Cortex AG Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 22.12.2023

Welcome!

The protection of individual privacy is of great importance for the future of the business world. We have formulated this privacy policy to demonstrate our firm commitment to the protection of data and the privacy of individuals. It describes how we handle information that can be used directly or indirectly to identify individuals (personal data).

1. Who is Behind the Term "Cortex AG" in this Privacy Policy?

This privacy policy applies to the collection and processing of personal data: during the central operation of this website and other global business activities of Cortex AG, Tischlerstraße 1a, 30916 Isernhagen, Germany, within the scope of a pre-contractual or contractual business relationship with you or your employer by Cortex AG in connection with registration forms when Cortex AG collects personal data directly for the purpose of registering for a service or event and is therefore indicated as the responsible entity on this registration page or website, with reference to this privacy policy.

This privacy policy does not apply to Cortex AG websites or web services for which there is a separate privacy policy.

2. For What Purposes does Cortex AG Process your Personal Data?

In the course of conducting business and operating our various web presences and other communication channels, Cortex AG processes personal data of users with whom it interacts. This includes customers, partners, suppliers, providers, applicants, and other individuals with whom we interact.

In each of these cases, Cortex AG may process personal data for one or more of the following business purposes:

2.1 Processing in the Context of Business Relationships with Customers, Partners, and Other Users

Cortex AG processes personal data to maintain business relationships with its customers, partners, and other users and to fulfill its obligations arising from pre-contractual and contractual business relationships. This includes responding to inquiries, processing orders, providing ordered products or services, or performing other relevant actions to establish and maintain the business relationship and fulfill associated obligations.

Cortex AG's products and services may include on-premise and cloud software products, web services, applications, online forums, webinars and events, non-marketing-related newsletters, white papers, educational programs, training, as well as other offerings such as competitions or giveaways. If you procure or intend to procure Cortex AG products or services on behalf of a corporate customer or act otherwise as a contact person for the business relationship between Cortex AG and a corporate customer or partner (so-called "representative of a client"), Cortex AG uses your personal data for this purpose. In particular, Cortex AG may use your personal data to confirm the opening of an account for you or on your behalf, manage contract processes, provide legally required notifications, payment notifications, and other information about our products and services. Cortex AG may respond to inquiries in this context, provide necessary support, and process your feedback.

In the context of using our products or services by you or your employer, Cortex AG may communicate with you by mail, email, live chat, contact form, phone, or other medium when it comes to responding to your questions or handling complaints from you, a user, or a customer, or investigating suspicious activities. For quality improvement, Cortex AG may record phone calls or chat sessions of the services if you have been informed during the respective session and have given your consent to the recording in accordance with applicable law before the recording starts.

Customer satisfaction: In the context of an existing business relationship between you or your employer and Cortex AG, Cortex AG processes your personal data to determine your satisfaction with the features and quality of our products and services. It also provides you with relevant information about current product announcements, software updates or upgrades, events, special offers, and other information about Cortex AG's products and services that may be relevant and useful to you.

2.2 Processing for the Development of New Products and Services

To the extent permitted by law, Cortex AG may process your personal data for internal research purposes, for demonstration and development of technologies to support Cortex AG products and services in design, development, operation, provision, improvement, update, or expansion. Cortex AG may process personal data to create anonymized datasets that can be used to improve Cortex AG products and services.

2.3 Processing to Comply with Laws and Regulations

Cortex AG processes personal data to fulfill its legal obligations.

Cortex AG processes your personal data to ensure an appropriate level of technical and organizational security for the products, services, online events, facilities, and buildings of Cortex AG. For this purpose, Cortex AG takes the necessary measures to verify or maintain the quality and security of a product or service that is owned by or under the control of Cortex AG or manufactured by or for Cortex AG. This may include the use of personal data for sufficient identification and authorization of named users, internal quality control through audits, analyses, and research, debugging to detect and eliminate errors affecting existing or planned functions, account and network security, replication to prevent data loss, detection of security incidents, protection against malicious, fraudulent, or unlawful activities, and tracking those responsible for these activities. Your name, image, and other contact or compliance-related data may be further processed by Cortex AG in the context of access management and video surveillance when you visit a Cortex AG branch to ensure the security of our locations and facilities.

