Frequently Asked Questions on Data Handling and Sharing to Improve Your Experience

Last updated on February 27, 2020

Please review our Privacy Statement to learn about how we process personal information. Below you will find answers to questions about how we handle, transfer and share data within the Ritchie Bros. organization and how we share with select third parties.  You'll also find answers about who to contact for more information or to exercise your rights under data privacy laws.

More questions? Contact our Data Privacy Office using our privacy contact form, or you can phone customer service at:

US & Canada: 1.800.211.3983
Europe: 31.765.242.600
Middle East: 971.4.812.0600
International: 1.778.331.5939

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. How is my information shared within the Ritchie Bros. organization?
  2. Will I receive communications from each Ritchie Bros. brand solution?
  3. Does Ritchie Bros. sell my identifiable information for money?
  4. Why does Ritchie Bros. provide information to OEMs and their dealers and representatives?
  5. Do I have to deal with OEMs and their dealers and representatives?
  6. Does Ritchie Bros. provide my identifiable information to other companies outside its organization to use?
  7. Does Ritchie Bros. use service providers?
  8. Is my information transferred and stored abroad in international locations?
  9. Does Ritchie Bros. obtain information from telematics devices installed in equipment?
  10. Who should I contact if I want to exercise my personal data rights or understand more about Ritchie Bros.' handling of my personal data?

1. How is my information shared within the Ritchie Bros. organization?

Ritchie Bros. operates distinct, complimentary, multi-channel brand solutions that allow us to meet the needs and preferences of a wide spectrum of equipment managers, sellers and buyers. From time to time, we will make information that we possess about you available to other brands in the Ritchie Bros. family to pursue our legitimate interest of improving our collective products and services and to better understand our industry. We also have a legitimate interest in protecting the integrity of our selling solutions by sharing information to prevent fraud and monitor our networks and systems. We may also share your information with service providers or third parties where it is necessary for us to perform the services or supply the products you've contracted with us to perform or supply. Sometimes we also share the information internally to comply with our legal obligations.  More information can be found in our Privacy Statement.

Our family of brands solutions include:

  • Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
  • Ritchie Bros. Financial Services
  • Ritchie Bros. Logistics
  • Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions
  • Ritchie Bros. Inspection Services
  • Ritchie Bros. Appraisal Services
  • IronPlanet
  • Mascus
  • Marketplace-E
  • GovPlanet
  • TruckPlanet
  • Salvage Sale
  • Kruse Energy
  • Leake Auction

2. Will I receive communications from each Ritchie Bros. brand solution?

Depending on the marketing preferences you've communicated to us or the anti-spam rules where you live, a brand may make you aware of the products and services offered by others in our family that are available to you as a Ritchie Bros. customer.  You may unsubscribe from further communications at any time; just follow the instructions set out in the communication or contact our Customer Service group for further instructions.

3. Does Ritchie Bros. sell my identifiable information for money?

Ritchie Bros. does not directly sell identifiable information for money; however, certain laws may deem our information sharing practices a "sale" (e.g. California Consumer Privacy Act).

In the course of our operations, we have entered and, may in the future enter, into contractual arrangements with certain original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their dealers to disclose to OEMs and their dealers or representatives in your geographic region certain bid and contact information when you bid on or buy their equipment at a Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers or IronPlanet sales event. We provide you with the right to know what identifiable information and which OEMs and dealers and representatives we have shared the information with for their use during the 12-month period preceding the date of your request.  Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request data for a greater period of time.

To obtain a list of these OEMs, OEM dealers or representatives who we have disclosed your identifiable information to and/or to stop any further disclosure, use our privacy contact form or contact us by email at OEMoptout@rbauction.com, or by mail attention: Data Protection Office or by mail at 9500 Glenlyon Parkway, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5J 0C6.

When we share information with OEMs and their dealers and representatives, your information will be governed by the privacy policies of the recipient companies and will be subject to the laws of the place in which the OEM processes, or their dealers and respective service providers, process the information.

