BMW is committed to your privacy. The high standard that you associate with the features of our products and services are the guideline we use in handling your personal information. In doing so, we seek to create and maintain an environment conducive to a trustworthy business relationship with our customers and interested parties. The confidentiality and integrity of your personal information is especially important to us.

Who is the authority responsible for data collection and processing?

This Privacy Policy governs the provision of certain vehicle-based information and assistance services and support such as BMW Digital Services, BMW Assist Services and other services (together, the “BMW Services”) by BMW Canada Inc. and our affiliates, our related divisions, including BMW Financial Services Canada and BMW Motorrad Canada (“BMW Group Canada”, “we” or “us”), under the designation “BMW ConnectedDrive”. Some of the BMW Services are provided with the assistance of service providers acting on our behalf, as further detailed in this Privacy Policy (in particular, please see the “Sharing of Personal Information” section).

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, transfer and store BMW ConnectedDrive subscribers’ (“you”, “your”) personal information pursuant to the BMW ConnectedDrive Subscriber Agreement and the ConnectedDrive Terms and Conditions of Use (together, the “ConnectedDrive Agreement”). It also details the rights you have in relation to your personal information. Please review the BMW Privacy Policy located at www.bmw.ca for more information.  Further information about how we use cookies and interest-based advertising is available in our Cookies Notice available at BMW Website Cookie Policy.

What information may be collected about you and how is it used?

The BMW Services are designed to be a highly personalized mobility companion. In order to provide the personalized features of the BMW Services, we collect and use personal information as set out below and in compliance with applicable law.

In this Privacy Policy, personal information” generally means any information that can be used, either alone or in combination with other information, to identify an individual. It may also include other types of more technical information, but only when this information can identify you as an individual. Information that is anonymized and cannot be associated with an identifiable individual is not considered to be personal information, if it is, at all times, reasonably foreseeable in the circumstances that this information irreversibly no longer allows the individual to be identified directly or indirectly.

Given the nature of the BMW Services, there may be times when someone other than you is using the Services we provide to you.  You are solely responsible for informing such person about this Privacy Policy and the privacy choices you have made. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16 years of age. If we become aware due to notification by you, that personal information has been collected from anyone under 16 years of age, we will delete this information from our records.  You also have the ability to change your privacy settings in the vehicle.  

We describe below the categories of personal information we may collect in relation to the BMW Services and the purposes for which we may use it.

A. Concluding the agreement and creating your BMW Group Login

We collect the following categories of personal information to conclude the ConnectedDrive Agreement:

·         Contact information (title, last name, first name, preferred language, address, telephone number(s), e-mail address, emergency contact information, etc.);

·         Account information (BMW ConnectedDrive or My BMW login account, tokenized credit card number, etc.); and

·         Order history, and BMW Assist Call Centre notes.

BMW Group Login

To use the BMW Services, you must register in the BMW ConnectedDrive App / Portal. When you register, you will receive an online customer account that gives you access to other BMW Group portals and offers. In order to provide you the BMW Group login service, your data is passed on to the BMW Group company that acts as a provider of the applications you are using. Storage of the data from your customer account is handled by our affiliates.  

B. Fulfillment of the contractual obligation for performance of the ConnectedDrive Agreement

For the purposes of fulfilling the ConnectedDrive Agreement, and your use of the BMW Services, and otherwise with your consent, we along with service providers acting on our behalf render a variety of services, which involve the collection and use of personal information, such as BMW Intelligent Emergency Call, information services, Advanced Real-Time Traffic information, TeleServices, etc., where available. Your BMW vehicle may also be equipped with one or more sensing or diagnostic modules capable of automatically retrieving, recording, transmitting, or storing certain vehicle information and/or service requirements.

Personal information we collect when the BMW Services are activated. When the BMW Services are activated, we may collect and retain an electronic or other record of the following information –which is personal information when associated with you:

·         Your vehicle’s geolocation  information (time, position, movement, speed, etc.) if enabled by you in the vehicle, description, and direction of travel.  BMW may be required to locate your vehicle in circumstances where BMW is required to locate the vehicle due to law enforcement requests;

·         Vehicle status information (mileage, battery voltage, door and hatch status, etc.);

·         Vehicle service data (due date of next service visit, oil level, brake wear, etc.);

·         Software version information, service information such as diagnostic trouble codes, tire pressure, fuel and odometer readings;

·         Sensor information (radar, ultrasonic devices, gestures, voice, etc.) and incident information, such as information about collisions, the direction from which your car was hit, which air bags have deployed, and safety belt usage; user profile including configured news, e-mail or audio provider, etc.;

