Privacy statement

1. General notes

This privacy statement serves to explain how we, VUE Association for Environmentally Sound Energy (Verein für umweltgerechte Energie), process personal data collected when you visit our website www.naturemade.ch.

‘Personal data’ includes all information relating to an identified or identifiable person. It includes, among others, contact data such as names, telephone numbers, addresses or email addresses and other information you provide to us, for example when you register for an event.

We take the protection of your data very seriously. This privacy statement complies with both Swiss data protection laws (‘DSG’) and the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) of the European Union.

2. Data controller

The data controller for data processing regarding this website is:

VUE Verein für umweltgerechte Energie (Association for Environmentally Sound Energy)
Molkenstrasse 21
CH-8004 Zurich

If you have any privacy concerns, please contact us at the above address or by email to communication@naturemade.ch.

3. Collection and processing

a) Registration for events

You are generally able to use this website to register as a participant for events organised by VUE Association for Environmentally Sound Energy. To do so, you principally need to provide your name, position, employer/company, address, telephone number and email address.

We store this personal data in our address database for the purpose of administering the event. We will retain this data in our address database after the event, unless otherwise notified by you, in order to be able to contact you in future, for example in order to advise you of other events.

b) Information regarding the availability of naturemade-accredited products

This website allows you to enter a postcode to obtain information on the availability of naturemade-accredited products from electricity or gas utilities at the relevant location. The postcodes entered are neither stored nor processed further.

c) Online accreditation

You are able to have small photovoltaic systems (up to 30 kVA) accredited online using this website. To do so, you need to provide personal details about yourself (name, address, telephone number and email address) as well as information about the system (model, location, output/annual energy production etc.). This information is processed by us and stored in our license database.

d) Funding applications for environmental upgrades of bodies of water

You are able to submit funding applications for environmental upgrades of bodies of water via this website. To do so, you need to provide information about the applicant (name, employer/company, address, telephone number and email address) and the project (description, timeframe, costs, project manager). Some of this information will be published via this website and will therefore be publicly available.

e) Server log files

The provider of this website automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files. This information is automatically transmitted to the host/provider by your browser. It includes:

– browser type and version,
– operating system used,
– referrer URL,
– accessing computer’s host name,
– time of server request,
– anonymised IP address.

This data is not aggregated with data from other sources.

f) Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service of Google Inc. (‘Google’). Google Analytics uses so-called cookies, i.e. text files that are stored on your computer to allow your use of the website to be analysed. Information on your use of the website that is generated by cookies is generally transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the USA.

As IP anonymisation is activated for this website, Google will, however, first shorten your IP address within member states of the European Union or in other signatory states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area.The full IP address will only be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there in exceptional cases.

Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, generate reports on website activities for us and provide additional services associated with the use of the website and the internet in general. Google may also transmit this information to third parties where this is required by law or to the extent that third parties process this data on behalf of Google. Google will in no event relate your IP address to other Google data.

You may prevent the installation of cookies by making a relevant setting in your browser software. However, please note that you may then not be able to use all of the functions provided by this website to their full extent.

You may object to the collection of data by Google Analytics prospectively by installing a deactivation add-on for your browser (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en).

g) Social network plug-ins

This website uses plug-ins by social networks for easier and improved processing, for example by facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. Cali-fornia Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”) and linkedin.com, which is operated by LinkedIn Inc. (“LinkedIn”). Any time you access a page of our website that features such plug-ins, a connection is established to the servers of the respective social net-work, and the plug-in is shown on the page through a notification sent to your browser. As a result, information about which of our web pages you visited is then transmitted to the servers of the respective social network. If you are logged on to that social network as a member at the same time, the network correlates this information to your personal social network user account. When using the plug-in functions (e.g. by clicking on the “Like” button or posting a comment), the relevant information is also correlated to your social network account. When you look at contents or products of social networks, the respective social network may collect this information, including your IP address, browser type, operating system and cookie information. You can prevent this from happening by logging out of your social network account prior to using the plug-in.

For further information regarding the collection and use of data by the respective social networks, your relevant rights and the available options for protecting your privacy please consult the privacy statements of the social networks.

h) Newsletter

We distribute our newsletter via the Mailgun service, which allows us to track which information contained in the mail is used by recipients. We use this information to optimise the newsletter.

4. Legal grounds of data processing

The legal grounds for our processing of personal data is essentially Art. 13(2)(a) GDPR and Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (processing directly related to the conclusion or performance of a contract), and Art. 13(1) GDPR and Art. 6(1)(a), (c) and (f) GDPR (data subject’s consent or legal obligation or legitimate interests).

5. Storage

We store your personal data as long as this is necessary for the purposes indicated in this privacy statement, in particular in order to comply with our contractual and legal obligations. We may also store your personal data for other purposes if and to the extent that storage is legally permitted for the relevant purposes, in particular in order to establish and defend legal claims.

6. Transmission to third parties

We collaborate with a limited number of carefully selected, trustworthy external service partners (e.g. IT service providers). We only disclose personal data to such service partners to the extent that this is necessary for them to render the relevant services.

7. Data security

This website uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and in order to protect the transmission of confidential contents. Encrypted connections are identifiable by the address line in your browser changing from ‘http://’ to ‘https://’ and a lock symbol being displayed in the browser line. Whenever SSL or TLS encryption is activated, data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

We collaborate with our host/provider to apply technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or intentional manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction or unauthorised access by third parties.

Please note, however, that data transmission via the internet (e.g. by email communication) may involve security vulnerabilities. It is not possible to protect data seamlessly against third-party access.

8. Your rights

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions on the collection, processing or use of your personal data or in order to have data corrected or deleted or data processing restricted, or to withdraw any consent given. You also have a right to object to processing and a right to data portability, and you may file a complaint about the processing of data with the competent supervisory authority.

Last amended in June 2021