Legal aspects

Digital Public Services Switzerland (DPSS)

The Confederation and cantons are equal sponsors of the DPSS. They act through the Federal Council and the Conference of the Cantonal Governments of Switzerland.

The Digital Public Services Switzerland Office is responsible for networking, knowledge exchange and communication, among other things. In administrative terms, it is attached to the General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Finance FDF. Where reference is made below to federal authorities of the Swiss Confederation, the DPSS Office is included.

Liability

Although great care has been taken by the federal authorities to ensure the accuracy of the information published, no warranty can be given in respect of the accuracy, reliability, up-to-dateness or completeness of this information.

The federal authorities expressly reserve the right to alter, remove or temporarily suspend publication of content, in full or in part, at any time and without prior notice.

In no event will the federal authorities be liable for any loss or damage of a material or immaterial nature arising from access to, use or non-use of published information, or from misuse of the connection or technical faults.

References and links

References and links to third-party websites lie outside the scope of responsibility of the federal authorities. Users who access and/or use such websites do so at their own risk. The federal authorities explicitly declare that they have no influence whatsoever on the design, content or offers of linked sites. The relevant third party is entirely responsible for the information and services of linked websites.

Any responsibility in respect of such websites is declined.

Copyright

Copyright, federal authorities of the Swiss Confederation.

The information contained on the websites of the federal authorities is accessible to the public. Downloading or copying content, illustrations, photos or any other data does not entail any transfer of rights concerning the content.

Copyright and all other rights to content, illustrations, photos or other data on the websites of the federal authorities belong exclusively to the federal authorities or to any specifically named right holders. The reproduction of any components requires the prior written consent of the copyright holder.

Privacy statement

1. General information

Your data is safe in our hands. The Federal Administration only collects the personal data that it absolutely requires to fulfil its tasks (data minimisation). Stored data is carefully managed and protected against any form of abuse.

Under Article 13 of the Swiss Constitution and the federal data protection provisions, all persons are entitled to have their individual privacy preserved and to be protected against the misuse of their personal data. The Federal Administration complies with these provisions on its websites and in providing its web services.

2. Scope of application

This privacy statement applies to all pages on Federal Administration websites in the "admin.ch" domain, to websites operated by third parties on behalf of the Federal Administration and to the personal data collected via these websites. This privacy statement may be amended at any time without prior notice. Where Federal Administration web pages or websites operated on its behalf make reference to the websites of other providers, the data protection information and privacy statements of those providers apply to their websites.

Individual units of the Federal Administration have their own or additional data protection provisions. Apps jointly developed by the Federal Administration may be subject to data protection provisions that cover their specific use. Please note: if you download an app, the operator of the app stores will normally be provided with details of the person who downloaded the app.

3. Links

The Federal Administration has no influence over external pages to which it provides links, nor over external pages that provide links to Federal Administration pages. Accordingly, the Federal Administration provides no guarantee in relation to such pages that the information they contain is accurate or that they are free of malware (such as viruses). The relevant third party is entirely responsible for the information and services of linked third-party websites or web services. Any responsibility in respect of such websites or web services is declined.

4. What happens to your data?

a) Retention and deletion

The processing of personal data on the websites of the Confederation is limited to the data that is required to provide a properly functioning website and user-friendly content and services, or to the data that you actively made available to us. The personal data that we collect is only retained for as long as required in order to fulfil the purpose concerned. Some data may be retained for longer in order to meet statutory requirements or other obligations.

b) Data stored when completing a form

If you fill out and submit a form on our website (e.g. a contact form), your details will be sent by email and stored. We process the data you provide us with to the extent necessary to fulfil the purpose of processing or to deal with your request. Normally, any information provided is done so on a voluntary basis. Mandatory fields are marked as such only if the information is required in order to fulfil our statutory duty or to deal with your request or enquiry. This data is deleted at the latest when the legal retention period expires.

c) Data stored for the purpose of sending newsletters

When you order a newsletter, the following data is recorded: your email address and language (mandatory); any title, first name and surname (all optional). Your personal data related to the dispatch of newsletters to which you subscribe will be deleted immediately if you terminate your subscription.

d) Data stored for the purpose of web analysis

When websites and web services of the Federal Administration are accessed, the following data is stored in log files: IP address, date, time, browser request and transmitted information on the device used, including the operating system and browser. This data is evaluated by web analysis tools (see below). The Federal Administration does this in order to continuously improve its methods of communication.