·         Environmental information including temperature, rain, etc.;

·         Navigation information and dynamic traffic information  (traffic jams, obstacles, signs, parking spaces, etc.);

·         User profile (personal profile picture/ avatar, settings as navigation, media, communication, driver’s position, climate/light, driver assistance, etc.);

·        Service-related information such as internet protocols address, geolocation or other location information, conduct website and mobile app analysis, for development, to provide you with geographically relevant information, and other legal purposes, and for the provision of services;

How we use your personal information. We may use personal information detailed above for the following purposes:

·         To provide the BMW Services;

·         To facilitate the provision of software updates;

·         To provide emergency response or breakdown services;

·         To generate and improve maps, and navigation services. Vehicle geolocation will be transmitted to the BMW Group on a regular basis, and at certain locations the vehicle may be prompted to transmit additional data. We use the information above more generally to improve vehicle safety, create and respond to security alerts, develop new and better vehicles, improve our ConnectedDrive services and other services, and analyze vehicle trends;

·         We may also record, monitor, or track your vehicle's location or other information when your vehicle is equipped to provide stolen vehicle recovery and you report your vehicle as stolen (requires identity verification and filing of a stolen vehicle report with local authorities);

·         To enforce an agreement, when BMW reasonably believes that you are in breach of the ConnectedDrive Agreement, or are in breach of the vehicle lease/finance agreement with BMW Financial Services Canada, or any other agreement with BMW in which BMW is a beneficiary thereof relating to the vehicle;

·         As permitted or required by law or court order.

C. Securing product quality and developing new products

In addition to performance of BMW Services, the information collected under section B is also collected, used and shared with our partners such as BMW Assist, Teleservice Providers, BMW Retailers, and Emergency Services for quality assurance in products and services offered by us and service providers acting on our behalf, and for developing new products and services. This collection, use and disclosure is used to meet the high customer standard placed on existing products and services and to allow us to fulfill the future requests of our customers through analysis, and research and development of new products and services. In order to protect the privacy of our customers, personal information is processed in a manner that is anonymized and cannot be traced back to the customer/vehicle directly.

D. Fulfillment of the sales, service and administrative processes of BMW Group Canada and BMW authorized retailers

Aggregated and anonymized evaluations and reports. In order to optimize the customer experience and collaboration with BMW authorized retailers continuously, we create evaluations and reports based on information from agreements and we share these evaluations and reports with the applicable BMW authorized retailers. These evaluations are predominantly used for introducing appropriate measures such as training courses for sales personnel to improve the request and sales process. We create the aforementioned reports only in an aggregated and anonymized form so that it does not identify you directly or indirectly; this means that the recipients of the reports are unable to draw any conclusions about you personally.

Service processes. Portions of the vehicle-specific information collected under section B is used for performance of the service processes (e.g. repair, warranty, goodwill) of BMW Group Canada and BMW authorized retailers. This processing is required to provide our customers with the best possible service process.

E. Customer support

We, and service providers acting on our behalf such as BMW Assist, our payment solution provider use your personal information for communication as part of concluding contracts (e.g. Purchasing Digital Services) or for responding to your requests for product and service information. We contact you regarding all aspects of concluding a contract or processing a request by e-mail.

For quality assurance, employee training and compliance purposes, calls to the BMW Assist Call Centre may be monitored and/or recorded.

F. Marketing communications and market research

Your information may be used and shared by BMW Canada Group with service providers and partners for promotional, marketing or related purposes, contests and/or market research.  You may choose to opt-out from promotional electronic and other communications at any time by contacting BMW Customer Service at 50 Ultimate Drive, Richmond Hill, ON L4S 0C8, by telephone at 1-800-567-2691, email us at customer.service@bmw.ca, or by following the unsubscribe instructions found in electronic mail communications from BMW.  Please also see the “How can you view and modify your data privacy settings?” section below to make choices about telephone, email, text message and other communications.  Please note that BMW is not able to process opt-out requests for offers and promotions from third parties including service providers and partners.  You must contact the service provider or partner directly to opt-out of such communications.  You will continue to receive electronic communications relating to the BMW Services and your BMW Services Account.

If you exercise choice regarding certain marketing and promotional communications, your information may still be used for the other purposes described in this Privacy Policy including marketing communications where you have not exercised your choice, or communications we are required or permitted by law to send to you, such as account related messages, recalls, etc.

