This privacy policy provides information about the personal data we process in connection with our activities and operations, including our thomas-graf.ch website. In particular, we provide information about why, how, and where we process personal data. We also provide information about the rights of individuals whose data we process.

Additional privacy policies and other legal documents such as general terms and conditions (GTC), terms of use, or conditions of participation may apply to individual or additional activities and operations.

We are subject to Swiss data protection law and any applicable foreign data protection law, in particular that of the European Union (EU) with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The European Commission recognizes that Swiss data protection law ensures adequate data protection.

1. Contact addresses

Responsibility for processing personal data:

thomasgraf ag
Morillonstrasse 43
3007 Bern

info@thomas-graf.ch

We will indicate if there are other parties responsible for processing personal data in individual cases.

2. Terms and legal basis

2.1 Terms

Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable person. A data subject is a person whose personal data is being processed.

Processing includes any handling of personal data, regardless of the means and procedures used, in particular the storage, disclosure, procurement, collection, deletion, saving, modification, destruction, and use of personal data.

The European Economic Area (EEA) comprises the member states of the European Union (EU) as well as the Principality of Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) refers to the processing of personal data as the processing of personal information.

2.2 Legal Basis

We process personal data in accordance with Swiss data protection law, in particular the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and the Ordinance to the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP).

Where and to the extent that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, we process personal data in accordance with at least one of the following legal bases:

• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data for the performance of a contract with the data subject and for the implementation of pre-contractual measures.
• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data to safeguard the legitimate interests of us or third parties, unless the fundamental freedoms and rights and interests of the data subject prevail. Legitimate interests are, in particular, our interest in being able to carry out our activities and operations in a permanent, user-friendly, secure, and reliable manner and to communicate about them, ensuring information security, protecting against misuse, enforcing our own legal claims, and complying with Swiss law.
• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data to fulfill a legal obligation to which we are subject under any applicable law of member states in the European Economic Area (EEA).
• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. e GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data to perform a task in the public interest.
• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR for the processing of personal data with the consent of the data subject.
• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. d GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person.

3. Type, scope, and purpose

We process personal data that is necessary to enable us to carry out our activities and operations in a sustainable, user-friendly, secure, and reliable manner. Such personal data may fall into the categories of inventory and contact data, browser and device data, content data, meta or peripheral data and usage data, location data, sales data, and contract and payment data.

We process personal data for as long as is necessary for the respective purpose or purposes or as required by law. Personal data that no longer needs to be processed is anonymized or deleted.

We may have personal data processed by third parties. We may process personal data jointly with third parties or transfer it to third parties. Such third parties are, in particular, specialized providers whose services we use. We also guarantee data protection with such third parties.

We only process personal data with the consent of the data subject, unless processing is permitted for other legal reasons. Processing without consent may be permissible, for example, to fulfill a contract with the data subject and for corresponding pre-contractual measures, to protect our overriding legitimate interests, because the processing is apparent from the circumstances, or after prior notification.In this context, we process in particular information that a data subject voluntarily provides to us when contacting us—for example, by letter, email, instant messaging, contact form, social media, or telephone—or when registering for a user account. We may store such information in an address book or similar tools, for example. If we receive data about other persons, the persons transmitting the data are obliged to guarantee data protection for these persons and to ensure the accuracy of this personal data.

We also process personal data that we receive from third parties, obtain from publicly accessible sources, or collect in the course of our activities and operations, provided that such processing is permitted for legal reasons.

4. Personal data abroad

We generally process personal data in Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA). However, we may also export or transfer personal data to other countries, in particular for processing or to have it processed there.

We may export personal data to all countries and territories on Earth and elsewhere in the universe, provided that the local law guarantees adequate data protection in accordance with a decision by the Swiss Federal Council and, if and to the extent that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, in accordance with a decision by the European Commission.

We may transfer personal data to countries whose laws do not guarantee adequate data protection, provided that data protection is guaranteed for other reasons, in particular on the basis of standard data protection clauses or other appropriate safeguards. In exceptional cases, we may export personal data to countries without adequate or appropriate data protection if the specific data protection requirements are met, for example, the express consent of the data subjects or a direct connection with the conclusion or execution of a contract. Upon request, we will gladly provide data subjects with information about any guarantees or provide a copy of any guarantees.

5. Rights of data subjects

Data subjects whose personal data we process have rights under Swiss data protection law. These include the right to access, rectify, erase, or block the personal data we process.

Data subjects whose personal data we process may, if and to the extent that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, request confirmation free of charge as to whether we are processing personal data concerning them. In this case, data subjects may request information about the processing of their personal data, have the processing of their personal data restricted, exercise their right to data portability, and have their personal data corrected, deleted (“right to be forgotten”), blocked, or completed.

Data subjects whose personal data we process may, if and to the extent that the GDPR applies, revoke their consent at any time with effect for the future and object to the processing of their personal data at any time.

Data subjects whose personal data we process have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent supervisory authority. The supervisory authority for data protection in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

6. Data security

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure data security commensurate with the respective risk. However, we cannot guarantee absolute data security.

Access to our website is secured by transport encryption (SSL/TLS, in particular with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, abbreviated HTTPS). Most browsers indicate transport encryption with a padlock in the address bar.

Like all digital communication, our digital communication is subject to mass surveillance without cause or suspicion, as well as other surveillance by security authorities in Switzerland, the rest of Europe, the United States of America (USA), and other countries. We cannot directly influence the processing of personal data by secret services, police agencies, and other security authorities.

