time to time (see CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY below). Your continued use of this Site after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT ADDRESS THE PRIVACY PRACTICES OR POLICIES OF THIRD PARTIES WITH WHICH WE MAY SHARE YOUR INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN THIS POLICY, INCLUDING THERMOMIX INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS. Thermomix Independent Consultants are independent third-party contractors of Vorwerk, are not otherwise affiliated with Vorwerk, and are responsible for their own practices with respect to the collection, sharing, and use of your information.

 

INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU AND HOW WE COLLECT IT

We collect several types of information from and about users of our Site, including information:

• By which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, email address, telephone number, credit card information, and any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline, as well as banking information and social security number, if you register as a Thermomix Independent Consultant (“personal information”);
• That is about you but individually does not identify you; and/or
• About your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Site, IP addresses, device identifiers, and usage details.

 

We collect this information:

• Directly from you when you provide it to us.
• Automatically as you navigate through the Site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies, web beacons, and similar technology.
• From third parties, for example, our Thermomix Independent Consultants.

 

INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE TO US 

We collect information from you when you make contact with us through other sources (including through one of our Thermomix Independent Consultants), or when you use our Sites, such as when you:

• Complete forms on our Sites (e.g., requesting a product demonstration or additional information regarding our Independent Consultant business opportunity, etc.);
• Create an eShop account;
• Place or attempt to place an order on our eShop;
• Register for an event;
• Attend and/or complete forms at a Vorwerk event;
• Attend and/or complete forms at a Cooking Demonstration / Experience;
• Register as a Thermomix Independent Consultant;
• Communicate or coordinate with a customer service representative (e.g., email, chat, phone, etc.)
• Participate in promotions or surveys;
• Participate in our Loyalty Program;
• Sign-up for our newsletter;
• Forward information to a friend; and
• Enter a contest or sweepstakes or promotion sponsored by us.

You also may provide information to be published or displayed (hereinafter, “posted”) on public areas of the Site or transmitted to other users of the Site or third parties (collectively, “User Contributions”). Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. Additionally, we cannot control the actions of other users of the Website with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that your User Contributions will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.

 

INFORMATION WE COLLECT THROUGH AUTOMATIC DATA COLLECTION TECHNOLOGIES  

As you navigate through and interact with our Site, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:

• Details of your visits to our Site, including traffic data, location data, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Site.
• Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type.

The information we collect automatically is only statistical data and does not include personal information, but we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. It helps us to improve our Site and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:

• Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
• Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Site according to your individual interests.
• Speed up your searches.
• Recognize you when you return to our Site.

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:

• Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting, you may be unable to access certain parts of our Site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Site.
• Web Beacons. Pages of our Site and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit Vorwerk, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).

 

THIRD-PARTY USE OF COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

We may allow selected third-party services to use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our website. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.

 

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

• To present our Site and its contents to you. This would include the use of any interactive features on our Site.
• To respond to your inquiries, resolve technical issues, market to you, and fulfill your requests. We may use your personal information to provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us; fulfill your product orders; connect you to a Thermomix Independent Consultant, resolve technical issues, and fulfill any other request you may have. For example, we may reach out to you if you submit a “Join Us” form, or we may connect you with a Thermomix Independent Consultant to provide you with a Cooking Demonstration / Experience or Welcome Service or send you information about other Thermomix products or products from selected partners that may be of interest to you.
• To send servicing and transactional emails. We may use your personal information to send you emails for servicing and transactional purposes, including but not limited to: (i) confirm your account registration on our Sites; (ii) confirm transactions through our Sites; (iii) inform you that we have received your personal information; (iv) provide you with notices about your account; (v) provide you with information regarding Thermomix; (vi) notify you about changes to any products or services offered through our Sites; (v) verify your identity, including account related questions; (vii) to inform you of any changes related to our Sites, including our Terms of Use
• To communicate with you if you are a Thermomix Independent Consultant. We may reach out to provide you with sales and/or business support, or contact you as needed by sending an email, placing a voice call, or sending a text (SMS), as authorized by our Terms of Use and/or the Independent Consultant Agreement.
• To permit emails to and gifts to friends. We may provide functionality to permit you to send messages regarding Site-related content to a friend through the Site or send gifts directly to friends. If you wish to use this feature, you may provide us with your friend’s email address so that we can facilitate the sending of your message to your friend.