Some collection and disclosure practices cannot be separated from the BMW Services offered. For example, some of the BMW Digital Services require creation of a ConnectedDrive account and acceptance of the Terms and Conditions and this Privacy Policy.  In such circumstances, you may be required to decline those BMW Services or accept limited functionality if you do not want to share your personal information.

Cookies and Tracking

When you use the BMW Services on our website, we may use cookies, web beacons, pixels and similar technologies to gather information about your access and use of the BMW Services to help provide our products and services, remember your preferences, maximize the performance of BMW Services, make your experience personal and convenient and display relevant advertising. This information includes Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type and language, Internet service provider (ISP), referring and exit websites and applications, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data.

Please refer to our BMW Website Cookie Policylfor more information on our automatic collection of information on our website, including how the information is used for advertising, or to disable cookies and/or opt-out of interest-based advertising, please see our BMW Website Canada’s Cookie Policy. You can also refer to your web browser for instructions to learn more about cookies and other technologies and how to manage their use, and how to disable cookies. If you refuse or delete cookies, some of the functionality of a website may be impaired.

We may use a “click-through URL” linked to content on the BMW Services. When customers click one of these URLs, they pass through a separate web server before arriving at the destination page. We track this click-through data to help us determine interest in particular services and topics and measure the effectiveness of our customer communications. If you prefer not to be tracked in this way, you should not click text or graphic links in the BMW Services and email messages.

G. Fulfillment of legal obligations of BMW and Protecting our Business

We may collect, use and share personal information if there is a legal, regulatory or contractual obligation to do so. For example, we may contact you because your vehicle is subject to a recall or repair request.

We may also use personal information to protect our business, which can include the following:

·         To safeguard the operation of IT systems, which includes the following actions:

o    Backup and restoration of data processed in IT systems;

o    Logging and monitoring transactions to check the specific functionality of IT systems;

o    Detecting and defending against unauthorized access to personal information; and

o    Incident and problem management for resolving problems in IT systems.

·         For internal compliance management, wherein we review aspects such as whether you have received sufficient advising as part of concluding an agreement and whether BMW authorized retailers have complied with all legal requirements.

Sharing of Personal Information

We may share your personal information with our affiliated companies, third-party service providers, BMW retailer networks and certain business partners in order to provide the BMW Services, conduct our business activities and protect our rights. For example, we share personal information in the following circumstances:

·         Our service providers. We may share personal information with our service providers, including our BMW Assist Call Centre, roadside assistance service providers, emergency service dispatchers and providers, concierge services providers, marketing campaign providers, payment solution providers, as well as other service providers required to deliver the BMW Services and enforce contractual or other legal obligations as necessary. All service providers are contractually obligated to keep your information secure and confidential and use the information only as we specify.

·         BMW authorized retailers, members of BMW Group Canada and BMW divisions. We may share personal information with BMW authorized retailers, members of BMW Group Canada and BMW divisions, who may use it to provide you with customized services and enhance your experience.

·        Where you have authorized us to do so, we may disclose your information to other parties for their use, primarily so that they can provide their services to you. For instance, if you wish to activate services provided by a third party, you may authorize us to disclose information we collect to that third party, consistent with your authorization or consent (e.g., to support the services required to administer our EV incentive and discount program with Program Operators. 

·         Analysis and research. We may use the information we collect for analysis and research purposes and will share information as necessary with third parties to accomplish those tasks.  This information is anonymized and not identifiable.

·         Partners. We may share personal information with our approved BMW partners.  For further information on how we process your personal data, please refer to the BMW Privacy Policy.

·         With emergency and roadside assistance providers. We may also disclose your information to emergency and roadside assistance providers (e.g., roadside assistance services and 911 emergency response), and with law enforcement if you have requested stolen vehicle recovery services.

·         Sale or transfer of our business or other transaction. We may sell or purchase assets. If another entity acquires us or all or a portion of our assets, data including personal information that we collected from you may be shared with that entity. The data will be shared for the purpose of that entity considering whether to enter into the transaction and also to complete the transaction.

Other permitted purposes. When required, we may release information, including location data, to comply with the law, in legal proceedings, to respond to subpoenas or court orders, in co-operation with law enforcement agencies, and/or to enforce the terms of our agreements, as well as part of legal and reporting requirements.

BMW authorized retailers and partners acting on our behalf operate as separate and distinct legal entities from BMW Group Canada. Each such entity has its own privacy practices and policies. When communicating with a BMW authorized retailer or partner, we encourage you to review their privacy policy and practices to understand how they collect, use and disclose your personal information.

