Privacy Policy

General

SEAT Ireland a division of Volkswagen Group Ireland Limited, (“we”, “us”, “our”) are committed to protecting and respecting the personal data you as a customer share with us. SEAT Ireland are the Data Controller of your personal data processed in connection with this Statement.

This Statement describes the types of personal data we collect from you, how it is used by us, how we share it with others, how long we keep your information for, your rights and how you can contact us.

Definitions

To ensure this Statement is easy to understand, we have explained some key terms used below.

1. Personal data: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”). An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
2. Data subject: Any identified or identifiable natural person, whose personal data is processed by the controller responsible for the processing. For example, a customer.
3. Processing: Any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of 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.
4. Data Controller: A natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.
5. Processor: A natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

What information do we collect?

Information you give us: You may give us information about you and your vehicle when you engage with us, a member of our Authorised Dealer and Repairer Network or via our websites and applications. We only collect information from you which is necessary, relevant and adequate for the purpose you are providing it for.

Information we get from your use of our services or our service providers: We collect information about you or your vehicle when you use our website, applications and contact our customer care centres. We also obtain information about you or your vehicle from our Authorised Dealers and Repairers. Some of this information does not identify you personally but provides us with information about how you use our services and engage with us. We use this information to improve our services and make them more useful to you.

We collect the following information about you:

1. Personal Information: Name (including title), address including Eircode, phone number, date of birth (only where and if strictly necessary), identification document, PPSN and email address.
2. Vehicle Information: Registration number, vehicle identification number (VIN), service reminders, fuel consumption, mileage and warranty-covered repair information, your preferred authorised repairer / dealer.  
3. Service Information: The date and time you used our services and service history.
4. Website Information: The pages you visited on our website and how long you visited us for, IP address, GPS location (where you have permitted access to this and only if relevant), the internet browser and devices you are using, cookies, pixels or beacon information (for more information please see our Cookies Policy) and the website from which you accessed our website.
5. Transactional Information: Details of any transactions between you and us or members of our authorized dealer network, payment details (where relevant).
6. Professional Information: When you engage with us in a business context, we may collect your job title, company contact details (including email addresses), fleet size and company details.
7. Customer Service Information: Voice recordings and transcripts of calls you make to our customer service centres, “LiveChat” records, any information in correspondence you share with us.
8. CCTV Information: Where CCTV is operating on our premises that you enter.
9. Marketing Information: Your marketing preferences, marketing campaigns that have been issued to you.

How do we use your personal information?

We will only process information that is necessary for the purpose for which it has been collected. The purpose of processing, the corresponding categories of personal data and the legal basis for processing are set out below.

How do we share this information?

Where necessary, we may disclose your information to third parties who handle certain services on our behalf. This may include third parties who assist with roadside assistance, customer contact centres, direct marketing communications, processing payments on our website, market research or market analytics.

We will also share your information with our Authorised Dealer and Repairer Network where we need them to manage your requests. This may include scheduling a test drive, completing purchase of a vehicle or parts/accessories, providing important vehicle information, fulfilment of services and warranties and providing you with a quote or brochure.

We ensure that any third parties who handle your information comply with data protection legislation and protect your information just as we do. Where appropriate, we will aim to anonymise or pseudonymise your information before sharing it with third parties.

Data Sharing within the Volkswagen Group of Companies

As Volkswagen Group Ireland Limited and Volkswagen Financial Services Ireland Limited are wholly owned subsidiaries of Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Financial Services AG respectively, your personal data will, from time to time, be shared between those businesses. Those circumstances include, but are not limited to:

-              the fulfilment of orders;

-              processing transactions relating to you;

-              to provide you with a service or information that you have requested;

-              to manage vehicle related complaints or claims (for example warranty cases);

-              to manage customer care communications;

-              to improve our products, business processes and customer functionality;

-              to optimise customer benefits;

-              for product improvement and quality assurance;

-              to deal with warranty related matters;

-              for market analytics; and

-              to provide targeted and bespoke marketing communications to you.

When you purchase a new vehicle from us, the My SEAT portal contains information around your profile, vehicle and digital products and services. Our parent company, Volkswagen AG, processes this data based on their legitimate interest in properly displaying the My SEAT area to you.

Please contact Volkswagen AG using the contact details in its Privacy Policy for more information on My SEAT App.

LiveChat Service

We use a third-party provider, LiveChat (Text Inc.) to supply and support our LiveChat service. The data on LiveChat is stored by Text Inc in the EEA and the US. If the data is stored in the US, it is done so on the basis of the following Article 46 GDPR transfer mechanisms: (a) Binding Corporate Rules of Text Inc approved by the European Commission and (b) Controller to Processor Standard Contractual Clauses. The data is stored indefinitely by Text Inc. If you are a new customer, the personal data you include in your chat may also be used to create a digital file for you in our Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) software. You may view Text Inc’s privacy policy here. For additional information about Text Inc. Live Chat and data protection click here.

International Data Sharing

Due to the international nature of our business, there may be some instances where your information is processed or stored outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).  In those instances, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place for that transfer and storage as required by applicable law. 

How long do we keep your information for?

We do not retain personal information in an identifiable format for longer than is necessary. The length of time we retain it for is determined by a number of factors including the purpose for which we use that information and our legal obligations.

We may need your information to establish, bring or defend legal claims.  In these cases, we will always retain your personal information for 6 years after the date it is no longer needed by us for any other purposes listed under “How do we use your personal information”.

How do we keep your information safe?

We are committed to protecting the security of your personal data. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access and use. While no system can guarantee complete security, we continually review and update our security practices to maintain the highest level of protection for your personal data.

What are your rights?

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are not absolute and may be subject to exemption.

·       Right to obtain confirmation that we are processing your personal data;

·       Right to access a copy of your personal data;

·       Right to rectify inaccurate personal data concerning you;

·       Right to erasure;

·       Right to request we restrict the processing of your personal data;

·       Right to data portability;

·       Right to object;  

·       Right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data (your withdrawal will not impact the lawfulness of processing your information based on consent prior to your withdrawal); and

·       Right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission. However, we ask that you please raise any queries or complaints with our Privacy Officer using the contact details below in the first instance.

Should you wish to exercise any of your rights below, you may contact our Privacy Officer using the details in the “Contact Us” section of this Statement.

Contact Us

You may, at any time, contact our Privacy Team directly with all questions and suggestions concerning data protection. 

·       Email: privacy@seat.ie

·       Phone: + 1800 812 761

·       Address: SEAT Ireland Block C, Liffey Valley Office Campus, Dublin 22, D22 CF60