What information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the choices you have.
Your privacy and the security of your personal information are very important to us. We want you to be as comfortable as possible visiting our Website and using our services and features.
This Privacy Policy governs the website www.swissify.org (the Website). It explains how we collect information about you on our Website, how we process, use and protect that information, and the choices you have concerning the use of that information.
This version of our Privacy Policy takes effect on 1 August 2019.
If you have any questions or comments about our legal notices or privacy, please contact us at info@helloswitzerland.ch.
We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy here so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose that information to anyone. Please refer back to this Privacy Policy on a regular basis. By using our Website or any of our services and features that we provide on our Website, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Please remember that this Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by our Website. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of websites that are operated or owned by third parties.
Hello Switzerland AG, a limited liability company of Switzerland (company number CHE-431.770.478), is the operator of the website www.swissify.org and therefore responsible for the collection, processing and use of information about you and the compatibility of that data processing with Swiss law.
That means that we observe the statutory provisions of the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesgesetzes über den Datenschutz DSG), the Federal Data Protection Act (Verordnung zum Bundesgesetz über den Datenschutz VDSG), the Telecommunications Act (Fernmeldegesetzes FMG) and, if applicable, other data protection provisions, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (EU-GDPR).
To know what personal information we collect from you and for what purpose we use it, please note the information below.
When you visit our website, our servers temporarily store every form of access in a log file. The following data will be collected without your intervention and stored by us until its automatic deletion no later than twelve months after your visit:
• the IP address of the computer making the access request
• the date and time of your visit
• the name and URL of the retrieved file
• the website from where the access request was made
• the operating system of your computer and the browser you use
• the country from which you accessed our website and the language settings in your browser
• the name of your internet access provider
The collection and processing of this information is for the purpose of enabling the use of our website (establishment of connection), to ensure the long-term security and stability of the system, to optimize our website, and for internal statistical purposes. It is our legitimate interest to process this information in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f EU-GDPR.
In particular, a visitor’s IP address will be used to record the country where the website visitor is located and, if available, to provide a pre-set language preference for the website.
Furthermore, in case of attacks on the network infrastructure of www.swissify.org, the IP address will be evaluated to help us understand from where the attacks may have originated.
In addition, when you visit our website we use so-called pixels and cookies to display personalized advertising and to use web analytics services. Further details can be found below in sections 2, 6 and 7 of this Privacy Policy.
When you visit our website, you have the option to use a contact form to contact us. Entering the following personal data is mandatory:
• Title
• First and Last Name
• E-mail address
• The topic you wish to address
We will mark the mandatory entries. Not providing this information may hinder the provision of our services. Other information is optional and does not affect the use of our website.
We only use this data to answer your contact request as best as possible and in a personalised way. Processing your contact request is in our legitimate interest in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f EU-GDPR. You can object to this data processing at any time - for contact details see section 11 below.
You can subscribe to our e-mail newsletter on our website. This requires a registration. As part of the registration, the following data must be provided:
• Title
• First and Last Name
• E-mail address
The above data is necessary for data processing. In addition, you can voluntarily provide additional data (for example, your country of residence). We process this data exclusively to personalise the information and offers you will receive and to better align our newsletter with your interests.
By registering, you give us your consent to process your information such that we can send you our regular e-mail newsletter to the address you give us - as well as for the statistical evaluation of your user activity and the optimisation of the newsletter. This consent constitutes our legal basis for the processing of your e-mail address in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a EU-GDPR. We are entitled to commission third parties with the technical implementation of advertising activities and we are entitled to pass on your data for this purpose (see section 3 below).
At the beginning or end of each e-mail newsletter you will find a link where you can unsubscribe at any time. As part of the deregistration you can voluntarily inform us of the reason for the subscription. After unsubscribing, your personal data will be deleted. Any further processing will only be done anonymously in order to optimise our newsletter.
We would like to point out that we perform data analysis in the context of mailing out the newsletter – this is explained in section 9.
On our website there are various ways for you to place orders or enter into contracts, as well as to request informational materials or other services. In almost every case, the corresponding services are provided by our network of business partners, who are third parties to Hello Switzerland AG and the Swissify brand.
