Data privacy policy

General information

Based on Article 13 of the Swiss Federal Constitution and the provisions of Swiss federal data protection legislation (Federal Act on Data Protection, [FADP]), everyone has the right to the protection of their privacy, as well as to protection from misuse of their personal data. Linkgroup AG takes the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data confidentially and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.

By using this website, you consent to the collection, processing and use of data as described below. This website can basically be visited without registration. Data such as pages accessed or names of files accessed, date and time are stored on the server for statistical purposes without this data being directly related to your person. Insofar as personal data (e.g. name, address or email addresses) is collected on our pages, this is always done as far as possible on a voluntary basis. This data will not be passed on to third parties without your express consent.

This privacy policy informs you not only about the processing purposes, recipients, legal grounds and storage periods, but also about your rights and the persons responsible for your data processing. This privacy policy only applies to our websites linkgroup.ch, kommuniversum.ch, printlink.ch and printmedia.ch. If you are redirected to other sites via links on our pages, please inform yourself there about the respective handling of your data.

We would like to point out that when data is transmitted on the Internet (e.g. communication by email) there may be security gaps. Complete protection of data from access by third parties is not possible.

Data controller
Linkgroup AG
Mühlebachstrasse 52

8008 Zurich, Switzerland
box.dont-like-spam@ich-will-kein-spam.linkgroup.ch
T +41 44 268 12 12

Data protection officer:
Othmar Krienbühl
T +41 44 268 12 62
othmar.krienbuehl.dont-like-spam@ich-will-kein-spam.linkgroup.ch

iData One GmbH, Rigiweg 4, 6374 Buochs, has been appointed as external data protection advisor.

Processing of personal data

Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. A data subject is a person whose personal data is processed. Processing is any operation with personal data, irrespective of the means applied and the procedure, and in particular the storage, disclosure, collection, deletion, retention, alteration, destruction and use of personal data.

We process personal data in accordance with Swiss data protection law (Federal Act on Data Protection, FADP). If and to the extent that the EU’s GDPR is applicable, we also process personal data on the following legal bases in connection with Art. 6 (1) GDPR:

lit. a) Processing of personal data with the consent of the data subject.

lit. b) Processing of personal data for the performance of a contract with the data subject as well as for the implementation of corresponding pre-contractual measures.

lit. c) Processing of personal data for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject under applicable EU law or under the applicable law of a country in which the GDPR applies in whole or in part. lit. d) Processing of personal data to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person.

lit. f) Processing of personal data to protect the legitimate interests of us or of third parties, unless these interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject. Legitimate interests include, in particular, our business interest in being able to provide our website, information security, the enforcement of our own legal claims and compliance with Swiss law.

We process personal data for the duration required for the respective purpose or purposes. In the case of longer-term retention obligations owing to legal and other obligations to which we are subject, we restrict processing accordingly.

Visiting the website

When you access our website, information of a general nature is automatically collected by means of a cookie. This information (server log files) includes the type of web browser, the operating system used, the name of your internet service provider and similar. This is exclusively information that does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about your person.

This information is technically necessary to correctly deliver website content requested by you and is mandatory when using the internet. It is processed for the following purposes in particular:

• Ensuring that the website connection is established without problems.
• Ensuring the smooth use of our website
• Evaluating system security and stability
• Other administrative purposes

Your personal data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interest in the aforementioned data collection purposes. We do not use your data to draw conclusions about your person. The only recipients of the data are the controller and, if applicable, data processors.

Anonymous information of this kind is statistically evaluated by us, if necessary, to optimise our internet presence and the technology behind it.

Security measures

Taking into account the state of the art and the legal requirements to which it is subject, suitable technical and organisational measures have been taken to ensure an appropriate level of protection for all personal data. The detailed technical and organisational measures have been documented in detail and are continuously revised and improved.

Cookies

Like many other websites, we also use so-called cookies, small text files that are transferred from a website server to your hard drive. These enable us to automatically receive certain data such as the IP address, browser used, operating system and your connection to the internet.
Cookies cannot be used to launch programs or transfer viruses to a computer. The information contained in cookies allows us to facilitate your navigation and enable the correct display of our website.