Cortex AG and its products, technologies, and services are subject to the export regulations of various countries, including those of the European Union and its member states. According to applicable export regulations, trade sanctions, and embargoes of these countries, Cortex AG is obligated to prevent organizations, companies, and other parties listed in certain sanction lists issued by authorities (Sanctioned Party Lists) from accessing specific products, technologies, and services through Cortex AG websites or other distribution channels. These sanction lists include, in particular, the sanction list of the European Union and the sanction list of the United Nations Security Council. Cortex AG processes personal data as necessary to comply with these legal requirements. In particular, Cortex AG processes personal data in the course of automated comparisons with applicable sanction lists and the regular repetition of such comparisons when sanction lists are updated or a user updates their information. In case of a potential match, Cortex AG blocks access to Cortex AG's services and systems and contacts the user to verify their identity.

If necessary, Cortex AG uses personal data to prevent or investigate criminal activities, such as any form of cybercrime, the unlawful use of our products and services, or fraud, to assert our legal claims or defend against legal claims.

2.4 Processing for the Operation of Cortex AG Websites, Web Offerings, or other Online Events

Cortex AG processes personal data for the purpose of operating, providing, and managing your use of Cortex AG websites, web offerings, or other online events.

Creation of User Profiles

For certain web offerings linked to Cortex AG websites, including forums, blogs, and networks, you must register and create a user profile. Through the user profile, you can display personal information about yourself to other users, including your name, photo, social network accounts, postal or email address, phone number, personal interests, skills, and basic information about your company. User profiles are designed to personalize interactions between users (such as through messaging or the "Follow" function) and enable Cortex AG to promote collaboration and the quality of communication through such offerings. Through the profile settings of the respective web offering, you can determine which information you want to make visible to other users.

Identity Service

The user profile may relate to a specific web offering of Cortex AG but also allows you to access other web offerings of Cortex AG. You can decide whether you want to use these additional web offerings or not. If you use these offerings, Cortex AG provides your personal data to this other web offering to enable your initial access to the offering. Please note that without your consent to the creation of such user profiles, Cortex AG is unable to offer you services for which your consent is a legally required prerequisite.

Event Data

When you register for an event, seminar, or webinar of Cortex AG, Cortex AG may share basic participant data (your name, company, and email address) with other participants of the same event to promote interaction among participants and facilitate information and idea exchange.

Improvement of User Experience

In connection with your access to our web offerings, Cortex AG processes information to enhance your user experience, identify your individual requirements, and provide you with personalized information. For this purpose, we collect information regardless of whether you register with a user profile.

Cookies and Similar Tools

Cortex AG processes personal data about Cortex AG website users and other web offering users using cookies or similar technologies for the purposes described in the Cortex AG Cookie Statement.

2.5 Processing for Talent Search

Cortex AG collects and processes personal data of qualified applicants and candidates interested in career opportunities at Cortex AG from various sources. Applicants and candidates are encouraged to submit both unsolicited applications and applications for job postings through the Cortex website. Cortex AG collects personal data through the Cortex-Website for the purpose of conducting application procedures and selecting applicants.

2.6 Processing for Offering New Products and Services

Cortex AG collects and processes personal data for sales and marketing purposes. We want to keep you informed about upcoming events and the latest products and services of Cortex AG. If possible, we will contact you to determine your further interest in Cortex AG services and offerings.

Obtaining Feedback and Customer Surveys

To the extent permitted by law, Cortex AG may contact you to obtain feedback for the improvement of relevant materials, products, or services. Cortex AG may also invite you to participate in customer surveys. These are generally designed so that you can participate without providing information that identifies you as a participant. If you nevertheless provide personal data, Cortex AG uses it for the purposes specified in the survey or for improving products and services.

Providing Information

In the context of a business relationship between you or your employer and Cortex AG, Cortex AG processes your personal data to inform you about Cortex AG products or services that are similar to or related to products and services already acquired or used by you or your employer. Cortex AG will only inform you by email or phone about new products and services if this is legally permissible or if Cortex AG has obtained the necessary consent within the business relationship. You are entitled to object to the use of your personal data by Cortex AG for this purpose at any time by using the unsubscribe options in the footer of marketing-related emails.

Personalized Content

Cortex AG processes information about your interactions with Cortex AG in various business areas and their offerings (current and future use of Cortex AG products or services by you or your employer, your participation in and use of Cortex AG web offerings, events, white papers, free trials, or newsletters) to provide you with the requested products and services and improve our personal communication with you. This data can also be used for the efficient conduct of Cortex AG's business activities, including the automation and aggregation of data to support various analyses and statistics, the conduct of performance and predictive analyses and data science for market research purposes, to support and fulfill your needs, and to develop marketing strategies and create, develop, send, and improve personalized messages for you. They may also be used to display relevant content on Cortex AG or third-party websites.

