Privacy policy

  1. General Information
  2. Data Controller
  3. Information on Data Processing
  4. Specific Data Processing Operations

This Privacy Notice explains how and for what purpose we collect, process, and use personal data. We regularly make modifications to enhance the protection of our customers’ personal data. We are deeply committed to the security of your personal data.

1. General Information

The Data Controller operates the website (hereinafter referred to as "we"). On this website, you can learn about our organization, use our online services and get in touch with us.

The Privacy Notice published on this website at the time of use applies for the usage of the site. In the case of an ongoing contractual relationship with us, a separate data processing agreement may take priority. If you wish to make special data protection arrangements regarding the products and services we offer, please contact us separately at the address provided in section 2 below.

In this Privacy Notice, we transparently inform you about which personal data we process on this website and during the initiation or performance of a contract with you and how we handle it.

2. Data Controller

Responsible for data processing is:

EIT.swiss
Geschäftsstelle
Limmatstrasse 63
8005 Zürich
Phone: 044 444 17 17
E-mail: info@eitswiss.ch

Should you have any questions or concerns about data protection or privacy, you can contact us at this address at any time.

3. Information on Data Processing

3.1 Data we collect and process

We primarily process personal data that you provide to us (e.g., via a contact form or concerning a contractual relationship) or that we collect as part of the operation of our website. Please refer to the description in section 4 below for details on the technical collection and use of data through cookies, analytics tools, and third-party plugins. We may also receive personal data about you from third parties.

Data processing can cover the following categories:

3.2 Principles for Processing Your Personal Data

We process your data in accordance with legal requirements for the purposes specified in this privacy notice or according to our contractual agreements. We ensure transparency and proportionate processing.

3.3. Purpose of Processing

We exclusively use your data for the purposes described in this privacy notice or as contractually agreed, specifically to market and provide products or services, process your inquiries, for communication, and in connection with a contractual relationship. Some of the data is collected to ensure the website operates without errors. Data created during the use of the website may also be used to analyze your user behavior to continuously improve and personalize our offerings and user experience.

Details regarding the technical collection, storage, and use of data through utilized services, cookies, analytics tools, and third-party plugins can be found under section 4.

3.4 Data Sharing with Third Parties

We sometimes rely on services from affiliated companies, business partners, or other third parties, some of whom process your data on our behalf (e.g., for delivery, payment processing, and accounting, or service providers/IT providers, see details in section 4 Specific Data Processing Operations) and some who process it under their own responsibility (e.g., banks, tax offices, and insurance companies). Contractually, we ensure that these commissioned third parties, business partners, and affiliated companies comply with the applicable data protection requirements. In some cases, we are also obliged to disclose your data to authorities, offices, financial institutions, insurance companies, credit references.

3.5 Data Processing in Switzerland and Abroad

For the provision of our offers and thus for the processing of your personal data, we work with providers from Switzerland and abroad. The global offer allows us to use the best possible and most reliable services. Other countries may have different data protection standards compared to Switzerland. In this case, we agree on contractual measures with our service providers to ensure an appropriate level of data protection (e.g., the EU standard contractual clauses approved by the FDPIC or other appropriate measures).

The individual data processing operations are described in detail in section 4 below.

3.6 Data Retention Period

We store personal data only to the extent and for as long as necessary to fulfil the respective purposes for which the data was collected, we are legally required to store it, or we have a predominant legitimate interest.

3.7 Data Protection Measures

We will securely store your data and take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data from loss, access, misuse, or changes. However, we would like to point out that data transmission on the internet (including communication via e-mail) can have security gaps. Unfortunately, complete protection of data from third-party access is not possible.

Our contract partners and employees with access to your data are contractually bound to adhere to applicable data protection and privacy regulations. Also in these cases, your data will be treated confidentially. Data you enter on this website (e.g., orders or requests) is encrypted (SSL or TLS encryption).

3.8 Your Rights Regarding Your Data

You have the right to obtain information about the personal data we process about you at any time. You have the right to correct your personal data and, in certain cases, to object to its processing or to request its deletion.

If our processing is based on your consent, you also have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your data at any time in the future. If the GDPR applies, and we process the data to fulfil a contract or based on your consent, you also have the right to receive a copy of the personal data for transmission to a third party.

Please note that exceptions or restrictions may apply to these rights. In particular, we may need to continue processing and storing your personal data to fulfil a contract with you, to protect our legitimate interests, such as asserting, exercising, or defending legal claims, or to meet legal obligations. To the extent legally permissible, especially to protect the rights and freedoms of other affected persons and to protect our legitimate interests (e.g., confidentiality and security interests as well as considering our operational resources and capabilities), we may therefore reject your data protection-related requests, e.g., information and deletion requests, or only comply with them to a limited extent.

In any case, you also have the right to file a complaint with the competent Swiss supervisory authority at any time: http://www.edoeb.admin.ch.

4. Specific Data Processing Operations

4.1 During a visit to our website

When you visit this website, certain data is automatically saved on our servers or on the servers of services and products we use and/or have installed. This is done for system administration purposes, for statistical or backup purposes, or for tracking purposes.

4.1.1 Hosting: What information is automatically collected?

Our hosting partner automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files, which your browser automatically transmits to us. This includes:

  • Referrer URL (the referring webpage from which you visit the URL);
  • Name of your internet service provider;
  • Your IP address;
  • Information about the device, operating system, and browser used to access a URL;
  • The date and time of access;
  • Keywords (entered search terms) that led to a click on our website.

This data cannot be attributed to a specific individual, and there is no merging of this data with other data sources. The storage of log files ensures the functionality and security of the website and server infrastructure. This is in our legitimate interest.

A link to the privacy notice of our hosting partner can be found in section 4.5.