• Form and signing up for texts. You consent to receive marketing text messages (e.g. promos, cart reminders) from Vorwerk, LLC at the number provided, including messages sent by autodialer. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Msg & data rates may apply. Msg frequency varies. Unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP or clicking the unsubscribe link (where available).

• Other uses. We may use your personal information to: (i) fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it; (ii) carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection; (iii) provide you with targeted marketing and advertising; or (iv) fulfill any other purpose we may describe when you provide the information.

 

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.

We may disclose personal information that we collect, or you provide as described in this Privacy Policy, as follows:

• To our subsidiaries and affiliates. We may share your personal information with other businesses that are part of the Vorwerk Group.
• To third parties for direct marketing purposes. We may share your personal information with Thermomix Independent Consultants as requested by you, or to provide you with the services contemplated and/or included as part of your order. For example, if you request a Cooking Demonstration, place an order through a Thermomix Independent Consultant’s personal link or identify a Thermomix Independent Consultant ID with your order, we will disclose your personal information to such Thermomix Independent Consultant. If you make a Thermomix unit purchase without identifying a Thermomix Independent Consultant, we will also share your personal information with one or more Independent Consultants so they can follow up with you and provide you with a Welcome Service, which is the Cooking Demonstration that is included with the purchase of a Thermomix unit. Thermomix Independent Consultants who receive your personal information may then use it to contact you about additional offers that may interest you.
• Thermomix Independent Consultant Information. If you are a Thermomix Independent Consultant, we may disclose certain of your personal information (e.g., your name and contact information) and other information to current and potential Vorwerk customers who are seeking the assistance of a Thermomix Independent Consultant, to customers who are or who become connected to you, and to other Thermomix Independent Consultants (e.g., if you are a “downline” Thermomix Independent Consultant, we may make your personal information and other information about you available to your “upline”). If required by law, we will get your consent to such disclosures or allow you to opt out of such disclosures.
• To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business. We may share your personal information with third parties who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
• Referral. If you wish to refer our products to a friend, you may be asked to provide your name and email address, as well as your friend’s name and email address, so that we may facilitate your referral or message. Your name and your email address may be disclosed to your friend in such email.
• Business Transfer. To a buyer or other successor in the event of a potential or actual merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, joint venture, assignment, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Vorwerk’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by Vorwerk about our Site users is among the assets transferred.
• Other Disclosures. We may disclose your personal information to: (i) fulfill the purpose for which you provide it, or (ii) subject to your consent, fulfill any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.

In addition, we reserve the right to disclose and use your information if we believe that we are required to do so: (i) by law; (ii) in response to legal process, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena; (iii) in response to a law enforcement agency’s request; (iv) to enforce our Terms of Use or our other terms, conditions, or policies; (v) to protect our operations; (vi) to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of Vorwerk, you or others; and/or (vii) to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain. For example, we may, to the fullest extent the law allows, disclose your information to law enforcement agencies to assist them in identifying individuals who have been or may be engaged in unlawful activities.

 

CHOICES ABOUT HOW WE USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:

• Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
• Disclosure of Your Information for Third-Party Advertising. If you do not want us to share your personal information with unaffiliated or non-agent third parties for promotional purposes, you can opt-out by rejecting these cookies. You can also always opt-out by sending us an email with your request to service@termomixdirect.com.
• Promotional Offers from Vorwerk. If you do not wish to have your email address used by Vorwerk to promote our own products or services, you can unsubscribe to our emails as provided in the promotional emails sent to you.
• Targeted Advertising. If you do not want us to use information that we collect or that you provide to us to deliver advertisements according to our advertisers’ target-audience preferences, you can opt-out by rejecting these cookies and/or all cookies, or by sending us an email with your request to service@termomixdirect.com.

