This Privacy Notice describes how AUDI AG ("Audi"), as the controller, and Cerence, acting as Audi’s processor, process personal data of drivers and passengers when they use the Audi Connected Work solution in the vehicle through Microsoft- and Cerence-designated clouds. Audi determines the purposes and means of this processing; Cerence processes personal data only on Audi’s documented instructions and under a data processing agreement. The controller and Audi’s data protection officer can be contacted at:
Office Address: AUDI AG, Data Protection Officer, Auto-Union-Straße 1, 85057 Ingolstadt, Germany
Email: datenschutz@audi.de
Phone: +49 (0)841 89-0
Personal Data Processed, Purposes and Legal Basis
The following categories of personal data are processed: (i) your voice request (audio) and the text transcription of that request; (ii) the M365 content that is retrieved or generated for you (e-mails, chats, calendar entries and notes), including personal data of third parties contained in that content; and (iii) a pseudonymized identifier derived from your Microsoft universally unique identifier (UUID), together with technical metadata (session ID, time stamps, session length, language and project codes).
These data are processed for the purpose of providing the Audi Connected Work solution (speech recognition, GenAI-supported processing of your request and execution of the requested M365 action), and for the purpose of troubleshooting and maintaining the security and operation of the service. The legal basis for the processing of your voice request and the associated M365 content is your consent, which you give before first use of the solution and which you may withdraw at any time. The processing of pseudonymised log data for troubleshooting and service operation is based on Audi’s legitimate interest in a secure and functioning service. Provision of the data is not required by law or contract; if you do not consent, the Audi Connected Work solution will not be available, while all other vehicle functions remain unaffected.
CCS Platform Overview
The Cerence Cloud Services (CCS) platform is Cerence’s multi-tenant, cloud-based speech recognition and infotainment solution. The CCS platform receives an Audi Connected Work request from you via a customized push-to-talk (PTT) icon on the vehicle’s infotainment / multimedia system. Once you have selected this icon, you should speak a command specific to work you want to perform associated with your organization’s Microsoft 365 (M365) content. Once you complete your request, the corresponding audio will be routed to CCS for processing. There, it will be processed by Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) software to be converted into text form and then sent back to a Connected Work software agent located in the vehicle.
Once the local Connected Work software agent in the vehicle receives the text-based representation of the audio command, it will transfer it back to the CCS platform to be routed to a secure generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) engine hosted by Microsoft Azure for processing. The GenAI engine will use the request to determine what specific commands need to be sent to your M365 cloud tenant to either retrieve (read) or generate (write) content. It will send these commands back to the local Connected Work software agent, again, routing through CCS. In fact, all interactions between the local Connected Work software agent and the GenAI processing engine will be routed through CCS.
Once the M365 commands are received by the local Connected Work software agent, it will route them only to your organization’s M365 tenant cloud, which is a separately managed cloud by Microsoft. Routing to/from the M365 tenant cloud does not flow through CCS.
For the case of writing M365 content, the status of the write will be sent back to the local Connected Work agent and then provided along with the initial text-based request and the content written to the GenAI engine. This is done since the GenAI engine is stateless: it has no memory or storage of previous transfers. Upon a successful write to the M365 tenant cloud, it will generate the response to inform you that the transfer was successful. That response is routed through CCS to the local agent and then to a local text-to-speech software agent which will verbalize the response for you to hear.
For the case of reading M365 content, the status of the read, the results of the read, and the initial text-based request are sent to the GenAI engine so it can generate an appropriate response for you. That response will be routed through CCS to the local Audi Connected Work software agent and then to the local text-to-speech engine to provide you with a verbalization of that response. Because the GenAI engine is stateless, personal data such as your voice audio, the text transcription of your audio and the M365 content read from or written to your M365 tenant are processed only transiently, for the time required to complete your request, and are not retained by the GenAI engine or in the CCS logs once the request has been completed.