Website services from external servers: What information is automatically collected?

On our website, we use technologies, features, and content that are directly integrated and provided from the servers of external providers (e.g., a digital map, fonts, reCAPTCHA, videos, or image CDN). When you access this content via our website, the providers become aware that our website was accessed via your IP address.

Using these services is in our interest to present our online offers consistently, attractively, and user-friendly and for technical optimization.

4.1.3 Website Analytics: What information is automatically collected?

We use analysis services to evaluate the use of our website and to obtain information for optimizing our offer. The analysis services use cookies to evaluate your use of the website, to create reports on user activities on the website, and to provide us with other services related to the use of the website and applications. We have a legitimate interest in this.

The providers of the web analysis services store the information collected via cookies only in anonymized form and process it in aggregated form. The exception to this are agreements that you have made directly with external advertising providers, e.g., if you have an account with such an advertising provider (e.g., a Google Account) and have consented to ad personalization by linking visitor data with your account.

Additional Information
Employed analysis services: section 4.5
Cookies on this website: section 4.6

4.2 Communication

4.2.1 Email: Data we collect and process

When you communicate with us via email, we collect and process the following data:

  • Email address;
  • Content, subject, attachments, date, and time of your email;
  • Sender information (e.g., name, phone number, address, IP of the mail server).

Your data is stored for the purpose of processing the request and for any follow-up questions. The justification is based on preliminary contractual measures or our legitimate interest in handling the request.

Involved external service providers/IT providers can be found in section 4.5.

4.2.2 Contact form/Website chat: Data we collect and process

When you contact us via the contact form, the following data is collected and processed:

  • Email address;
  • Specified contact data (e.g., name, phone number, address);
  • Content (filled fields), possibly uploaded files;
  • Date, time, possibly IP address.

Involved external service providers/IT providers can be found in section 4.5.

Your data is stored for the purpose of processing the request and for any follow-up questions. The justification is based on preliminary contractual measures or our legitimate interest in handling the request.

4.2.3 Communication via external platforms

We are present on social media platforms and other online platforms to communicate with interested individuals and to inform them about our activities and operations.

If you provide data via external platforms, such as social media, or communication apps, like WhatsApp, the general terms and conditions (GTC), terms of use, privacy policies, and other provisions of the respective providers and operators of the respective platforms primarily apply. These provisions inform about the rights of affected persons directly vis-à-vis the respective platform, including, for example, the right to information.

For organizational reasons, communication via such platforms may involve further external service providers/IT providers or be combined through them (see 4.5).

4.2.4 Email Marketing

If you provide us with your personal data for the purpose of automated emails (e.g., newsletters or user journeys), we will process your data until you revoke your consent, the purpose of processing is fulfilled, and no other legal reasons exist to continue storing it. A link to unsubscribe from automated emails can be found at the end of each of these emails.

Where possible, we use the "double opt-in" method for any consent, which means you will receive an email with a web link that you need to click to confirm. For evidence and security reasons, we can log such consents, including the Internet Protocol (IP) address as well as the date and time.

For success and reach measurement, we record which of these emails are opened and which web links are clicked. We have a legitimate interest in measuring the success and optimizing our marketing content.

Involved external service providers/IT providers can be found in section 4.5.

4.3 Organization and Order Fulfillment

To process inquiries and in contractual relationships, we use web-based applications for order fulfilment and organization. As a result, your data is partially stored on the servers of the providers of these applications. However, your data is exclusively processed by us or on our behalf.

  • Managing customer data
  • Accounting
  • Project management
  • Storing data (pictures, texts, tables, etc.)

4.4 Marketing and Tracking

4.4.1 Targeting

We aim to show our offers primarily to those who might be interested in them. For this, we use the targeting options provided by corporations like Google, Meta, or Microsoft. For instance, Instagram users will see advertisements based on their personal profile within the Meta corporation. This form of targeting is possible only in groups; specific individuals cannot be addressed. You can deactivate personalized advertisements in your profile settings of the respective platform. Primarily, the data protection and terms of use of the respective website or platform apply.

4.4.2 If you interact with our advertisements

When you engage with our advertisements on other websites or platforms, we receive anonymized information in aggregated form to statistically evaluate the success of our advertising measures. Possibly, the platform operators allow us to create our target groups for marketing purposes based on such interactions (with our content). We can then show paid content to these so-called Custom Audiences on the respective platform.

The members of such Custom Audiences are not visible to us, and statistical data cannot be assigned to specific individuals by us unless some form of communication (e.g., messages, comments, or likes) occurs. Primarily, the data protection and terms of use of the respective website or platform apply.

4.4.3 If you click on our advertisements

If you click on an advertisement and thereby access our website, certain data from the platform, such as information about the campaign, advertisement, or name of the Custom Audience, can be associated with your visit to our website.

This data is anonymously merged with the analysis data as per 4.1.3 and evaluated in aggregated form.

4.5 Service Providers / IT Providers:

We use the following service providers / IT providers / sub-processors.

Name

Data processing operation

Transfer country

4.6 Cookies

What are cookies and how do they work?
Our website uses cookies. Cookies are files that are stored in your browser when you visit a website. Such data are not limited to traditional text-form cookies. They can be cookies from our domain (first-party cookies) or cookies from third parties (third-party cookies) whose services we use.

What information do we collect and how do we use it?
Temporary cookies (also known as session cookies) are automatically deleted when the browser is closed. Permanent cookies are stored for a specific period. Such cookies enable a browser to be recognized upon a subsequent visit. These cookies can be used to save settings, for analysis purposes, and for online marketing.

How you can prevent cookies
In the browser settings, cookies can be deactivated or deleted at any time, either completely or in part. Deactivating cookies may lead to visual or functional impairments of our website.