For example, you can use the Swissify website to request a price quotation or order a relocation service from the company Packimpex. If you were to do this, we would share your relevant information with Packimpex AG, a third-party.
You will be informed accordingly if we will be forwarding your information to our partners. Depending on the service, various information will be collected in this context. This will be information such as:
• Title
• First and Last Name
• Address (street, house number, zip code, city, country)
• Further contact details (e-mail address, telephone number)
• Possibly credit card information
• Possibly further personal data (nationality, Swiss residence permit type, amongst others)
We will mark the mandatory items. Not providing this information may hinder the provision of the ordering/contracting service. Other information is optional and does not affect the use of our website.
The information you enter is either collected directly by the relevant provider or forwarded to us. In such cases, the data protection regulations of the respective provider apply to further processing of the data.
The legal basis for the processing of the aforementioned data lies in the fulfilment of a contract in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b EU-GDPR.
We occasionally operate contests, promotions, surveys and similar activities.
If you choose to participate, the following data must be provided:
• Title
• First and Last Name
• E-mail address
The above information is necessary for data processing. Depending on the circumstances, further information, for example your address or your country of residence, may also be necessary. We process this data exclusively to personalise any information and offers you may agree to receive, and to better align it with your interests.
When you participate, you give us your consent to the processing of that information for the purpose which we will clearly declare, as well as for the statistical evaluation of user behaviour and the optimisation of the newsletter. In many cases, you will typically also have the option of providing consent to receive marketing information about related products and services from us or clearly declared third parties.
This consent constitutes our legal basis for the processing of your information in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a EU-GDPR. Where you give us permission to do so, we will forward your information to our partners. You will be informed accordingly and you will always have a choice.
We are entitled to commission third parties with the technical implementation of advertising activities and are entitled to pass on your data for this purpose (see section 3 below).
Swissify is a website offering the possibility to create a user account. When you register as a registered website user, and sign in using this user account, you will access website features that are not available to unregistered users. These features include saving your personal data, and providing you with personalised recommendations.
If you decide to become a registered user, we will collect identifiable information from you. When signing up as a registered user, you are required to provide:
• Title
• First and Last Name
• E-mail address
• Nationality
• The date of your first day at work or university at destination
This information will be not visible to any other users, registered or not.
The above data is necessary for data processing. We process this data exclusively to personalise the information and offers you will receive.
You will also be able to check boxes to make choices regarding the way Swissify/Hello Switzerland AG or its partners and appointed service providers may contact you (e-mail, text message (SMS), etc.). This consent constitutes a legal basis for the processing of your information in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a EU-GDPR. We are entitled to commission third parties with the technical implementation of advertising activities and are entitled to pass on your data for this purpose (see section 3 below).
In order to provide you with personalised services and information on our website (sometimes referred to as ‘on-site targeting’), we use and analyse the information we collect about you when you visit the website. If necessary, so-called cookies may also be used in this regard (see section 6 below). The analysis of your user activity can lead to the creation of a so-called usage profile. A merge of the usage data only takes place with pseudonymous personal data, and never with non-pseudonymous personal data.
To enable personalised marketing in social networks, we embed a so-called Remarketing Pixel from Facebook and Google on the website. If you have an account with one of the social networks involved in this and are logged in there at the time of the web-page visit, this pixel links the page visit to your account. To block this connection, log out of your account before visiting the website. You can adjust further advertising-related settings in your user profile of the respective social networks.
We base the creation of pseudonymised user profiles for advertising and analysis purposes on a legitimate interest in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR. This applies to all data processing operations listed here under section 2. The legitimate interest is in direct marketing and analysis of the use of our website.
We use re-targeting technologies on the website. Your user behaviour will be analysed on our website in order to be able to offer you customised advertising on partner websites. Your user behaviour is recorded as a pseudonym.
Most re-targeting technologies use cookies (see section 6 below).
This website uses Google AdWords Remarketing and Doubleclick by Google, services of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA ("Google"), to display ads based on the use of previously visited websites. Google uses the so-called DoubleClick cookie, which allows it to recognise your browser when you visit other websites. The information generated by the cookie about your visit to these websites (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the United States. See section 10 below concerning transfers of personal data to the United States.
Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website in relation to the advertisements to be displayed, compiling reports on website activity and advertisements for the website operators, and providing other services related to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties if required by law or as far as third parties process this data on behalf of Google. However, Google will never associate your IP address with other Google data.
We also use Google Tag Manager to manage usage-based advertising services. The Tag Manager tool itself is a cookie-free domain and does not collect personally identifiable information. Rather, the tool is responsible for triggering other tags that may collect data. If you have opted out or undertaken a deactivation at the domain or cookie level, then this will remain in effect for all tracking tags implemented with Google Tag Manager.
You can prevent re-targeting at any time by rejecting or deactivating the relevant cookies in the menu bar of your web browser - see section 6 below. You can also request an opt-out of the advertising and re-targeting tools mentioned above via the Digital Advertising Alliance website at http://optout.aboutads.info
For statistical purposes, we use the conversion tracking pixel from Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA ("Facebook") on our website. The pixel allows us to track behaviour of users who have been redirected to our site by clicking on a Facebook ad. The purpose of this process is to evaluate the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes, thereby helping to optimize future advertising efforts.
The data collected does not allow us to make any conclusion as to the identity of the users. However, the data is stored and processed by Facebook, so that a connection to the profile of each user is possible and Facebook can use the data for its own advertising purposes. This data may enable Facebook and its affiliates to display advertisements on and off the Facebook platform. For these same purposes, a cookie may also be stored and retrieved on the computers of users.
We will only disclose your personal information if you have expressly provided consent, if a legal obligation exists, or if it is necessary to enforce our rights, in particular to enforce claims arising from the relationship between you and Swissify.
In addition, we will share your information with third parties if this is required to provide the services you request and/or to analyse your user activity.
If this is necessary for the purposes stated in the first sentence of this section, the disclosure may also be made abroad. Where the website contains links to third-party websites, after clicking on these links Swissify will no longer have any influence on the collection, processing, storage or use of personal data by third parties and assumes no responsibility for it.
Swissify/Hello Switzerland AG is entitled to transfer your personal data to third parties (appointed service providers) abroad if this is necessary for the data processing described in this Privacy Policy. These providers are obliged to protect data to the same extent as we are. If the level of data protection in a country does not correspond to that of Switzerland or Europe, we will ensure that at all times the protection of your personal data corresponds to that in Switzerland or in the EU.
We use appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect the information that we store about you against manipulation, partial or complete loss and against unauthorized access by third parties. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with developments in technology.
You should always keep your payment information confidential and close the browser window when you have finished communicating with us, especially if you share the computer with others.
We also take corporate privacy very seriously. Our employees and the service companies commissioned by us have been obliged by us to secrecy and to comply with data protection regulations.
Cookies help in many ways to make your visit to our website easier, more enjoyable and more meaningful. Cookies are information files that your web browser automatically saves to your computer's hard drive when you visit our website. Cookies neither damage the hard disk of your computer nor are personal data of the user transmitted to us by these cookies.
For example, we use cookies to better tailor information, offers and advertising to your individual interests. Their use does not mean that we receive new personal information about you as an online visitor. Most internet browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can configure your browser so that no cookies are stored on your computer or so that a note always appears when you receive a new cookie.
Disabling cookies may mean that you cannot use all features of our website.
On our website we use various so-called tracking tools. These tracking tools will monitor your browsing behaviour on our website. This monitoring is undertaken for the purpose of continuous optimisation and needs-based design of our website. In this context, pseudonymised usage profiles are created and small text files stored on your computer ("cookies") are used.
The website uses the social media plug-ins described below.
If these plug-ins are activated, your browser will establish a direct connection with the servers of the respective social network as soon as you access our website. The content of the plug-in is transmitted by the social network directly to your browser and incorporated by your browser into the website.
Further information can be found in the respective privacy statements of Facebook.
On this website, social plug-ins from Facebook are used to make our website more personal. For this we use the "LIKE" or "SHARE" button, as well as the Page Plug-in. This is an offering of the US company Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
By integrating the plug-ins, Facebook receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are currently not logged in to Facebook. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to a Facebook server in the US and stored there.
