Whistleblower-Hotline

Reports on compliance issues (“whistleblowing reports”) can be made to the law firm orka for the internal reporting office of Abbelen GmbH using a whistleblowing hotline which can be contacted at the following telephone number: +49 30 235987055.

The hotline can be used to report information on violations of regulations within the scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act (cf. sections 2, 3 HinSchG) as well as information on all administrative offenses and other violations compliance provisions relating to Abbelen GmbH (as well as its subsidiaries).

Whistleblowers can make use of the hotline without providing their name or other personal information that could identify them. Depending on the information provided, however, it cannot be excluded that the whistleblower may be identified. In the following, we provide information on data processing within the framework of the whistleblowing hotline:

 

I. Responsible Body (Controller)

Responsible for data processing is:
orka Partnerschaft mbB
Kaistraße 6, 40221 Düsseldorf
Telefon: +49 211 60035-0
Website: www.orka.law

 

II. Data Protection Officer

You can reach the data protection officer of orka as follows:
E-Mail: datenschutzbeauftragter@orka.law

 

III. Purpose and Scope of Data Processing

As part of the hotline, orka processes data provided by whistleblowers solely for the purpose of receiving, legally assessing, documenting and transmitting the information to the unit of Abbelen GmbH responsible for processing the report (in the following: “designated unit”). The data processing by orka is carried out in relation to the legal obligation and in order to protect the legitimate interest of Abbelen GmbH to provide 5 the opportunity to report possible criminal offenses, administrative offenses and other violations of compliance provisions by means of the hotline (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR). Insofar as the data processing is performed on the basis of this legitimate interest, data subjects generally have the right to object to the processing of their personal data (Art. 21 GDPR).

The identity of whistleblowers is treated confidentially. The identity will only be disclosed if the whistleblowers consent thereto. This also applies to the telephone number or e-mail address, if these are provided to us. However, it cannot be excluded that the identity of the whistleblowers may be inferred from the information provided. Under certain circumstances, there may also exist legal obligations to pass on information about the identity of the whistleblower to other bodies (e.g. authorities/courts). Beyond this, personal data is only disclosed to technical service providers as processors.

orka stores data, in general, only for the duration of the processing of a report. Afterwards, all data will be completely erased, insofar as there are no legal retention obligations.

If whistleblowers wish to be informed by orka about the respective processing status, they must provide contact data. orka processes this data exclusively in connection with contacting the whistleblower for the purpose of informing him/her of the processing status on the basis of the whistleblower’s consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). The consent given can be revoked at any time with effect for the future. The lawfulness of data processing carried out until the consent is revoked remains unaffected. In this context, orka stores data for the duration until the whistleblower has been informed about the processing status, unless the whistleblower has previously revoked his/her consent. In addition, orka only stores the declaration of consent as such for the purpose of evidence.

If whistleblowers wish orka to forward their contact data to the designated unit so that this unit can inform the whistleblower about the respective processing status, they must provide contact data. orka processes this data exclusively for the purpose of forwarding it to the designated unit on the basis of the whistleblower’s consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Consent given can be revoked at any time with effect for the future. The lawfulness of data processing carried out until consent is revoked remains unaffected.

6 In this context, orka stores data until the completion of the transmission of contact data and receiving of an acknowledgement of receipt by the designated unit, unless consent has been revoked by the whistleblower beforehand. In addition, orka only stores the declaration of consent as such for the purpose of evidence.

 

IV. Data Subject Rights

Data subjects generally have a right of access to information about data processing, rectification or erasure or to restriction of data processing or a right of objection as well as a right to data portability. However, these rights may be excluded under certain circumstances.

Data subjects also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.