We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) on the NAI’s website.

Residents of certain states, such as California, Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia may have additional personal information rights and choices. Please see YOUR STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS below for more information.

 

INTEREST-BASED ADVERTISING 

We may partner with ad networks and other ad serving providers (“Advertising Providers”) who serve ads on behalf of us and others on non-affiliated sites and mobile apps. Some of those ads may be personalized, meaning that they are intended to be more relevant to you based on information Advertising Providers collect about your visits to our Sites and other non-affiliated websites and mobile apps over time on your browser or device, as well as on the browsers or devices associated with it. This practice is known as interest-based advertising (“IBA”). You may visit www.aboutads.info/choices to learn more about this type of advertising and to opt-out of this form of advertising on your browser by companies participating in the DAA self-regulatory program. To learn more about your choices on mobile devices and to opt out of IBA in mobile apps from companies participating in the DAA self-regulatory program, you can download the relevant version of the DAA's AppChoices tool at www.youradchoices.com/appchoices.

When you exercise your choice, data will not be collected or used for IBA on that browser or device. Additionally, data from associated browsers and devices will not be used for IBA on the device where the choice was made. Note that electing to opt out will not stop advertising from appearing in your browser or applications, but it may make the ads you see less relevant to your interests. In addition, note that if you use a different browser or device, or erase your cookies or reset your mobile device identifier, you will need to renew your opt-out choice.

 

DATA SECURITY

We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from unauthorized access.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you or where you have chosen a password for access to certain parts of our Site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Site like product reviews. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the Site.

 

CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 16

Our Site is not intended for children under 16 years of age. No one under age 16 may provide any personal information to or on the Site. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are under 16, do not use or provide any information on this Site or through any of its features, register on the Site, make any purchases through the Site, use any of the interactive or public comment features of this Site, or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 16 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 16, please contact us at service@termomixdirect.com.

 

STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS

California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia state residents have certain rights under state privacy laws with respect to personal information we collect.  If you are a resident of these states, this section contains disclosures required by law and explains rights that may be available to you. This section applies only to “personal information” that is subject to the state laws noted above. This section applies to all customers (referenced to in this section as “consumers”).

 

Personal Information We Collect and Disclose. In the past 12 months, we collected, disclosed, and/or sold (limited to sharing for IBA) the categories of personal information about consumers identified in the chart below.

 

Categories of Sources. We collect this personal information from the following categories of sources:

• Consumers (including information you provide and information that other customers or Thermomix Independent Consultants may provide us about you);
• Service providers;
• Social networks; and third-party messaging applications

 

Why We Collect, Use, and Share Personal Information. We use and disclose the personal information we collect for our commercial and business purposes, as further described in this Privacy Policy.

 

Recipients of Personal Information. We disclose the categories of personal information designated above to the categories of third parties listed below for business purposes:

• Service providers;
• Thermomix Independent Consultants;
• Government entities, such as to respond to a legal demand;
• Advertising providers;
• Internet service providers;
• Data analytics providers;
• Operating systems and platforms; and
• Social networks.

 

Additionally, although we do not sell personal information for money, we do share personal information for IBA purposes (also known as “targeted advertising” or “cross-context behavioral advertising”) to Advertising Providers, and this sharing may be considered a sale under state law.

 

Your Rights Regarding Personal Information.

If you are a California resident you are covered by a separate state privacy notice under California law, which entitles you to the below:

• The right to confirm whether we are processing personal information about you;
• The right to know the categories of personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell and share about you, the categories of sources from which we collected your personal information, our purposes for collecting or selling your personal information, the categories of your personal information that we have either sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose, and the categories of third parties to which we have disclosed personal information;
• The right to access a copy of the specific pieces of personal information that we maintain about you.
• The right to request that we correct inaccuracies in the personal information we have collected about you.
• The right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you.
• The right to opt out of our sharing (also called sales) of your personal information (also called “targeted advertising” or “cross-context behavioral advertising”).
• The right not to receive discriminatory treatment for the exercise of the above privacy rights.
• The right to request that we delete any of the personal information that we collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.

