Privacy policy

The protection of your personal data is very important to us. We therefore ask you to read the following privacy policy carefully.

The purpose of this policy is to inform you about the reason for and extent to which your personal data will be processed when you visit our website. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the controller.

This website uses SSL or TLS encryption to protect the transmission of personal data and other confidential content (e.g. orders or inquiries to the controller). You can recognize an encrypted connection by the character string "https://" and the lock symbol in your browser line.

(1) Controller within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 7 General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter: “GDPR”) is:

Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Ackerstrasse 113
5070 Frick
Switzerland
Telephone +41 62 8657-272
Fax +41 62 8657-273
info.suisse(at)fibl.org

(2) Contact details regarding questions on privacy and data protection at FiBL:
dataprotection(at)fibl.org

(1) According to the applicable laws, you have various rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to obtain confirmation and access
• Right to request rectification
• Right to erasure ('right to be forgotten')
• Right to request restriction of processing
• Right to data portability
• Right to object
• Right to withdraw the given consent

If you wish to assert these rights, please send your request by e-mail or by post to the address mentioned above.

(2) You also have the right of lodging a complaint with a supervisory authority about the processing of your personal data with us.

(1) When using our website for information purposes only, i.e. if you do not register or otherwise provide us with information, we only collect the personal data that your browser transmits to our server (so-called "server log files"). If you want to visit our website, we collect the following information that is technically necessary for us to display our website and to ensure the stability, functionality and security of our website:

• our visited website
• used IP address
• date and time of access
• Time zone difference to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
• Access status / HTTP status code
• the amount of data transferred in bytes
• Website from which you accessed the site (source/reference)
• used browser
• the operating system used and its interface
• Language and version of the browser software.

(2) The legal basis is our legitimate interest in ensuring a smooth connection setup and a comfortable use of the website as well as in the possibility to evaluate system security and stability and to pursue further administrative purposes in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 S. 1 lit. f GDPR.

(3) The data will not be passed on or used in any other way.

(1) Like many other websites, we also use so-called "cookies". Cookies are small text files stored on your hard drive and associated with the browser you are using, and through which certain information flows to the entity that sets the cookie. When a user accesses a website, a cookie may be stored on the user's operating system. This cookie contains a characteristic string of characters that enables the browser to be uniquely identified when the website is called up again. Cookies cannot execute programs or transmit viruses to your computer. They are used to make the website more user-friendly and effective and enable the use of certain functions.

(2) Our website only uses technically necessary cookies that guarantee the core functionality of our website. Some website functions cannot be offered without the use of cookies. For these, the browser must be recognised even after a page change. The user data collected through technically necessary cookies are not used to create user profiles. These purposes are also our legitimate interest in processing the personal data according to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO.

Below you will find a list of the cookies that are set on our website:

(3) We integrate external content from third-party providers on our website. In this case, we explicitly point this out to you and obtain your consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DS-GVO before you can activate the external content. The third-party providers may set cookies. For further information, please refer to the respective section on the corresponding third-party provider in this privacy policy.

(1) In addition to the purely informational use of our website, we offer various services which you can use if you are interested. For this purpose, you must generally provide further personal data, which we use to perform the respective service and to which the aforementioned data processing principles apply. In some cases we use external service providers to process your data. These have been carefully selected and commissioned by us, are bound by our instructions and are regularly checked.

(2) Furthermore, we will inform you in the respective offer about a transfer of your data outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA). If the level of data protection in a country in which the data is processed does not comply with the applicable data protection regulations, we will contractually ensure that the protection of your personal data is equivalent to that in Switzerland or the EU/EEA at all times, for example by incorporating the EU standard contractual clauses.

(1)    If you send us enquiries via e-mail, your data will be stored for the purpose of answering the enquiry and in the event of follow-up questions. You will be required to provide your name and e-mail address. Providing a telephone number and other data is voluntary and serves to facilitate contact and to enable us to address you personally. These data are stored and used solely for the purpose of responding to your request or for establishing contact and the technical administration. The legal basis for processing the data is our legitimate interest in responding to your request in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

(2) Your data will be deleted when your inquiry has been finally clarified and if no statutory retention obligations oppose this.

