Privacy statement

Version September 2023

In this privacy statement, WSL explains how we collect and process Personal Data. We process personal data carefully. Based on this privacy statement, we inform which Personal Data we process in connection with our activities. In particular, we provide information on what we process Personal Data for, how we process it, and where we process it. We also inform about the rights of persons whose data we process.

For websites of other providers, which are referred to e.g., via links, the data protection declarations of those providers apply.

For data protection concerns please contact: Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf. Telefon 044 739 21 11. E-Mail: datenschutz(at)wsl.ch

Legal basis

We process Personal Data in accordance with the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (DSG) and the Ordinance to the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (VDSG). In addition, we process Personal Data, if applicable, in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Terms

Personal Data: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. Data Subject: A person about whom Personal Data is processed. Edit: Any handling of Personal Data, regardless of the means and procedures used, in particular obtaining, storing, using, reprocessing, disclosing, archiving or destroying data.

We process Personal Data that are necessary to carry out our activities in a user-friendly, secure, and reliable manner.

We process Personal Data for the period required for the respective purpose(s) or if required by law. Personal Data may be retained for the period during which claims may be brought against our company and to the extent that we are otherwise required to do so by law or legitimate business interests (e.g., for evidence and documentation purposes). As soon as your Personal Data are no longer required for the above-mentioned purposes, they will be deleted or anonymized as a matter of principle and to the extent possible. For operational data (e.g., system logs, logs), shorter retention periods of twelve months or less apply in principle.

As a matter of principle, we process Personal Data only with the consent of the Data Subject, unless the processing is permitted for other legal reasons, for example, to fulfill a contract with the Data Subject, to protect our overriding legitimate interests, because the processing is evident from the circumstances, or after prior information.

Processing of Personal Data

If you contact us to use WSL offers and services (e.g., by e-mail, telephone, etc.), the data you provide (e-mail address, possibly name, address and telephone number) will be stored by us. The communication of this information is on a voluntary basis and with your consent. Insofar as this involves information on communication channels (e-mail address, telephone number), you also consent to our contacting you via this communication channel. If you contact us via the online form, e-mail, telephone, we will forward the information you provide to the appropriate recipients so that they can respond to your inquiry and ask any follow-up questions. We do not use your information for any other purpose than in connection with the offers and services you have requested. No profiles will be created.

Transfer of Personal Data to third parties or 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 to process it or have it processed there, if the Federal Council has determined that the legislation of the country in question ensures adequate protection.

Rights of the Data Subjects

Data Subjects whose Personal Data we process have rights under Swiss data protection law. These include the right to information as well as the right to correction, deletion or blocking of the processed Personal Data.

You can object to the processing of your Personal Data in whole or in part at any time or revoke the consent you have given.

Data Subjects whose Personal Data we process also have a right of appeal to a competent supervisory authority. The supervisory authority for data protection in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

Data security

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures (TOM) to ensure the protection of your Personal Data against unauthorized access and misuse.

Personal Data that you transmit to us via the website forms will be transmitted via a secure connection in encrypted form. The security procedure used (SSL-Secure Sockets Layer) corresponds to the usual state of technology. The access to the system takes place via an authorization procedure. SSL encryption (recognizable by https:// in the address bar of the browser) is a protocol for encrypting data during transmission from the web server to the browser. This transmission offers a particularly high level of security.

Server log files

Each time you access our website, we automatically collect information. This information, also referred to as server log files, is of a general nature and does not allow any conclusions about individual persons. Server log files are stored in the usual form: Calling IP address, date and time, page requested, data transmission protocol, response code of the server, origin of the request, browser, operating system. Without this data, it would not be technically possible to deliver and display the contents of the website. In this respect, the collection of this data is mandatory.

We evaluate these log file data records to further improve our website and make it more user-friendly, to find and correct errors more quickly and to control server capacities.

We also reserve the right to check the log files retrospectively if we suspect unlawful use of our offer.

Cookies

We use the open source software Matomo to statistically analyse visitor access. We do not collect any personal data and no cookies are used.

We use third party services to carry out our activities and operations in a sustainable, user-friendly, secure, and reliable manner.

For security-related, statistical, and technical purposes, third parties whose services we use may process data in connection with our activities and operations in aggregated, anonymized or pseudonymized form. Examples are performance or usage data to be able to offer the respective service.

Matomo

We use the open-source software Matomo for statistical analysis of visitor access. No cookies are used for the analysis. The analysis by Matomo can be objected to. To save the objection, a cookie is set in your browser, which only serves to transmit the objection and is not used for any other purpose.

YouTube

We embed videos on our website that we have stored in our YouTube channel. YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, 94066 San Bruno, CA, USA, is a company of Google Inc, Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. When you call up embedded videos, a connection is established to the servers of YouTube or Google and the embedded content is displayed by notifying your browser. The YouTube or Google servers are informed which of our Internet pages you have visited. If you are logged in to YouTube as a registered user at the same time, YouTube will associate the respective connection with your personal user account, which you can prevent by logging out beforehand. For more information on the purpose and scope of data collection and processing, please visit Google’s privacy policy.

Social media plug-ins

We also use so-called plug-ins from social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram or Linkedln on our websites. We have configured these elements so that they are deactivated by default. If you activate them by clicking, the operators of the respective social networks can register that and where you are on our website and can use this information for their purposes. The processing of your Personal Data is then the responsibility of this operator according to its general terms and conditions (GTC), terms of use and privacy policy. We do not receive any information about you from the operator.

Conference registrations

For registrations to WSL events, we use the software ConfTool. Your contact details are stored in WSL's internal address database. Until your written revocation, WSL will inform you about similar events or events with similar content as well as about suitable information products. The data will only be used for these purposes and will only be passed on to third parties in connection with these activities. Pictures and photos taken at our public events may be used later for communication purposes. Privacy statement of ConfTool

Newsletter

The newsletter(s), which you can subscribe to on this website, provides information about research, publications, and other news from WSL and WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) on an approximately bimonthly basis (currently only available in German and French). Your e-mail address entered in the newsletter subscription box will only be used for the purpose of delivering the newsletter and will not be passed on to third parties. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time or revoke your consent at any time by sending an e-mail to datenschutz@wsl.ch. Your data will be deleted automatically within one week (if you unsubscribe from the newsletter) or by us within one month (if you unsubscribe by e-mail) after you have stopped receiving the newsletter. By sending the data you entered, you consent to the data processing and confirm our privacy policy. The newsletter administration and creation are carried out with the email marketing software of CleverReach GmbH & Co. KG, Mühlenstraße 43, D-26180 Rastede. The contractual basis between us and CleverReach is a contract for the commissioned processing of Personal Data (in accordance with GDPR).

Final provisions

This privacy policy can be adapted at any time and without prior notice.

The current version published on our website shall apply.

This privacy policy can be adapted at any time and without prior notice.

The current version published on our website shall apply.