Creation of User IDs for Advertising Purposes

If your consent has been obtained or this is legally permissible, Cortex AG may create a hashed user ID and transmit it to social networks or other web offerings operated by third parties (such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or Google). This information is then matched with the user databases of the third party to present you with further relevant Cortex AG content.

3. What Personal Data Does Cortex AG Process?

Cortex AG processes various types of personal data about individuals with whom we interact in the course of our business activities or the operation of our various web presences and other communication channels. Depending on the specific case, these may include the following types of personal data:

3.1 Contact Information

Cortex AG processes the following categories of personal data as contact information: first name, last name, email addresses, postal address/location (country, state, city), phone numbers, and the history of your business relationship with Cortex AG.

3.2 Personal Data Related to the Business Relationship with Cortex AG

In the context of business relationships, Cortex AG processes your company's name, industry, your job title or role, department and function, as well as the history of your business relationship with Cortex AG. If you provide a credit card number or bank details to order products or services, Cortex AG collects this information to process your payment for the requested products or services.

3.3 Processing of Personal Data to Comply with Regulations

If required by law, Cortex AG may process data categories such as date of birth, academic qualifications, identification numbers such as passport or other identification documents, geolocation data, business-relevant information (e.g., significant legal disputes or other legal proceedings), and other information relevant to export control or compliance with specific regulations.

3.4 Data Generated in the Course of Your Use of Cortex AG Websites or Online Services

Usage Data

Cortex AG processes certain user-related information, such as information about your browser, operating system, or IP address when you access Cortex AG websites. Additionally, we process information about your use of our web offerings, such as the pages you visited, the time you spent on a page, the page through which you accessed our website, and the links you clicked on our websites.

Registration Data

Cortex AG may process your contact details and other information you provide directly to Cortex AG when registering for an event or other web services.

Participation Data

When you participate in webinars, virtual seminars, or events or use other Cortex AG web services, Cortex AG may process your interactions with the respective web service to organize the event, including sessions, surveys, or other interactions between Cortex AG and/or participants. Depending on the event and subject to appropriate notification to participants, Cortex AG may create audio and video recordings of the event or session.

3.5 Special Categories of Personal Data

In connection with registering for an event, Cortex AG may ask you to provide information about special dietary needs or any disabilities to make arrangements for the health and well-being of participants. The collection of such information always requires the participants' consent. Please note that Cortex AG may not be able to accommodate such requests during the event if you do not provide information about specific dietary needs.

3.6 Personal Data Collected in the Context of Applying for a Position at Cortex AG

Cortex AG processes personal data of individuals applying for a position at Cortex AG in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Policy for the Cortex AG Career Portal.

3.7 Personal Data Provided by Third Parties, Including Data from Publicly Accessible Sources

Generally, Cortex AG collects personal data directly from the individuals concerned. Subject to your consent or as permitted by law, Cortex AG may also collect personal data from third-party sources. These sources may include:

  • Your employer in the context of its business relationships with Cortex AG and/or the Cortex AG Group,
  • Third parties you have instructed to provide your personal data to Cortex AG,
  • Third-party sources and publicly accessible sources such as business-oriented social networks or information brokers.

When collecting personal data from third-party sources, we ensure through internal controls that the third party is authorized to provide the information to Cortex AG and that we may use the information for this purpose. Cortex AG processes this personal data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and any additional restrictions imposed by the third party providing the data or by applicable national laws.

3.8 Personal Data Required for Improving Customer Satisfaction

To the extent permitted by law or subject to your consent, Cortex AG may aggregate information directly or indirectly collected about specific users to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the data. This allows us to better tailor interactions with you to your needs and determine which information best corresponds to your specific interests or requirements.

4. How Long Does Cortex AG Process Your Personal Data?

Cortex AG processes your personal data only for as long as necessary to provide you with the products and services requested by you or your employer, to comply with our legal obligations to retain personal data arising, among other things, from applicable export, financial, tax, or trade laws, to fulfill the legitimate business purposes of Cortex AG as outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless you have objected to Cortex AG's use of your personal data for these purposes, until you withdraw your consent previously given to Cortex AG for the processing of your personal data. For more information on how to withdraw your consent, see the section below "What Privacy Rights Do You Have?"

Cortex AG may process your personal data for the development of products or services until it is no longer necessary, or until Cortex AG is informed of a change in your relationship with the Cortex AG customer.