(1) On our website, we offer you the possibility to subscribe to our newsletter. For this purpose, you will be asked for your consent to the processing of your personal data when ordering the newsletter.
This newsletter informs you about current and interesting activities and events at regular intervals.

(2) To receive our newsletter, you need a valid email address. We will check the email address you have entered to ensure that you are the owner of the email address provided or that the owner has authorised receipt of the newsletter. This is done by means of the so-called double-opt-in procedure. This means that after your registration, we send you an email to the email address you provided, in which we ask you to confirm that you wish to receive the newsletter. If you do not confirm your registration, your information will be blocked and deleted. In addition, we store your IP addresses and the times of registration and confirmation.

(3) After your confirmation, we store your email address for the purpose of sending you the newsletter. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a DS-GVO.

(4) You can revoke your consent to receive the newsletter and unsubscribe at any time. You can declare the revocation by clicking on the link provided in every newsletter email, by email to helga.willer(at)fibl.org or by sending a message to the contact details given in the imprint.

(5) Dispatch service provider: To dispatch our newsletter, we use the Newsletter2Go software of Sendinblue GmbH (Köpenicker Str. 126, 10179 Berlin, hereinafter: Newsletter2Go). We have concluded an order processing agreement with Newsletter2Go in accordance with Art. 28 DSGVO. Newsletter2Go processes data exclusively in data centres in the EU. For further information on Newsletter2Go's privacy policy, please visit: www.sendinblue.com/gdpr/

(1) On our website we offer the possibility to become a member of the SolACE stakeholder forum. You will be asked for your consent when registering. As a member of the SoLACE stakeholder forum, we will contact you a few times a year asking for feedback on the developing SolACE innovations and on draft communication materials, we will invite you to our events, and we will send you the SolACE newsletter.

(2) In order to become a member of the  SoLACE stakeholder forum, you need a valid e-mail address. We will check the e-mail address you have entered to ensure that you are actually the owner of the e-mail address provided or that the owner of the e-mail address has authorised the receipt of the newsletter.This means that after your registration, we send you an email to the email address you provided, in which we ask you to confirm that you would like to register for the SoLACE stakeholder forum. If you do not confirm your registration, your information will be blocked and deleted. In addition, we store your IP addresses and the times of registration and confirmation.

(3) After giving your confirmation we will save your e-mail address and further information about you (name, address and sector). The data will not be passed on to third parties. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR.

(4) You can unsubscribe from the SolACE Stakeholder forum any time at http://www.solace-eu.net/index.php?id=397.

(5) Dispatch service provider: To dispatch our newsletter, we use the Newsletter2Go software of Sendinblue GmbH (Köpenicker Str. 126, 10179 Berlin, hereinafter: Newsletter2Go). We have concluded an order processing agreement with Newsletter2Go in accordance with Art. 28 DSGVO. Newsletter2Go processes data exclusively in data centres in the EU. For further information on Newsletter2Go's privacy policy, please visit: www.sendinblue.com/gdpr/

(1) We use the "Google Maps" component of Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) or, if you have your habitual residence in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, hereinafter "Google"), to visually display geographical information. By visiting the website, Google receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding sub-page of our website. In addition, the following technically necessary data is transmitted: Name and URL of the retrieved file, date and time of the retrieval, amount of data transferred, notification of successful retrieval (HTTP response code), browser type and version, operating system, referrer URL (i.e. the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider. This takes place regardless of whether Google provides a user account in which you are logged in or whether no user account exists.

(2) When you activate the content of Google Maps on our website, a connection to Google's servers is established. This tells the Google server which of our pages you have visited. If you are logged into your Google account, you enable Google to assign your surfing behaviour directly to your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your Google account. Furthermore, Google may store various cookies on your terminal device after starting Google Maps. With the help of these cookies, Google can obtain information about visitors to this website. This information is used, among other things, to collect statistics, improve the user experience and prevent fraud attempts. The cookies remain on your terminal device until you delete them. If necessary, further data processing operations may be triggered after the start of Google Maps, over which we have no influence.

(3) Data processing is carried out based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO in the context of activating the content of Google Maps. This consent must be given again with each new website visit.