During these vehicle-to-cloud transfers, the CCS platform logs only a limited set of pseudonymised data. These log records do not contain your voice audio or any M365 content, but because they include a hash of your user ID, they continue to qualify as personal data under the GDPR and most all global privacy laws. They are protected accordingly. The log data is retained for 28 days to aid with potential support cases raised by you or by Audi and is then deleted. The logfiles contain a session ID for the request (a unique value associated with the transfer, not associated with a user or the vehicle) the hashed user ID (an irreversible, pseudonymized representation of your Microsoft universally unique identifier (UUID)), along with metadata such as time stamps, session length, language codes and project codes. Cerence maintains a global workforce; troubleshooting support cases therefore involves access to these logs by Cerence personnel located outside the EU/EEA, on a documented need-to-know basis and subject to the safeguards described under “International Processing and Transfers” below.
Additionally, Cerence will use this log data to generate aggregate statistics. These statistics will reveal how the system is being used, allowing Cerence to measure and maintain cloud operations. These aggregate results may also be shared with Audi, so they have a high-level understanding of how users like you are interacting with Audi’s Connected Work service. These statistics do not provide information on how any one user is using or interacting with the system or their M365 content.
Microsoft Secure Infrastructure
All cloud services, including Cerence’s CCS and the generative AI engine, operate on Microsoft Azure’s cloud infrastructure, providing a seamless, secure environment for end-to-end processing of your commands and M365 content.
Recipients and Sub-Processors
Personal data processed for the Audi Connected Work solution is disclosed to Cerence as Audi’s processor and, as sub-processors, to Microsoft (hosting of the Cerence Cloud Services platform on Microsoft Azure, the generative AI engine provided through Microsoft Azure AI Foundry, and your organization’s M365 tenant cloud) and to other companies of the Cerence group, which provide operations and support services. Aggregate, non-identifying usage statistics are shared with Audi. No personal data is sold or used for advertising, and your voice audio, transcriptions and M365 content are not used to train generative AI models.
International Processing and Transfers
The generative AI engine is provided through Microsoft Azure AI Foundry under a global deployment model. Depending on available capacity, your request may be processed in the EU/EEA, in the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Brazil or Hong Kong (each covered by a European Commission adequacy decision) or in the United States, Australia, India, Singapore, South Africa, Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, for which no adequacy decision exists. In addition, Cerence personnel outside the EU/EEA may access pseudonymised log data for troubleshooting. Where personal data is transferred to a country without an adequacy decision, the transfer takes place on the basis of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses pursuant to Article 46(2)(c) GDPR, supplemented by technical and organizational measures and, within the Cerence group, by intra-group data transfer agreements. You may request a copy of these safeguards from Audi at the contact details above.
Audi Connected Work Use Cases
One example use case for the Audi Connected Work solution could include asking the system to read your unread emails and summarize the results, based on the vocalized command read my unread emails and provide me with a summary.
Another example use case for the Audi Connected Work solution could include asking the system to create an Outlook calendar entry, based on the vocalized command setup a meeting with Michael Smith at 2:30pm tomorrow. You would not need to ask for confirmation of the calendar entry. The system will inform you once it has been successfully created.
Privacy Rights
Audi is the controller and decides on the purposes and means of the processing described in this Privacy Notice; Cerence collects and processes your data only on Audi’s documented instructions. Subject to the conditions of the GDPR, you have the right to obtain information about the personal data processed about you as well as other rights (e.g. right to rectification, deletion, restriction or objection to processing, automated processing, and data portability).
You may withdraw your consent to the use of the Audi Connected Work solution at any time with effect for the future under Settings > About > Data Privacy Notice in the application; the withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out before the withdrawal. To exercise these rights, please contact Audi at the contact details set out above. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your residence, place of work or of the alleged infringement. If you have any questions about Cerence’s data processing on Audi’s behalf, you can contact Cerence at privacy@cerence.com.