Under no circumstances will the data we collect be passed on to third parties or linked to personal data without your consent.

Of course, you can also view our website without cookies. Internet browsers are regularly set to accept cookies. In general you can deactivate the use of cookies at any time via your browser settings.  Please use the help functions of your internet browser to find out how you can change these settings.  Please note that individual functions of our website may not work if you have deactivated the use of cookies.

SSL/TLS encryption

This website uses SSL/TLS encryption for security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as enquiries that you send to us in our capacity as the site operator. You can recognise an encrypted connection by the fact that the address line of the browser changes from “http://” to “https://” and by the lock symbol in your browser line.

If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

Rights of the data subject

Right to confirmation
Every data subject has the right to request confirmation from the website operator as to whether personal data relating to him or her is being processed. If you wish to exercise this right of confirmation, you may contact the Data Protection Officer at any time.

Right to information
Any person whose personal data is subject to processing has the right to obtain information from the operator of this website at any time and free of charge about the data stored about him or her and a copy of this information. In addition, information may be provided on the following, if applicable:

• Purposes of processing
• Categories of personal data processed
• Recipients to whom the personal data has been or will be passed on
  If possible, the planned duration of the storage of the personal data or, if this is not possible, the criteria for determining this duration
• The existence of a right to rectification or erasure of personal data concerning him or her or to restriction of processing by the controller or a right to object to such processing
• The existence of a right of appeal to a supervisory authority
• If the personal data is not collected from the data subject: Any available information on the origin of the data.
• In addition, the data subject has the right to be informed whether personal data has been transferred to a third country or an international organisation. If this is the case, the data subject also has the right to be informed about the appropriate safeguards in connection with the transfer.

If you wish to make use of this right to information, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at any time.

Right to rectification
Any person whose personal data is subject to processing has the right to request the immediate rectification of any inaccurate personal data concerning him or her. In addition, taking into account the purposes of the processing, the data subject has the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of providing a supplementary statement.

If you wish to exercise this right of rectification, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at any time.

Right to erasure
Any person whose personal data is subject to processing has the right to obtain from the controller of this website the erasure of the personal data concerning him or her without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies and the processing is no longer necessary:

• The personal data was collected or otherwise processed for purposes for which it is no longer necessary.
• The data subject withdraws consent on which the processing was based and there is no other legal ground for the processing
• The data subject objects to the processing on grounds relating to his or her particular situation and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or the data subject objects to the processing in the case of direct marketing and related profiling.
• The personal data have been unlawfully processed
• The personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation in European Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject
• The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services directly to a child

If one of the above grounds applies and you wish to arrange for the erasure of personal data stored by the operator of this website, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at any time. The Data Protection Officer of this website will arrange for the request for erasure to be complied with immediately.

Right to restriction of processing
Any person whose personal data is subject to processing has the right to obtain from the controller of this website restriction of processing where one of the following applies:

• The accuracy of the personal data is contested by the data subject, for a period enabling the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data
• The processing is unlawful and the data subject opposes the erasure of the personal data and requests the restriction of their use instead
• The controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of the processing, but they are required by the data subject for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. 
  The data subject has objected to the processing on grounds arising from his or her particular situation, pending the verification of whether the legitimate grounds of the controller override those of the data subject

If one of the aforementioned conditions is met, you may at any time contact our Data Protection Officer to request the restriction of the processing of personal data held by the operator of this website. The data protection officer of this website will arrange the restriction of the processing.

Right to data portability
Any person whose personal data is subject to processing has the right to receive the personal data concerning him or her in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. In addition, the data subject has the right to obtain that the personal data be transferred directly from one controller to another controller, provided that this is technically feasible and provided that this does not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of other individuals.

To exercise the right to data portability, you may at any time contact the data protection officer designated by the operator of this website.

Right to object
Any person whose personal data is subject to processing has the right to object, on grounds relating to his or her particular situation, at any time to the processing of personal data concerning him or her.
In the event of an objection, the operator of this website shall no longer process the personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests, rights and freedoms of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

To exercise your right to object, you can contact the data protection officer of this website directly.

