Privacy policy

In this privacy policy, we provide information about which personal data we process in connection with our activities and operations, including our rowenadowning.com website. In particular, we provide information on why, how and where we process which personal data. We also provide information about the rights of persons whose data we process.

Further data protection declarations and other legal documents such as general terms and conditions, terms of use or conditions of participation may apply to individual or additional activities and operations.

We are subject to Swiss data protection law as well as any applicable foreign data protection law, in particular that of the European Union (EU) with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The European Commission recognizes that Swiss data protection law guarantees adequate data protection.

1. contact addresses

Responsibility for the processing of personal data:

Rowena Downing
Badenerstrasse 17
CH-8104 Weiningen Zurich

info@rowenadowning.com

We point out if there are other controllers for the processing of personal data in individual cases.

2. terms and legal bases

2.1 Terms

Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. A data subject is a person about whom we process personal data.

Processing includes any handling of personal data, regardless of the means and procedures used, such as querying, comparing, adapting, archiving, storing, reading, disclosing, obtaining, collecting, recording, deleting, disclosing, arranging, organizing, storing, modifying, disseminating, linking, destroying and using personal data.

The European Economic Area (EEA) comprises the member states of the European Union (EU) as well as the Principality of Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) refers to the processing of personal data as the processing of personal data.

2.2 Legal basis

We process personal data in accordance with Swiss data protection law, in particular the Federal Act on Data Protection (Data Protection Act, DPA) and the Ordinance on Data Protection (Data Protection Ordinance, DPO).

We process - if and insofar as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is applicable - personal data in accordance with at least one of the following legal bases:

  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data for the performance of a contract with the data subject and for the implementation of pre-contractual measures.
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data in order to protect the legitimate interests of us or of third parties, except where such interests are overridden by the fundamental freedoms and rights and interests of the data subject. Legitimate interests are, in particular, our interest in being able to carry out our activities and operations in a permanent, user-friendly, secure and reliable manner and to communicate about them, to ensure information security, to protect against misuse, to enforce our own legal claims and to comply with Swiss law.
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c GDPR for the processing of personal data necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject under any applicable law of Member States of the European Economic Area (EEA).
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. e GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR for the processing of personal data with the consent of the data subject.
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. d GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person.

3. nature, scope and purpose

We process the personal data required to carry out our activities and operations in a permanent, user-friendly, secure and reliable manner. Such personal data may fall into the categories of inventory and contact data, browser and device data, content data, meta or marginal data and usage data, location data, sales data as well as contract and payment data.

We process personal data for the duration required for the respective purpose(s) or by law. Personal data whose processing is no longer required will be anonymized or deleted.

We may have personal data processed by third parties. We may process personal data jointly with third parties or transfer it to third parties. Such third parties are, in particular, specialized providers whose services we use. We also guarantee data protection for such third parties.

We only process personal data with the consent of the data subject . If and to the extent that processing is permitted for other legal reasons, we may waive the requirement to obtain consent. For example, we may process personal data without consent in order to fulfill a contract, to comply with legal obligations or to protect overriding interests.

In this context, we process in particular information that a data subject voluntarily provides to us when contacting us - for example by post, email, instant messaging, contact form, social media or telephone - or when registering for a user account. We can store such information in an address book or with comparable tools, for example. If we receive data about other persons, the transmitting persons are obliged to guarantee data protection for these persons and to ensure the accuracy of this personal data.

We also process personal data that we receive from third parties, obtain from publicly accessible sources or collect in the course of our activities and operations, if and to the extent that such processing is permitted by law.

4. personal data abroad

We generally process personal data in Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA). However, we may also export or transfer personal data to other countries, in particular in order to process it or have it processed there.

We may export personal data to all countries and territories on earth and elsewhere in the universe, provided that the law there guarantees adequate data protection in accordance with the decision of the Swiss Federal Council and - if and insofar as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is applicable - in accordance with the decision of the European Commission.