If you are logged in to Facebook, Facebook can attribute the visit to our website directly to your Facebook account. If you interact with the plug-ins, for example by pressing the "LIKE" or "SHARE" button, this information is also transmitted directly to a Facebook server and stored there. The information will also be posted on Facebook and displayed to your Facebook friends.
Facebook may use this information for the purposes of advertising, market research and tailor-made Facebook pages. For these purposes, Facebook uses usage, interest and relationship profiles, e.g. to evaluate your use of our website in relation to the advertisements displayed on Facebook, to inform other Facebook users about your activities on our website, and to provide other services related to the use of Facebook.
If you do not want Facebook to attribute the data collected via our website to your Facebook account, you must log out of Facebook before visiting our website.
Please refer to Facebook's privacy policy for the purpose and scope of the data collection, further processing and use of the data by Facebook, as well as your related rights and settings options for the protection of your privacy.
To send our newsletter, we use third party email marketing services. Our newsletter contains a so-called Web Beacon (counting pixel, tracking pixel) or similar technical means. A web beacon is a 1x1 pixel, non-visible graphic that is related to the user ID of each newsletter subscriber.
The use of this Web Beacon enables the evaluation of whether the emails carrying our newsletter have been opened. In addition, the click behaviour of the newsletter recipients can also be recorded and evaluated. We use this data for statistical purposes and to optimise the content and structure of the newsletter. This allows us to better align the information and offers in our newsletter with the individual interests of each recipient. The tracking pixel is deleted when you delete the newsletter.
To stop tracking pixels in our newsletter, please set your mail program so that no HTML is displayed in messages.
For the sake of completeness, we would like to point out to users resident or domiciled in Switzerland that in the US there are surveillance measures by US authorities which generally allow the storage of all personal data of all persons whose data has been transferred from Switzerland to the USA.
This is done on the basis of the pursued objective without any differentiation, limitation or exception and without an objective criterion that would limit the US authorities' access to the data and its subsequent use to the kind of specific, strictly limited purposes that would justify the intervention or accessing the data.
Furthermore, we would like to point out that in the USA there are no legal remedies available for the persons concerned from Switzerland which allow them to obtain access to the data concerning them and to obtain their rectification or deletion, nor is there effective judicial protection against general access rights of US authorities. We explicitly inform all website users about this legal and factual situation so that you can make an informed decision when consenting to the use of your data.
For users residing in EU Member States, please note that, from the point of view of the European Union, the US does not have sufficient data protection levels, amongst other reasons due to the issues mentioned above in this section.
To the extent that we have explained in this privacy policy that recipients of data (such as Google and Facebook) are located in the US, we will either be governed by contractual arrangements with these companies or by securing certification of these companies under the EU-US Privacy Shield to ensure that your data is protected at a reasonable level by our partners.
You have the right to receive information about the personal data that we store about you free of charge upon request. In addition, you have the right to correct inaccurate data and the right to delete your personal data, as far as there is no statutory storage obligation or an authorisation requirement that allows us to process the data. In addition, according to Articles 18 and 21 EU-GDPR, you have the right to demand a restriction of data processing and to oppose data processing.
You also have the right to reclaim from us the data you have given us (right to data portability). On request, we can also pass the data on to a third party of your choice. You have the right to receive the data in a common file format.
You can contact us for the above purposes via the e-mail address info@helloswitzerland.ch. We may, at our sole discretion, require proof of identity to process your requests.
You can also tell us what to do with your information after you die by giving us instructions.
We only store personal information for as long as it is necessary
• to use the above tracking, advertising and analysis services within the scope of our legitimate interest;
• to carry out, to the extent specified above, services that you have requested or to which you have given your consent (for example, to newsletter pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 9);
• to comply with our legal obligations.
Contract data is kept longer by us, as this is required by statutory storage requirements. Retention requirements that oblige us to keep data arise from accounting and tax regulations. According to these regulations, business communication, contracts and accounting documents must be kept for up to 10 years or, for users resident in France, for up to 5 years. As far as we no longer need this data to carry out the services for you, the data will be blocked. This means that the data may then only be used for accounting purposes and for tax purposes.
If you live in an EU country, you have the right to complain to a data protection supervisory authority at any time.
If you have any questions or comments about our legal notices or privacy, please contact us at info@helloswitzerland.ch.