Once your deletion request is verified, we will proceed with your request, unless an exception applies. We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service providers to:

• Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
• Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
• Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
• Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
• Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 seq.).
• Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
• Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.
• Comply with a legal obligation.
• Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

 

Non-Discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights if you are a California resident. Unless permitted by the state privacy laws, we will not:

• Deny you goods or services.
• Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
• Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
• Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

However, we may offer you certain financial incentives that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels. Any California-permitted financial incentive we offer will reasonably relate to your personal information’s value and contain written terms that describe the program’s material aspects. Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt-in consent, which you may revoke at any time.

 

NOTICE OF FINANCIAL INCENTIVES AND BONA FIDE LOYALTY PROGRAMS (FOR CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO RESIDENTS)

 

As an incentive for providing us with your personal information, you may receive a financial benefit in the form of special offers, credit, free gifts, or other benefits to customers who sign up to receive our marketing communications, join a bona fide customer rewards/loyalty program, complete a survey, or enter a contest, sweepstakes or other similar promotional campaigns (collectively, the “Programs”). When you participate in a Program, we collect personal identifiers such as full name and contact information including email address as well as personal and demographic information you choose to provide. To offer you these Programs, we may disclose this information to advertising networks, marketing partners, data analytics providers, operating systems and platforms, customer support partners, cloud service providers, fraud prevention partners, and technical maintenance and system security providers.

You can opt into a Program by following the sign-up instructions, and you have the ability to opt-out at any time by once again clicking on the “opt-in” box or contacting us at service@termomixdirect.com. In some cases, we may provide additional terms and conditions associated with a particular Program, which we will provide to you when you sign up. In offering the Programs, we consider the value of the free or discounted products or service or other benefits we offer as well as our expenses in offering the Program and ensure that the benefits we offer to consumers are reasonably related to the value of collecting consumers’ personal information to us, such as by being able to reach them with marketing communications or better understand their preferences. Please note that if you request deletion of part or all your personal Information, that could affect your ability to qualify for a Program.

 

If you are a Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia resident you are covered by a separate state privacy notice which entitles you to:

• Correct inaccuracies in their personal information, taking into account the information’s nature processing purpose.
• Opt-out of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

If you are a Nevada resident, you are covered by a separate state privacy notice under Nevada law, which entitles you to a limited right to opt-out of certain personal information sales.

While certain states also provide rights related to sensitive personal information, Vorwerk collects, uses, and discloses sensitive personal information only in ways that do not trigger such rights.

To exercise any of the above rights, please contact us using one of the below methods:

• By email at service@termomixdirect.com

Depending on your state, if you have submitted a request that you believe we have not fulfilled, you may contact us to appeal our decision by sending an email with the subject line “Appeal” to service@termomixdirect.com.

 

Verification Process and Required Information. Note that we may need to request additional information from you to verify your identity or understand the scope of your request. You will not be required to create an account with us to submit a request or have it fulfilled. When you submit a correction or deletion request or a request to know or access, we will require you to provide, at a minimum, your state of residence, name, and email address, as well as additional sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person from whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative.

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you.

 

Response Timing and Format. We endeavor to respond to a verifiable request within 45 days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable.

 

Authorized Agent. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf through the Request Form provided above. To do this, you will need to provide verification, and you will need to give your agent written permission to make the request on your behalf.

 

Minors' Right to Opt-In. We do not knowingly sell or share for IBA the personal information of minors under 16 years of age.

 

Retention. We will retain the personal information we collect in accordance with applicable laws and as reasonably necessary for our business purposes. When it is no longer necessary to process information for our purposes, we will deidentify, aggregate, or delete this information where required by law.

 

NOTICE TO NON-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA RESIDENTS

This Site and the products / services on this Site are targeted for users in the United States of America only. The products on this Site are advertised for sale in the United States of America only. Products will not be shipped outside of the United States of America.

 

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by email to the email address specified in your account and/or through a notice on the privacy policy page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Site and this privacy policy to check for any changes.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions, please contact us at service@termomixdirect.com.