Privacy Notice for Cat Digital Support/Cat Customer Care
Last Revised: April 30, 2024
This privacy notice (this “Notice”) describes how Caterpillar collect(s) and process(es) personal information through or as part of communications by a user (a “user” or “you”) with Cat Digital Support (as the same may be modified, replaced or renamed, “CDS”). For the avoidance of doubt, this Notice also describes how Caterpillar collect(s) and process(es) personal information through or as part of communications by a user with Cat Customer Care. References to CDS shall be deemed to include Cat Customer Care, as the same may be modified, replaced or renamed from time to time. This Notice is consistent with Caterpillar’s Global Data Privacy Statement, which describes how Caterpillar collects, processes and shares personal information, rights that you may have under privacy laws, and other information relevant to Caterpillar’s processing of personal information. Caterpillar’s Global Data Privacy Statement, which should be read with, and treated as part of, this Notice, is available at https://www.caterpillar.com/dataprivacy.
What personal information does CDS collect and process, and why?
User-Provided Information
CDS is an interactive service provider that provides centralized support for Caterpillar and Dealer (as defined below) customers (“Customers”) who use (1) Caterpillar’s eCommerce channels (e.g., PartStore, Parts.Cat.Com, Equipment Sales Online, and Cat® Central) that enable Customers to purchase parts and certain equipment, services, attachments and accessories online or electronically from their authorized Caterpillar dealer (a “Dealer” or, collectively, the “Dealers”) and, in some cases, from Caterpillar (collectively, the “Channels”), and (2) Caterpillar’s Customer-facing digital applications and products (e.g., VisionLink, connectivity issues, Cat Inspect, Digital Marketplace) (the “Digital Applications”). CDS also operates and maintains a help center website that includes information to assist Customers with support issues (as the same may be modified, including renamed, from time to time, the “Site”). CDS may also provide support to Dealers in connection with or related to the Channels or Digital Applications.
Caterpillar collects personal information that a user voluntarily provides in communications with CDS. Personal information is any information about a specific individual or that identifies or may identify a specific individual. For example, if a user requests additional information on a Caterpillar product or service as part of a communication with CDS, the user will be asked for information such as the user’s name, company name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. This allows Caterpillar or a Dealer, as applicable, to interact and communicate with the user. Customers and Dealers may contact CDS through a number of different forms of communication such as phone, email, chat or other similar messaging features, web forms, and text/SMS. CDS agents seek to resolve common Customer or Dealer issues, as applicable, relating to one or more of the Channels or Digital Applications, including, but not limited to, parts selection, website support, order support and post-order support. In order to provide such support, CDS may, in addition to collecting information about your machine, collect personal information that you provide, including your name, address or location, email, and telephone number. Chats or similar messaging sessions with CDS may use automated responses and may be recorded by us and our vendors. In addition, as part of the assistance provided by CDS to Customers, CDS may facilitate purchases by a Customer through a Channel or Digital Application (such action being, a “Purchase Facilitation”). As part of the Purchase Facilitation, the user may also provide payment information (e.g., credit card data) in connection with a purchase that will only be made available to third parties involved in collecting and processing such information on behalf of the applicable Dealer or Caterpillar, such as the third party collecting such information and the third-party payment processor. Please note that a Channel or Digital Application may have its own privacy terms that are independent of the privacy terms in this Notice. You will need to read the privacy terms relevant to said Channel or Digital Application to understand how your personal information provided in connection with said Purchase Facilitation will be used by said Channel or Digital Application.
CDS may use your personal information to develop metrics and to conduct analysis of support provided by CDS, as well as to help improve the efficiency of the support and other services provided by CDS. CDS may also use your personal information to contact you to learn about your experience using CDS.
If CDS is unable to resolve a Customer’s request/issue on our own, CDS may refer the request/issue to your local Dealer for advanced support.
Caterpillar may use representatives who are employees of a third-party service provider in the operation of CDS. As a result, these representatives may collect and process personal information, including information provided through chat features, provided to CDS.
Caterpillar will retain your information collected through CDS only for the purposes described in this Notice, or as you authorize.
CDS may share your contact information with your local Dealer for informational purposes, and for your local Dealer to provide advanced support, if necessary.
Please note that your local Dealer may have its own privacy terms that are independent of Caterpillar’s privacy terms. You will need to read the Dealer’s privacy terms to understand how the Dealer will use your personal information.
COOKIES AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES
Cookies and other tracking technologies, in general, are used to improve the Site efficiency and performance, enable better processing of information, conduct analysis of your activity, and for various other reasons. CDS may link to third party solutions that enable third-party companies to collect certain information when you communicate with CDS. These companies use non-personally-identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over, hardware/software information, cookie and session ID) and information that may allow for identifying you (e.g., static IP address) as a result of said communications and other websites in order to provide analytics, and market research. These third parties typically use a cookie, pixel tag, web beacon or other similar tracking technologies to collect this information. For example, in the course of visiting the Site, these third-party companies may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser in order to collect certain information about you and your support needs. Certain data collected by these cookies may be provided to a Dealer or another third-party service provider for Caterpillar or the Dealer.
An example of a cookie that may be used on the Site is Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a third-party analytics service. Google Analytics is used to collect information about the use of the Site. Google Analytics collects information on visitor behavior on the Site such as how often users visit the Site, what pages they view when they do so, and what other websites they used prior to coming to the Site. We use the information we get from Google Analytics to analyze user behavior, improve the Site performance, and personalize the user experience. Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit the Site, rather than your name or other identifying information. Google Analytics anonymizes the IP address before it is stored. We do not receive the non-anonymized IP address. We may combine the Google Analytics data with first and third-party data information which may include personally identifiable information. Although Google Analytics places a permanent cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit the Site, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but Google. To learn more about how Google collects and uses data, visit https://policies.google.com/privacy/partners. For opt-out options specific to Google Analytics, please visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
To learn more about the usage of cookies by CDS, please select the "Cookie Settings" link in the footer of the Site.
Do Not Track Signals
At this time, the Site does not respond to “Do Not Track” signals that may be sent by your browser. We may revisit this as standards develop on how such signals should be interpreted and applied.
Where can I obtain further information about CDS and its privacy practices?
For additional information about CDS and its privacy practices, you may contact us at catdigitalsupport@cat.com.
For additional information about Caterpillar’s privacy practices, including corporate contact information, please see the Global Privacy Statement at https://www.caterpillar.com/dataprivacy
What happens if this Notice changes?
We reserve the right to amend this Notice. If we update or change this Notice, the changes will be made on this page. Your use of CDS following the posting of changes to this Notice will demonstrate your acceptance of those changes.