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Unilever Social Procurement Survey

Data Privacy Notice

We know that you care about your personal data and how it is used, and we want you to trust that Unilever uses your personal data carefully. The purpose of this privacy notice is to explain what personal data we collect and why we collect it.

Purpose of this project

As part of Unilever’s social commitments (Opens in a pop-up window ), announced in January 2021, we have committed to spending €2 billion annually with diverse businesses worldwide by 2025. We class businesses as diverse if they are at least 51% owned, managed and controlled by groups underrepresented in business, such as: women, veterans, people with disabilities, ethnic and racial or other minority groups. We have also committed to ensuring all individuals directly providing goods or services to Unilever will earn at least a living wage/living income by 2030.

Partner with purpose

As a valued supplier, we have invited you to complete a voluntary survey. The purpose of this activity is to develop our understanding of the diversity of our supply base, the organisational policies and practices relating to E,D&I and living wage/living income. The survey, in whole or its constituent parts, is entirely optional: Unilever will not use the data gained from this survey to directly inform decisions relating to current or future commercial opportunity. Survey participation will not positively or negatively affect your working relationship with Unilever.

What personal data do we collect?

Please note that we do not intend to collect any personal data: we will not use the information for the purposes of identifying individuals. The survey relates to company information and it has been deliberately designed to avoid the collection of personal data. We are not collecting individual-level data relating to our supplier staff and, instead, are asking for (amongst other things) a declaration of whether your company is diverse based on the definition above.

However, we acknowledge that whilst the vast majority of responses will not contain any personal data, in exceptional circumstances particularly for small suppliers, it may be possible to indirectly identify an individual through a combination of information. However, as explained above, we have carefully considered measures to prevent and minimize the identification wherever possible and we will not intentionally use the information to identify individuals within your organisation.

To the extent that any personal data is collected, Unilever PLC or the relevant local Unilever entity is the controller of that data

Why are we collecting this data?

We will use the data we collect for the following purposes:

  • To track progress against Unilever’s social procurement commitments
  • To further develop and measure the social impact of the programmes
  • To identify opportunities for opening a direct dialogue with your company relating to Unilever’s social procurement commitments
  • To facilitate referrals to our partner organisations (including customers, corporate partners and other Unilever suppliers) about potential business opportunity with your company, but not without express prior consent on a case-by-case basis

We will not use the data for any other purposes.

How do we collect the information?

We collect the information using a third-party partner, IntegrityNext:

Integrity Next GmbH
Max-Joseph-Str. 6
80333 Munich
Germany
Register Court: Munich District Court,
HRB 228797

Please note that IntegrityNext may share your company response with other clients not affiliated to Unilever, but only if you have specifically opted-in for IntegrityNext to do so on its platform. Where IntegrityNext shares your information with other IntegrityNext clients, it is a separate controller and responsible for its compliance with data protection laws.

Data retention

If you respond to our survey, we will keep your data for: 5 years.

Lawfulness of processing

We do not expect to process personal data. To the extent that we collect any personal data, our lawful basis of processing any such data will vary depending on the country in which it is collected and local laws.

In some countries, as the survey is entirely optional, we rely on consent to process such data. In Europe, we have a legitimate business interest to process any non-sensitive personal data: to understand, measure and promote diversity amongst our suppliers and we are satisfied that our legitimate interests are not overridden by the interests of the individuals particularly due to the steps that we have taken to prevent identification. To the extent that any sensitive personal data is processed, the processing of such data is in the public interest.

Rights under data protection laws

You have rights under data protections laws. Although most company responses will not include personal data, the IntegrityNext platform has been designed so that you can modify or request deletion your company information at any time if you change your mind.

Where personal data is being processed, rights under data protection laws vary depending on the local laws. Depending on the relevant local laws, individuals have rights including to access, erase, move, rectify, or object to the processing of their personal data. Any requests under data protection laws should be directed initially to IntegrityNext by contacting: data-privacy@integritynext.com.

You have a right to lodge a complaint to the supervisory authority in your jurisdiction.

Contact us

Unilever’s nominated Chief Privacy Officer can be contacted at: Unilever PLC, Port Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside, CH62 4ZD, United Kingdom or by email at: unilever.privacy@unilever.com (Opens in a pop-up window )

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