7.1 Cookies

7.2 Server-log-files

We may collect the following information for each access to our website, provided that it is transmitted by your browser to our server infrastructure or can be determined by our web server: Date and time including time zone, Internet Protocol (IP) address, access status (HTTP status code), operating system including user interface and version, browser including language and version, individual subpages of our website accessed including the amount of data transferred, last website accessed in the same browser window (referrer).

We store such information, which may also constitute personal data, in server log files. This information is necessary in order to provide our website in a permanent, user-friendly, and reliable manner, as well as to ensure data security and, in particular, the protection of personal data—including by third parties or with the help of third parties.

7.3 tracking pixel

We may use tracking pixels on our website. Tracking pixels are also known as web beacons. Tracking pixels – including those from third parties whose services we use – are small, usually invisible images that are automatically retrieved when you visit our website. Tracking pixels can be used to collect the same information as server log files.

7.4 Comments

We enable you to post comments on our website. In this context, we process in particular the information that a commenter provides to us, but also the Internet Protocol (IP) address used and the date and time. This information is required to enable the publication of comments and to ensure protection against misuse, which is in our overriding legitimate interest.

8. Notifications and messages

We send notifications and messages by email and via other communication channels such as instant messaging or SMS.

8.1 Success and reach measurement

Notifications and messages may contain web links or tracking pixels that record whether an individual message has been opened and which web links have been clicked on. Such web links and tracking pixels may also record the use of notifications and messages on a personal basis. We require this statistical recording of usage for success and reach measurement in order to be able to send notifications and messages effectively and in a user-friendly manner, as well as permanently, securely, and reliably, based on the needs and reading habits of the recipients.

8.2 Consent and objection

You must expressly consent to the use of your email address and other contact details, unless such use is permitted for other legal reasons. Where possible, we use the “double opt-in” procedure for any consent, which means that you will receive an email with a web link that you must click on to confirm, so that no misuse by unauthorized third parties can occur. We may log such consents, including Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and the date and time, for evidence and security reasons.

You can object to receiving notifications and communications such as newsletters at any time. By doing so, you can also object to the statistical recording of usage for the purpose of measuring success and reach. This does not apply to necessary notifications and communications in connection with our activities and operations.

8.3 Service provider for notifications and communications

We send notifications and messages with the help of specialized service providers.

9. Social Media

We are present on social media platforms and other online platforms in order to communicate with interested parties and provide information about our activities and operations. In connection with such platforms, personal data may also be processed outside Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA).

The general terms and conditions (GTC) and terms of use, as well as privacy policies and other provisions of the individual operators of such platforms, also apply. These provisions provide information in particular about the rights of data subjects directly vis-à-vis the respective platform, including, for example, the right to information.We are jointly responsible with Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (Ireland) for our social media presence on Facebook, including the so-called Page Insights, insofar as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies. Meta Platforms Ireland Limited is part of the Meta companies (including in the USA). Page Insights provide information about how visitors interact with our Facebook presence. We use Page Insights to make our social media presence on Facebook effective and user-friendly.

Further information on the type, scope, and purpose of data processing, information on the rights of data subjects, and the contact details of Facebook and Facebook's data protection officer can be found in Facebook's privacy policy. We have concluded the so-called “Supplement for Controllers” with Facebook and have thus agreed in particular that Facebook is responsible for ensuring the rights of data subjects. For the so-called Page Insights, the relevant information can be found on the “Information about Page Insights” page, including “Information about Page Insights data.”

10. Third-party services

We use the services of specialized third parties to ensure that our activities and operations are sustainable, user-friendly, secure, and reliable. These services enable us to embed functions and content into our website, among other things. When embedding such content, the services used collect the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of users, at least temporarily, for technical reasons.

For necessary security-related, statistical, and technical purposes, third parties whose services we use may process data related to our activities and operations in an aggregated, anonymized, or pseudonymized form. This includes, for example, performance or usage data in order to be able to offer the respective service.

We use the following in particular:

• Google services: Providers: Google LLC (USA) / Google Ireland Limited (Ireland) for users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland; General information on data protection: “Privacy and security principles,” Privacy Policy, “Google is committed to complying with applicable data protection laws,” “Guide to data protection in Google products,” “How we use data from websites or apps on which our services are used” (information from Google), “Types of cookies and other technologies used by Google,” “Personalized advertising” (activation/deactivation/settings).

10.1 Digital infrastructure

We use the services of specialized third parties in order to be able to utilize the digital infrastructure required in connection with our activities and operations. These include, for example, hosting and storage services from selected providers.

We use the following in particular:

• Cyon: Hosting; Provider: cyon GmbH (Switzerland); Information on data protection: “Data protection,” Privacy policy.

10.2 map material

We use third-party services to embed maps on our website.

In particular, we use:

• Google Maps, including Google Maps Platform: map service; provider: Google; Google Maps-specific information: “How Google uses location information.”

10.3 Fonts

We use third-party services to embed selected fonts, icons, logos, and symbols into our website.

In particular, we use:

• Schriftarten; Anbieterin: Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (USA); Angaben zum Datenschutz: «Ihre Privatsphäre» («Your Privacy»), Datenschutzerklärung, «Datenschutzrichtlinie zum Tracking von Webschriften».

11. Success and reach measurement

• Google Analytics: Success and reach measurement; provider: Google; Google Analytics-specific information: Measurement also across different browsers and devices (cross-device tracking) and with pseudonymized Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which are only transmitted in full to Google in the US in exceptional cases, “Data protection,” “Browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics.”

12. Final provisions