Principles

Thank you for visiting the Messer North American Region’s website, and for your interest in our company and our products. Messer North America, Inc. and the other companies in North America that together form the group’s Regional Business Unit Messer Americas (North) (“Messer” or “the Company”), take the protection of your private data seriously. Therefore, it goes without saying that we comply with all applicable statutory provisions for data protection. Our employees are obligated to treat all information confidentially and they receive regular training in the areas of data protection and data security to avoid unauthorized access or disclosure and loss of the personal data that Messer retains.

In the sections below, we briefly explain how we protect your data and what it means for you when you make use of our online offering. This is a summary only. A copy of our Data Privacy Policy for Region Americas (North) may be accessed here.

Reasons for collecting your data

As a customer or vendor, Messer collects your personal information when you do business with the Company or request information about the Company’s products and services via this website. As an employee, Messer will collect your personal information to facilitate the start, management, and eventual termination of the employment relationship.

Access data

When our Internet pages are called up, Messer receives access data that is stored for protective purposes and aids in identification. This data includes:

• the name of your Internet service provider;
• the country from which you are accessing the site;
• the website that has directed you to our Internet presence;
• the search term(s) you use, if you come to our site via a search engine;
• The Messer websites that you visit;
• the user tool (web browser, operating system) you use to access our website;
• files that you download from our website (e.g., PDF or Word documents);
• the duration of your visit; and
• the date and the time of your visit.

This data is analyzed by Messer so that we can familiarize ourselves with and evaluate user behavior. We do not make use of personal data in the process.

Personal data

Personal data is information that is used explicitly to determine your identity. It includes information such as your name and your postal or e-mail address. The only time we save personal data in addition to your access data is if you give us this information voluntarily, e.g., as part of a registration, a survey, a prize competition, a contact inquiry, registration for a newsletter or to process an online order. Moreover, personal data is used only to the extent necessary and only for the legally permissible purpose for which you gave your consent. To ensure the secure transmission of your data, Messer employs encryption procedures in secure areas. This means that communication between your browser and our order system, for instance, cannot be read by others on the Internet. All data is stored exclusively on specially protected servers of Messer. Using our order system is regarded as consenting to the storage and use of your data by Messer, its aliated companies and its partners.

Passing on personal data to third parties

Messer renders some of its services together with select partners. These partners are subject to the same strict statutory and contractual provisions for data protection. Personal data is only passed on (or shared):

• when processing order-related data, such as for online orders; and
• in individual cases, provided you have given your prior consent

Additional information – such as voluntary statements about your primary areas of interest – is not passed on to third parties by Messer. Personal data is disclosed to state institutions and authorities only within the scope of statutory or court-ordered obligations.

Power of revocation

If you may request in writing that Messer or the representative responsible for you amend (or update), cease from using or delete your personal data, we shall do so in accordance with applicable law. If you are registered as a user, we may also oer you the opportunity to view the data for yourself and delete or change as necessary.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are used by many websites. Cookies are created during your visit to our website and are placed on your hard disk by our server. Our cookies contain no information about specific individuals. Moreover, cookies placed by our servers can only be read again by us and not by any external website. Most browsers are set to automatically accept cookies. If you do not wish to enjoy the advantages of cookies (such as easier access to our website based on prior visits), you can deactivate this function in your browser. You can also view our website without cookies. However, this may restrict the use of some features.

Other active content (e.g., Javascript, ActiveX)

Javascript, ActiveX and other website control elements and script languages that contain executing elements can be deactivated at any time for security reasons using your browser. Our Internet sites can still be navigated without Javascript.

Links

The Messer website may from time to time contain links to other websites. We make every eort to check these direct links. Messer is not responsible for the content of the websites to which we link. Messer is also not responsible for the content of websites that link to our website.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.

In case IP-anonymization is activated on this website, your IP address will be truncated. Only in exceptional cases the whole IP address will be first transferred to a Google server in the USA and truncated there. The IP-anonymization is active on this website.

Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing them other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

The IP-address, which your Browser conveys within the scope of Google Analytics, will not be associated with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. You can also opt-out from being tracked by Google Analytics with eect for the future by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on for your current web browser: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en

Restrictions

Messer reserves the right to alter these guidelines for data protection at any time in compliance with the stipulations of applicable data-protection law or revisions of Messer’s Data Privacy Policy for Region Americas (North).

Questions and comments:

If you have any questions or recommendations about data protection at Messer, please feel free to contact either of the individuals listed below.

Michael V. Yap
Senior Counsel and Regional Compliance Officer
200 Somerset Corporate Blvd., Suite 7000
Bridgewater, NJ, 08807 USA
+1.908.508.3937
michael.yap@messer-us.com

Alev Hincer MBA
CHRL Head of Human Resources
North America Business Operations Messer Canada Inc.
5860 Chedworth Way Mississauga, Ontario
+1.905.501.2560
alev.hincer@messer-ca.com

(Regardless of your location, if you wish to communicate in French, please contact Alev Hincer.)