Web analysis tools: The Federal Administration uses the Matomo software solution for web analysis not related to specific persons. Matomo is operated by both the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication (FOITT) and the Federal Chancellery. Managed servers at Metanet (Schweiz) AG and Xelon AG are used. The tracking carried out using JavaScript and Pixel, only within the domain (admin.ch and digitale-verwaltung-schweiz.ch), is completely under the control of the Federal Administration and all data remains in Switzerland. The data obtained is used exclusively for web analysis; it is not shared or combined with other data records.

e) Cookies

Cookies are used on various Federal Administration web pages in order to make visiting the website more attractive and to allow certain functions to be used. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer. Most of the cookies used are deleted from your hard drive at the end of the browser session (session cookies). Other cookies remain on your computer and enable you to be recognised again during your next visit (permanent cookies).

You can stop cookies from being stored on your browser by restricting or deactivating the storage and reading of cookies. Please note that you will not be able to use certain functions of the website without enabling cookies.

f) Social networks and other third-party services

The Federal Administration manages various accounts and profiles on social networks (including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Instagram, etc.), its own YouTube channels and various apps. These pages and services are offered and operated by third parties. All of these pages have their own data protection provisions.

Furthermore, third-party services such as those provided by YouTube, Twitter, Google Maps, Google Ads, Google Custom Search, Instagram, Bitly, etc. are directly embedded into individual Federal Administration web pages. These providers also use cookies, among other things. When those Federal Administration web pages are used, user data is automatically transmitted to these companies. In such cases, the data protection provisions of the provider concerned expressly apply. Users must be aware that data can be collected via these services and can also be passed on to third parties. If users also have an account with the service concerned, the operator may assign the information transmitted directly to the personal account concerned.

The Federal Administration has no influence on the collection of data and its further use by these operators. The Federal Administration has no knowledge of how much data they store, where they store it and for how long, the extent to which they comply with any existing deletion obligations, what evaluations and links they make using the data and to whom they pass on the data.

The main third-party services the Federal Administration uses are:

YouTube: As soon as you call up a Federal Administration web page that has an embedded YouTube video, a connection is established with the YouTube servers, and plug-ins from YouTube (YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA; subsidiary of Google LLC) are occasionally used. YouTube receives information on which page was visited from which IP address.

Google Maps: The Google Maps map service provided by Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) is occasionally used to display an interactive map and to provide directions. If you use Google Maps, information on your use (e.g. IP address) may be stored and transmitted to a Google server in the United States.

Google Custom Search: Certain Federal Administration offices use the "Custom Search" search box provided by Google LLC. If you use this search box (by sending the form), user data is transmitted to the operator company. Information on the handling of user data can be found in Google's Privacy Policy.

Instagram: Instagram, Inc. belongs to Facebook. Information on the handling of user data can be found in the Data Policy.

Twitter: Twitter, Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94103. Information on the handling of user data can be found in Twitter's Privacy Policy and in How cookies are used on Twitter.

Bitly: Bitly provides a URL shortener service. The headquarters of bitly, Inc. are in New York, United States. Information on the handling of user data can be found in the Bitly Privacy Policy.

Google reCaptcha: Under the name reCaptcha, Google LLC operates services that can recognise and prevent automated actions on websites. Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Identity providers: For authentic access to applications of the Federal Administration, electronic identities may be used through third-party identity providers. List of identity providers used.

5. Your Rights

You have the right to request information on the processing of your personal data by any unit of the Federal Administration at any time free of charge. To do so, contact the office named in the imprint ("Impressum"). Further rights such as the right to have data deleted or corrected, to have data processing restricted and to have data transmitted exist within the legally prescribed framework.

Collecting data in order to provide the website and storing data in log files are absolutely essential activities for the operation of our website. Therefore, users of our website have no right to object in this respect.

6. Data security

Website: When you visit our website, the Federal Administration uses encrypted data communication based on TLS in conjunction with the highest encryption level supported by your browser. You can see whether an individual website page is transmitted in encrypted form by checking whether the lock symbol displayed in the address bar of your browser is closed.

General data processing: In addition, the Federal Administration takes appropriate technical and organisational security measures during data processing in order to protect your data against accidental or wilful manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction or unauthorised access by third parties. The Federal Administration's security measures correspond to the current state of the art.

7. Operation

The web servers that are used to operate the websites are technically maintained by external partners. Individual services may also be operated by the Confederation's own providers. In those cases, the same data protection regulations apply.

8. Name and contact details of the persons responsible

If you have any questions about data processing or if you believe that the processing of your personal data by the Federal Administration violates your rights, please contact the DPSS Office at the address given in the imprint.

Last modified January 2022