Cortex AG may retain your personal data for a longer period if required by legal regulations for processing your personal data or if Cortex AG needs the personal data to assert legal claims or defend against such claims. In this case, Cortex AG stores your personal data until the expiration of the respective retention period or the settlement of the claims.

5. To Whom Will Your Personal Data Be Disclosed?

Your personal data may be disclosed to the following categories of third parties:

5.1 Third-Party Service Providers

Cortex AG may engage third-party service providers to process personal data on behalf of Cortex AG, such as for consulting services or other services, website provision, handling and providing Cortex AG offers, or sending newsletters. These service providers may receive or access personal data in the course of providing their services and are recipients within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws, including the GDPR.

5.2 Cortex AG Partners

With your consent or in accordance with your specifications, including for the provision of services ordered by you, Cortex AG may disclose your personal data to designated partner companies to provide you with the requested products or services.

5.3 Other Third Parties

Cortex AG may transmit your registration data in accordance with your consent or in line with your specifications to companies listed on the registration page for a Cortex AG seminar, webinar, or event. These companies may receive your personal data as co-organizers or sponsors of the event and use your registration data for the purpose of participating in the event. They will provide you with all legally required information about their processing purposes and how you can exercise your rights directly.

6. What Privacy Rights Do You Have?

6.1 Right to Information, Correction, and Deletion

You can request information from Cortex AG at any time about the personal data that Cortex AG processes about you, and, if necessary, request the correction or deletion of this personal data. Please note, however, that Cortex AG can only delete your personal data if there is no legal obligation to retain it or if Cortex AG does not have a primary right to retain it. After your requested deletion of personal data, you may no longer be able to use Cortex AG services that require the use of your personal data by Cortex AG.

6.2 Right to Receive Personal Data from Cortex AG

If Cortex AG uses your personal data based on your consent or to perform a contract with you, you can also request a copy of the personal data you provided to Cortex AG. Submit your request to dsbteam@cortex-ag.com, specifying the information or processing activities to which your request relates, the format in which you want to receive the personal information, and whether these data should be sent to you or another recipient. Cortex AG will carefully review your request and clarify with you how it can be best fulfilled.

6.3 Right to Restriction of Processing

In certain cases, you can request Cortex AG to restrict the further processing of your personal data:

  • If you claim that the personal data about you is incorrect, subject to the time Cortex AG needs to verify the accuracy of the relevant personal data,
  • If there is no legal basis for Cortex AG to process your personal data and you state that your personal data may no longer be processed by Cortex AG,
  • If Cortex AG no longer needs your personal data, but you claim that Cortex AG must continue to retain this data so that you can assert or exercise legal claims or defend against claims by third parties, or
  • If you object to the processing of your personal data based on Cortex AG's legitimate interest (as detailed below), subject to the time required for Cortex AG to review Cortex AG's overriding interest or legal obligation to process your personal data.

6.4 Right to Object

If and to the extent Cortex AG processes your personal data based on Cortex AG's legitimate interest, especially if Cortex AG pursues its legitimate interest in conducting direct marketing or applying profiling related to direct marketing, you have the right to object to such use of your personal data at any time. If you object to the processing of your personal data by Cortex AG for direct marketing purposes, Cortex AG will immediately stop processing your personal data for these purposes. In all other cases, Cortex AG will carefully review your objection and cease further use of the relevant information, subject to compelling reasons that Cortex AG may assert for the further use of the information that may take precedence over your objection interest, or subject to the case where Cortex AG needs the information to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

6.5 Right to Withdraw Consent

In all cases where Cortex AG processes your personal data based on your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time by unsubscribing from Cortex AG communications or notifying us of the withdrawal. In the event of withdrawal, Cortex AG will no longer process the personal data covered by the consent, unless Cortex AG is legally obliged to do so. If Cortex AG is legally obliged to retain your personal data, further processing of your personal data will be correspondingly restricted, and the data will only be stored for the legally required retention period. However, withdrawal does not affect the processing of personal data by Cortex AG until the time of withdrawal. Furthermore, if the use of a Cortex AG offering requires your prior consent, Cortex AG will no longer be able to provide you with the relevant service, offering, or event after your withdrawal.

6.6 Right to Lodge a Complaint

If you believe that Cortex AG processes your personal data not in accordance with the specifications described in this Privacy Policy or with applicable data protection laws, you can file a complaint with the competent data protection authority at any time, especially if you reside in an EEA country, or with the data protection authority of the country or state where Cortex AG has its registered office.

7. How Can You Exercise Your Privacy Rights?

Address all inquiries related to the exercise of your rights to dsbteam@cortex-ag.com.