Our concierge service provider may use other service providers to provide the products and services that you request when you use the concierge services. Personal information necessary to provide any products and services you request may be given to such third-party service providers and the BMW ConnectedDrive Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of Use will not govern those providers.  We recommend that you carefully review the user terms and privacy policies of each third-party service or application prior to registering, signing up, downloading or using them.

How long do we retain your data?

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose of providing our products and services, to operate our business, to comply with applicable laws, to enable us to communicate with you, for record-keeping, for our safety, research, evaluation of use, troubleshooting purposes, or to meet legal and contractual obligations.  Where necessary, we anonymize or delete information we collect when we no longer need it for the uses described in this Privacy Policy.  

How is your data stored and processed?

We may process and store information including personal information in electronic format on servers located outside of Canada and maintained by various BMW divisions. We may use service providers who process or store information outside of Canada. In certain circumstances your information may be accessible by law enforcement, government, regulatory bodies or other authorities in accordance with the laws of the foreign jurisdictions. You may contact us, as set out below, to obtain information about our policies and practices with respect to service providers outside of Canada.

Please be aware that your personal information may be stored, accessed, and processed outside of your province or territory of residence, including outside of Quebec, and in any country where BMW Group Canada operates or engages service providers. This includes locations such as the United States and certain countries within the European Union, including Germany. These jurisdictions may have different data protection laws compared to Canada, and personal information stored in these areas may be subject to access by foreign governmental authorities and law enforcement agencies in accordance with their local laws. By using our products and services or providing us with your information, you consent to the transfer of your personal information to jurisdictions outside of Canada and your province or territory of residence, including outside of Quebec.

How do we protect personal information?

We are committed to protecting the personal information in our possession. We use administrative and technical controls, and require our service providers to take such measures, to help to maintain the security of your personal information. We have implemented security measures which include but are not limited to the use of: internal security policies and procedures; defined internal segregation of duties; and electronic access controls such as passwords and encryption technology. However, no system of protection can guarantee the protection of your information. Any information you provide to us is at your own risk.

We encourage you to observe safe computing practices. It is your responsibility to keep confidential any user-IDs and passwords that you use to register with us and not share them with anyone. You can change your password(s) by updating at www.bmw-connecteddrive.ca  or via the My BMWApp.

We take measures to also protect the personal information we destroy and dispose of in order to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to the unauthorized information.  While we maintain protocols to safeguard information, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of your personal information, especially during data transmission.

If you have any reason to believe that your account, transaction or information is no longer secure, you should contact us immediately via our contact details set out in Contact Us below.

It is your responsibility to delete all information such as contacts, saved maps, address look-ups, from your vehicle’s system and immediately contact us to terminate your account and cancel your services when you sell, dispose of or otherwise transfer your vehicle and  advise BMW of the sale, disposal or transfer of your vehicle and request BMW to remove your access to the services for the vehicle.

In providing the BMW Services, voice and data are transmitted between the BMW Assist Call Centre and your vehicle over the cellular telephone network. This network is complex and not necessarily secure. Therefore, the privacy and security of conversations or data transmitted to and from the vehicle cannot be guaranteed.

How can you view and modify your privacy settings?

We strive to keep the personal information in our possession or control accurate, complete, current and up-to-date as is necessary for the specified purpose, based on the most recent information available to us.

You can view, modify, correct or update the accuracy of any personal information we collect at any time on the My BMW Portal at www.bmw-connecteddrive.ca. If you are unable to locate the information you require access to, you may contact us at 1-800-567-2691; or send an email message to privacy@bmw.ca. You may be requested to provide satisfactory identification and proof of entitlement to access your personal information. We will provide you with access to your personal information that is in our possession, subject to certain exceptions. For example, we may not provide you with your personal information where the information is subject to solicitor-client privilege or consists of references to other persons or proprietary information that cannot be severed from the record. There may be reasonable costs associated with your request.

If you have any questions about our privacy practices, or would like to request a copy of our Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Officer by email at privacy@bmw.ca; by telephone at 1-800-567-2691; or by mail BMW Canada Inc. at 50 Ultimate Drive, Richmond Hill, ON L4S 0C8.  You may request access to or a copy of your personal information by writing to us at 50 Ultimate Drive, Richmond Hill, ON L4S 0C8.

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time. When we change the policy in a material way, a notice will be posted on My BMW Portal along with the updated Privacy Policy.  Please check back frequently for updates.

© BMW Canada Inc.