Right to revoke consent under data protection law
Any person whose personal data is subject to processing has the right to revoke the consent they have given to the processing of personal data at any time.

If you wish to make use of this right to revoke consent, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at any time.

Mapbox

This website uses the Mapbox service. This allows us to display interactive maps directly on the website and to enable you to use the map function conveniently. When you visit the website, Mapbox, Inc., 740 15th Street NW, 6th Floor, Washington DC 20005 receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding sub-page of our website. Mapbox collects certain technical information when requests are made to the API such as IP address, browser information, operating system, limited location and usage data, and the URL of the website visited. The data is only used to improve Mapbox products. Your data is kept for 30 days and then automatically deleted from the Mapbox servers. The data is routed to and stored on American servers. More information at: https://www.mapbox.com/legal/privacy?tid=331693474653 

Google Analytics

When you access our homepage, Google Analytics, offered by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, D04 E2W2, Dublin, Ireland, is activated to analyse homepage usage. The service uses cookies, which are stored on your device. However, we use IP anonymisation which, by truncating the IP address, prevents us from identifying specific persons behind it. As part of the order processing agreement with Google Ireland Limited, the latter uses the information collected to analyse homepage usage and homepage activity.

You give us your consent to this by confirming the cookie request immediately after accessing our website. You have the option of preventing the storage of cookies on your end device by making use of the opt-out option or by making the appropriate settings in your browser. However, there is no guarantee that you will be able to access all functions of this homepage without restrictions if your browser does not allow cookies. Here you will find further information on the use of data by Google Ireland Limited: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en

The statistics obtained enable us to improve our offering and make it more interesting for you as a user. This website also uses Google Analytics for a cross-device analysis of visitor flows, which is done via a user ID. If you have a Google user account, you can deactivate the cross-device analysis of your usage in the settings there under “My data”, “Personal data”.

Google Analytics uses cookies. The information the cookie generates on your use of this website will generally be transferred to a Google server in the United States and stored there. You can set your browser software to prevent cookies from being saved; however, we would point out that if you do so it may not be possible for you to make full use of all the functions of this Website. You can also prevent Google from capturing and processing the data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: Download page for the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics.

Instagram

Functions of the Instagram service are integrated on our website. These functions are offered by Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. If you are logged into your Instagram account, you can link the content of our pages on your Instagram profile by clicking the Instagram button. This allows Instagram to associate the visit to our pages with your user account. We would like to point out that we, as the provider of the pages, have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or its use by Instagram. For more information, please see Instagram's privacy policy: http://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/.

LinkedIn

Within our online offering we use the marketing services of the social network LinkedIn of LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland.
These use cookies, i.e. text files that are stored on your computer. This enables us to analyse your use of the website. For example, we can measure the success of our advertising and show users products they were previously interested in. For example, information about the operating system, the browser, the website previously visited (referrer URL), the website visited, the offers clicked on and the date and time of your visit to our website are collected. The information the cookie generates on your use of this website will be transferred in pseudonymised form to a LinkedIn server in the United States and stored there. LinkedIn therefore does not store the name or email address of the respective user. Rather, the aforementioned data is only assigned to the person for whom the cookie was generated. This does not apply if the user has allowed LinkedIn to process without pseudonymisation or has a LinkedIn account.

You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, but please note that if you do this you may not be able to use all the features of this website. You can also object to the use of your data directly at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls/retargeting-opt-out.

X

This website uses functions provided by X, Inc., 1355 Market St, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. When you access our pages with X plug-ins, a connection is established between your browser and Twitter’s servers. Data is already transferred to X in the process. If you have a Twitter account, this data can be linked to it. If you do not want this data to be linked to your Twitter account, please log out of X before visiting our site. Interactions, in particular clicking on a Retweet button, are also forwarded to X. You can find out more about this at https://twitter.com/privacy.

YouTube

Functions of the YouTube service are integrated on our website. YouTube is owned and operated by Google Ireland Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of Ireland with its registered office at Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, which operates the services in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. Your legal agreement with YouTube consists of the terms and conditions found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/static?gl=en&template=terms&hl=en.
These terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and YouTube regarding your use of the services. Google’s privacy policy explains how YouTube treats and protects your personal data when you use the service.