4. Why does Ritchie Bros. provide information to OEMs and their dealers and representatives?

We cooperate with certain approved OEMs (e.g. Caterpillar) and OEM dealers (e.g. Caterpillar and Volvo dealers) to provide them with information about the secondary market for their equipment. OEMs and OEM dealers use this information to understand the lifecycle of their equipment. In addition, we cooperate with these OEMs in the pursuit of their legitimate interests to offer better services to you, including more timely and relevant information on available warranties and parts. For example, if you bid on equipment at one of our auctions, we may share that information with a local approved OEM dealer or representative so that the dealer or representative can assist you with similar equipment or your maintenance and replacement parts needs.

5. Do I have to deal with OEMs and their dealers and representatives?

You are not required to purchase any products or services. If an OEM, OEM dealer or their representative reaches out to you to communicate about their products and services, it's your choice whether you are interested in hearing more. If you choose to provide them with additional information that may be requested, that information will be handled by them for the purposes they disclose to you (such as in their privacy notices).

6. Does Ritchie Bros. provide my identifiable information to other companies outside its organization to use?

We may provide information to other select and approved organizations to use for the purposes disclosed in our Privacy Statement.  For example, your information will be shared with financial institutions and other lenders when you apply for and accept financing for your equipment purchases. When we provide your information to these lenders, the processing of your information will be governed by their privacy policies. While we are not responsible for the privacy practices of these providers, we carefully select our cooperating providers to ensure they have information security practices and procedures in place that meet or exceed our own. However, any issues or questions you have should be raised with them directly.

We also offer certain data products that provide insights into the market for used equipment. Except as disclosed in our Privacy Statement or this FAQ, we de-identify the information when we create our data products. For example, we may sell regional sales trend data to customers for their use in understanding the market for equipment.

7. Does Ritchie Bros. use service providers?

Like most companies, we outsource some of our functions to service providers. In order to operate our business and deliver our products and services to you, these service providers will have access to your information. For example, we use service providers to manage our customer email lists or monitor our websites for malicious activity. When we use service providers who help us support our business operations, we review their information security practices and procedures to ensure they meet or exceed our own.  We use contractual means to require these service providers to only use the information we provide to them to deliver our products and services – not for their own use.

8. Is my information transferred and stored abroad in international locations?

Ritchie Bros. is a global organization. Information that our brands collect online, at auction sites or by other means is transferred to central databases that are currently located in Canada, Europe and the United States, but may also be transferred and stored in other countries. For instance, your information may be stored at or accessed from a location in which Ritchie Bros. or its service providers have operations which may not be where you reside. Your information will be subject to the laws of those other jurisdictions, which may be different than your country of residence. To protect your personal information, we use contractual means to require administrative and technological controls designed to mitigate the threat of unauthorized access, use or disclosure of your information, and where appropriate, to ensure there is a lawful basis for the initial transfer or onward transfer of the information. To obtain more information about these safeguards contact our Data Protection Office using the privacy contact form.

9. Does Ritchie Bros. obtain information from telematics devices installed in equipment?

Some equipment that we sell may contain telematics devices that transmit information about the location, use and performance of the equipment to the OEM or the telematics provider. Please consult the equipment specifications and conduct your own review of the equipment before purchasing. Information that is collected through these telematics devices is subject to the privacy notice of the telematics service provider or the OEM. If the telematics service provider or OEM is permitted to do so, we may receive some information from the telematics service provider or OEM regarding the equipment after you have purchased and taken possession of it. For example, we may receive information regarding the location of the equipment at a point in time after it has been transferred to you. We use this information to better understand the needs of our customers, including where equipment is required, in accordance with our Privacy Statement.

10. Who should I contact if I want to exercise my personal data rights or understand more about Ritchie Bros.' handling of my personal data?

You may request to exercise your personal data rights described in our Privacy Statement by using our dedicated privacy contact form.   If you have any questions or comments about our practices, you can reach our Data Protection Officer through our Data Privacy Office at:

Ritchie Bros. Data Privacy Office
c/o Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated
9500 Glenlyon Parkway
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
V5J 0C6

Or using the privacy contact form.  If wish to make a complaint to a supervising authority or other regulator, please let our Data Protection Office know and we can direct you to the appropriate supervisory authority or regulator.