Data Protection Statement

In this data protection statement, we, the Centre de Contact Suisses-Immigrés (hereinafter CCSI or we), explain how we collect and process personal data. Personal data refers to any information relating to an identified or identifiable person.

The purpose of the data protection statement is to give visibility to the processing of personal data in a given service.

If you provide us with personal data about other people (e.g., family members), make sure these people are aware of this privacy statement and provide us with their personal data only if you have their permission and if the data is correct.

Data protection is of great importance to the CCSI. Under Article 13 of the Swiss Constitution and the Data Protection Act, everyone has the right to privacy and protection against misuse of their personal data. We comply with these provisions.

1. Data Controller

The controller of the data processing described here is:

Centre de Contact Suisses-Immigrés
Route des Acacias 25, 1227 Les Acacias, Switzerland.

If you have questions about data protection, you can contact us at the above address or by email at admin@ccsi.ch.

2. Collection and Processing of Personal Data in our Services and Activities

We primarily process the personal data that you provide to us when you use our services or contribute financially, make a donation, or engage in volunteer work. Processing this personal data allows us to provide the services required to fulfill our statutory duties and contractual obligations, as well as those assigned to us by public authorities. The purpose of data processing depends mainly on the service you request or the task we perform for you.

The data includes information you provide directly, your contact details, your interests, and data related to the use of our website.

Here are some specific examples of the data we collect:

  • General data (names and contact details, and possibly other data) when you provide this data and consent to receive information such as newsletters, SMS, etc.
  • When you order publications or resources from CCSI, we use this data to send you documentation and information.
  • When you contact us (e.g., via a contact form or email), your data (including the content/request) is stored for processing the request and for any follow-up questions.
  • When you view our newsletter, openings, and clicks on links are processed to create statistics and further optimize services to match your interests.
  • Data sent via our contact form for those interested in becoming members is stored for future inquiries and information.
  • If you make a donation via an online form, we process the personal data you provide in the form, including payment data. The data collected is used to process the donation payment. CCSI also uses the data to communicate with the donor, for example, to issue a donation receipt. Retention is also necessary according to the Code of Obligations (CO) and the Ordinance on Transparency in Association Financing.

Within CCSI, anyone who needs access to your data to implement our services, namely, our staff, including social workers, administrative staff, interns, IT specialists, accountants, and service providers (public institutions or authorities, subject to prior agreement from the person or their legal representative), has access to your data. They are committed to maintaining confidentiality and ensuring data protection.

CCSI processes your personal data in Switzerland. We store donor, member, user, and employee data in Switzerland.

For the services we provide, you must provide us with the personal data necessary to establish and maintain a relationship with you and meet our obligations, or those we are required to collect by law. Without this data, we may be forced to refuse to carry out a mandate or conclude a contract.

We depend on your donations to continue our activities in favor of migrant rights. If you do not wish to receive postal mail or information as part of our fundraising, you can notify us by simple letter or email.

We process and store your personal data as long as necessary to fulfill our contractual and legal obligations. For contractual documents, the mandatory legal archiving period is generally ten years from the end of our mandate and/or the end of the services. If they are no longer needed or if our service is completed, your personal data is regularly deleted as far as technically possible, unless we need to keep them for the following reasons:

  • Compliance with legal and regulatory accounting and retention periods prescribed by commercial and tax law;
  • Retention of evidence during limitation periods;
  • Retention of files for specific services or in accordance with legal retention periods;
  • Deactivation or anonymization rather than deletion of personal data (e.g., user or donor data) in our database.

Upon your express request and subject to the above, we will permanently delete your personal data.

3. Purposes of Data Processing and Legal Bases

As part of the services provided by CCSI, we use the personal data we collect mainly to carry out our services, activities, and for informing individuals. This processing is directly related to the performance of the services binding us. Additionally, we process your personal data for the following purposes, for which we (and sometimes third parties) have a legitimate interest:

  • Communication with you and processing your requests (e.g., information requests, case follow-ups, interest in becoming a member, applications);
  • Defense of rights in administrative proceedings.

If you have given us your consent to process your personal data for specific purposes, we process your personal data based on that consent. Consent given can be revoked at any time, without affecting data processing already carried out.

4. Use of Online Tracking Techniques

We collect the data you provide to us. This can include information you enter in a contact form or when placing an order, registering, or donating online. Technical data is recorded by our computer systems when you visit our website. We use WP Statistics software, a statistical analysis extension that provides us with information about visits to our website. We do not use cookies. Users’ IP addresses are anonymized. The collected indicators are:

  • The page from which visitors accessed our website (HTTP Referer);
  • The browser used (HTTP Header);
  • The platform used (computer, tablet, smartphone);
  • The pages visited;
  • The date and time of the connection;
  • The time spent on the website;
  • Data collected by WP Statistics is stored on our server. It is not transmitted to third parties.

We need the data to obtain information on the use of the various components of the website. This allows us to continuously optimize the website and its relevance. Our legitimate interest is based on these objectives. By anonymizing the IP address, we consider data protection, and this data is used anonymously and for statistical purposes. This data is never used to personally identify visitors and is not cross-referenced with other data. Data is deleted when it is no longer needed for our purposes.

4.1. Newsletters

Our newsletters and other informational emails use statistical indicators on the openings of these emails and the clicks on the links they contain, allowing us to create statistics and better understand how you use our services. This data processing is based on our legitimate interest, and the data is used anonymously for statistical purposes. You can block the loading of images in your email program; most of them are pre-configured to do so.

4.2. Social Media

We offer on our website the ability to share a link, among others, on social networks. Using this feature is entirely optional. If used, the respective third-party privacy policies (e.g., Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter) apply.

We currently use the following platforms, with the identity and contact details of the platform operator available in the respective privacy statement:

5. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access and misuse. This includes instructions and training for our employees and service providers, IT and network security solutions, access controls and restrictions, encryption of storage and transmissions, anonymization, and regular checks on data protection aspects.

6. Rights of the Data Subject

In accordance with the law on data protection, you have the right to obtain information, correct, and delete your personal data, as well as the right to restrict the processing of your data. Please note, however, that we reserve the right to assert the restrictions provided by law, for example, if we are legally required to retain or process certain data, if we have a predominant interest in doing so (as far as we are allowed to do so), or if the data is necessary to assert rights. If fees may be charged, we will inform you beforehand. The possibility to revoke your consent has been explained in section 3. To exercise these rights, it is generally necessary to prove your identity beyond doubt. To exercise your rights, you can contact us at the address indicated in section 1.

7. Changes

To respond to current developments, technical or legal changes, we reserve the right to adapt this privacy policy at any time without notice. The current version is the one published on our website.

11 July 2024