(4) For more information, please see Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy. Information on Google's privacy settings can be found at safety.google/privacy/privacy-controls/. You can view Google's terms of use at www.google.de/intl/de/policies/terms/regional.html, and the additional terms of use for Google Maps can be found at www.google.com/intl/de_US/help/terms_maps.html.

(5) If you do not agree to the future transmission of your data to Google in the context of the use of Google Maps, you also have the option of completely deactivating the Google Maps web service by switching off the JavaScript application in your browser. Google Maps and thus also the map display on this website can not be used. If JavaScript is deactivated, other website functions may also no longer work.

Comment function

(1) We offer the possibility on our website to formulate public comments using a user name. Your comment will be published with your given username at the respective post. We recommend using a pseudonym instead of your real name. As this is external content, you must activate it before using it.

(2) Furthermore, you have the option of being notified of comments regarding your entry via your email address. To do this, you must tick the relevant box when submitting the comment (opt-in). In a follow-up email, you will be asked again whether your email address may be processed for this purpose of notification (double opt-in). You can unsubscribe from these notifications at any time.

(3) Our commenting function uses the plugin "Disqus", which is operated by Big Head Labs, Inc. (http://www.disqus.com, 717 Market Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94103, hereinafter: Disqus), who are responsible for processing the comments. We have concluded the so-called EU standard contractual clauses with Disqus.

(4) With Disqus, you can log in with a user account or practice a social network such as Facebook, Twitter or Google to comment on posts. These comments remain until the post, or your comment is deleted. Disqus provides us with the data collected through the comment function.

(5) Disqus processes, among other things, your identity data (e.g. email address), technical data (e.g. IP address, browser data) and usage data.

(6) The legal basis for the data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a DS-GVO based on your registration with Disqus.

(7) Disqus sets the following cookies when you register and login to Disqus:

For further information, please see: help.disqus.com/en/articles/1717103-disqus-privacy-policy and disqus.com/cookie-policy/.

(1) We use the Matomo service of the provider InnoCraft Ltd. (150 Willis St, 6011 Wellington, New Zealand, represented in the EU by ePrivacy Holding GmbH, Große Bleichen 21 20354 Hamburg, Germany, hereinafter: Matomo) on this website.

(2) The data processing is based on our legitimate interest in the statistical analysis of user behaviour for optimisation and marketing purposes in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO. We do not use cookies for web analysis but a measure called config_id.
The config_id is a randomly assigned, privacy-friendly, time-limited hash from a series of settings and attributes of the visitor. It is a unique string calculated for a visitor based on their operating system, browser, browser plugins, IP address and browser language. The config_id is necessary for Matomo to analyse the behaviour of individual visitors. The following measures are taken to protect the privacy of visitors:

• The config_id is only valid for a maximum of 24 hours and is then rotated, which means that the same unique visitor will have a different config_id the next day.
• The config_id changes randomly and is anonymised every 24 hours.
• The config_id is only valid for one website/domain.
• The Matomo website ID flows into the config_id. This means that the config_id is only valid for one website/domain at a time, and a given user/visitor will have a different config_id on each of our websites, which means that visitors cannot be tracked across multiple websites.
• The IP address used to create the hash is the anonymised IP address

The data collected using Matomo technology (including your anonymised IP address) is processed on our secure servers in Germany.

(3) You have the option at any time to object to the web analysis (anonymised and aggregated) also subsequently by mouse click. The objection has no adverse consequences. In this case, a so-called opt-out cookie is stored in your browser, which means that Matomo does not collect any session data. Please note that if you delete your cookies completely, the opt-out cookie will also be deleted, and you may have to reactivate it.

If you "opt-out" or object to the data processing, the following cookie will be set:

(4) Further information and the applicable data protection provisions of Matomo can be found at matomo.org/privacy/.

(1) If you have consented to the processing of your data, it is possible at any time to withdraw this processing for the future. As a result, your data will no longer be processed for the agreed purpose.

(2) If your data are processed on the basis of a weighing of interests in accordance with the legal basis Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. e or f GDPR, you can object to this if you have special reasons against processing the data.

(3) You also have the possibility to object to the processing of your data for the purpose of direct marketing. Thus, your data will no longer be processed for the purpose of direct advertising.