If you have deactivated the storage of cookies for the Google Ads programme, you will not have to deal with any such cookies when watching YouTube videos. However, YouTube also stores non-personal usage information in other cookies. If you wish to prevent this, you must block the storage of cookies in your browser.

Further information on data protection at YouTube can be found in the provider’s privacy policy at www.google.ch (privacy).

Newsletter

This website uses the services of LinkMailer to send newsletters. If you use the contact form we collect and store the data that you enter in the relevant entry fields (e.g. your last and first name and your email address). These data will not be forwarded to third parties. Subscription to the newsletter is possible only with your consent.

You register for our newsletter via a double opt-in procedure. This means that once you have registered you receive an email asking you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary to ensure that no one can register using other people's email addresses. Registrations to our newsletter are logged to be able to demonstrate that the process was compliant with the relevant legal requirements. This includes storing the date and time of registration and confirmation and the IP address.

You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time; in other words, you can revoke the consent you have given. You will find a link to unsubscribe at the end of every newsletter.

Newsletters contain a so-called web beacon that is retrieved by our server when the newsletter is opened. Initially this involves collecting technical information such as information about the browser and your system, as well as your IP address and time of retrieval. This information is used to improve the technical performance of services based on their specifications or audience and their reading habits, based on their locations (which can be determined using the IP address) or access times.

Statistical surveys also include determining whether a newsletter has been opened, when it was opened and what links were clicked. For technical reasons, this information can be assigned to individual newsletter recipients. However, it is not our desire to observe individual users. Rather, we use the analysis to identify the reading habits of our users and adapt our content to them or to send different content according to the interests of our users.

Contact form

If you send us enquiries via the contact form, the information you provide in the enquiry form, including the contact details you enter there (such as your surname, first name, email address and telephone number) will be stored by us for the purpose of processing the enquiry and in the event of follow-up enquiries. We will not pass on this data without your consent and it will be deleted after processing has been completed or, in the case of further business relations, transferred to our database.

Comment function

You can comment on the content of our website. If you comment on content we collect and store the data that you enter in the relevant entry fields (e.g. your last and first name and your email address). These data will not be forwarded to third parties.

Surveys/interviews

Linkgroup AG conducts surveys on the basis of the SurveyMonkey application from Momentive Europe UC, 2 Shelbourne Buildings, Second Floor, Shelbourne Rd Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland. If someone takes part in a survey, personal data such as their contact information, usage data, cookies and IP address are passed on to SurveyMonkey. You will find more information at https://www.surveymonkey.de/mp/legal/privacy/#personal-data-we-collect. The use of the mailing service provider is based on our legitimate interests and a processing agreement. Personal data may be stored by SurveyMonkey on servers located in the United States. However, as Privacy Shield has been classified as no longer adequate by the Swiss data protection authority, SurveyMonkey additionally commits to Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC). You will find more information at https://help.surveymonkey.com/de/surveymonkey/policy/surveymonkey-data/.

Job applications

In the following, we inform you about the collection of personal data when you send in an application. We use the personal data provided exclusively for processing your application documents for pre-contractual measures on the basis of a voluntary request. For processing and communicating decisions, we require personal data from you such as your surname, first name, place of residence, date of birth, email address and telephone number. No other data will be collected and processed in Switzerland.

If your application is not considered, your personal data will be deleted from our systems. If your application is considered or you are hired, your application documents are stored in accordance with the statutory retention obligations.

Data transfers and logins

We use transfer servers to exchange data. You can use your personal access to download data from the transfer server or upload files and make them available to us. The login data will be provided to you by us and will be processed when you use our tool. The data is stored separately on our servers and is not passed on to third parties. As a matter of principle, no personal data is stored and passed on.

Contractual services

We process the data of our contractual partners and interested parties as well as other clients, customers, clients or contractual partners (referred to together as “contractual partners”) in accordance with the data protection provisions of the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (FADP) and the EU’s GDPR pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b. GDPR, in order to provide them with our contractual or pre-contractual services. The data processed in this context and the type, scope and purpose as well as the necessity of their processing depend on the underlying contractual relationship. The data processed includes the master data of our contractual partners (e.g. names and addresses), contact data (e.g. email addresses and telephone numbers) as well as contractual data (e.g. services used, contents of the contract, contractual communications and names of contacts). As a matter of principle, we do not process any special categories of personal data unless they are part of the processing of an order or contract.

We process personal data that is required to substantiate and fulfil the contractual services and point out the necessity of their disclosure, unless this is obvious to the contractual partners. Data is only passed on to external persons or companies if this is necessary within the framework of a contract. When processing personal data provided to us as part of an order, we act in accordance with the client’s instructions and the statutory provisions.

The deletion of the data takes place when the data is no longer required for the fulfilment of contractual or legal due diligence obligations or for the processing of any warranty and comparable obligations, with the necessity of retaining the personal data reviewed at irregular intervals. Otherwise the statutory retention obligations apply.

Retention and deletion of personal data

We process and store your personal data for as long as is necessary for the fulfilment of our contractual and legal obligations or otherwise for the purposes pursued with the processing, for example for the duration of the entire business relationship (from the initiation and processing to the termination of a contract) and beyond that in accordance with the statutory retention and documentation obligations. It is possible that personal data will be retained for the period during which claims can be asserted against Linkgroup AG and insofar as we are otherwise legally obliged to do so or legitimate business interests require this (e.g. for evidence and documentation purposes). As soon as your personal data is no longer required for the above-mentioned purposes, it will be deleted or anonymised as a matter of principle and as far as possible. For operational data (e.g. system logs and logs), shorter retention periods of twelve months or less generally apply.

Data transfer to third countries and the USA

If personal data is processed in a third country or transferred to a third country, this is always done in accordance with the relevant legal requirements. A third country is defined as a country outside the European Union or the European Economic Area. Subject to express consent or contractually or legally required transfer, our company will only process your personal data in third countries with a recognised level of data protection, contractual obligation through standard protection clauses of the EU or Switzerland or in the presence of certifications.

Among other things, tools from companies based in the United States are integrated on our website. If these tools are active, your personal data may be transferred to the US servers of the respective companies. We would like to point out that the United States is not a safe third country within the meaning of Swiss and EU data protection law. US companies are obliged to hand over personal data to security authorities without you as the data subject being able to take legal action against this. It can therefore not be ruled out that US authorities (e.g. intelligence services) process, evaluate and permanently store your data located on US servers for monitoring purposes. We have no influence on these processing procedures.

Copyrights

Copyright and any other rights relating to texts, illustrations, photos or any other data available on the website are the exclusive property of the operator of this website or of any other expressly mentioned owners. The prior written consent of the copyright holders must be obtained for the reproduction of any files.

Anyone who commits a copyright infringement without the consent of the respective copyright holder may be liable to prosecution and may under certain circumstances be subject to claims for damages.

Disclaimer

All information on our website has been carefully checked. We make every effort to ensure that the information we provide is up to date, correct and complete. Nevertheless, errors cannot be completely ruled out, meaning that we cannot accept any liability for the completeness, correctness and currentness of the information, including journalistic and editorial information. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any kind of information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected.

The publisher may change or delete texts at its discretion and without prior notice and is not obliged to update the contents of this website. The use of this website or access to it is at the visitor’s own risk. The publisher, its customers or partners are not responsible for any damages, such as direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages, allegedly caused by visiting this website and, consequently, assume no liability for such damages.

The publisher also accepts no responsibility or liability for the content and availability of third-party websites that can be accessed via external links from this website. The content of linked websites is the sole responsibility of the operators of such websites. The publisher therefore expressly distances itself from all third-party content that may be relevant under criminal or liability law or that may offend common decency.

Status and changes to the privacy policy

Linkgroup AG may change this privacy policy at any time without prior notice. As a result of the ongoing development of the website and services or owing to changes in legal or regulatory requirements, it may be necessary to amend this data protection statement at any time.

This privacy policy was last updated on 31 August 2023.