We may transfer personal data to countries whose laws do not guarantee adequate data protection, provided that data protection is guaranteed for other reasons, in particular on the basis of standard data protection clauses or with other suitable guarantees. Exceptionally, we may export personal data to countries without adequate or appropriate data protection if the special requirements under data protection law are met, for example the express consent of the data subjects or a direct connection with the conclusion or execution of a contract. We will be happy to provide data subjects with information about any guarantees upon request or provide a copy of any guarantees.

5. rights of data subjects

5.1 Data protection claims

We grant data subjects all rights in accordance with the applicable data protection law. Data subjects have the following rights in particular:

  • Information: Data subjects may request information as to whether we process personal data about them and, if so, what personal data is involved. Data subjects also receive the information required to assert their data protection claims and ensure transparency. This includes the processed personal data as such, but also information on the purpose of processing, the duration of storage, any disclosure or export of data to other countries and the origin of the personal data.
  • Correction and restriction: Data subjects can have incorrect personal data corrected, incomplete data completed and the processing of their data restricted.
  • Deletion and objection: Data subjects can have their personal data deleted ("right to be forgotten") and object to the processing of their data with effect for the future.
  • Data disclosure and data transfer: Data subjects may request the disclosure of personal data or the transfer of their data to another controller.

We may defer, restrict or refuse to exercise the rights of data subjects to the extent permitted by law. We can inform data subjects of any requirements that must be met in order to exercise their rights under data protection law. For example, we may refuse to provide information in whole or in part with reference to business secrets or the protection of other persons. For example, we may also refuse to delete personal data in whole or in part with reference to statutory retention obligations.

We may exceptionally provide for costs for the exercise of rights. We will inform affected persons of any costs in advance.

We are obliged to take appropriate measures to identify data subjects who request information or assert other rights. The persons concerned are obliged to cooperate.

5.2 Right to lodge a complaint

Data subjects have the right to enforce their data protection claims through legal action or to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority.

The data protection supervisory authority for private controllers and federal bodies in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC ).

Data subjects have - if and insofar as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is applicable - the right to lodge a complaint with a competent European data protection supervisory authority.

6. data security

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure data security appropriate to the respective risk. However, we cannot guarantee absolute data security.

Our website is accessed using transport encryption (SSL / TLS, in particular with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, abbreviated to HTTPS). Most browsers indicate transport encryption with a padlock in the address bar.

Our digital communication - like all digital communication in general - is subject to mass surveillance without cause or suspicion and other surveillance by security authorities in Switzerland, the rest of Europe, the United States of America (USA) and other countries. We cannot directly influence the corresponding processing of personal data by secret services, police forces and other security authorities.

7. use of the website

7.1 Cookies

We may use cookies. Cookies - our own cookies (first-party cookies) as well as cookies from third parties whose services we use (third-party cookies) - are data that are stored in the browser. Such stored data need not be limited to traditional cookies in text form.

Cookies can be stored in the browser temporarily as "session cookies" or for a certain period of time as so-called permanent cookies. "Session cookies" are automatically deleted when the browser is closed. Permanent cookies have a specific storage period. In particular, cookies make it possible to recognize a browser the next time it visits our website and thus, for example, to measure the reach of our website. Permanent cookies can also be used for online marketing, for example.

Cookies can be completely or partially deactivated and deleted at any time in the browser settings. Without cookies, our website may no longer be fully available. We actively request - at least if and to the extent necessary - explicit consent to the use of cookies.

For cookies that are used to measure success and reach or for advertising, a general objection ("opt-out") is possible for numerous services via AdChoices (Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada), the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), YourAdChoices (Digital Advertising Alliance) or Your Online Choices (European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance, EDAA).

7.2 Server log files

We may collect the following information for each access to our website, provided that this information is transmitted by your browser to our server infrastructure or can be determined by our web server: Date and time including time zone, IP address, access status (HTTP status code), operating system including user interface and version, browser including language and version, individual sub-page of our website accessed including amount of data transferred, last website accessed in the same browser window (referrer).

We store such information, which may also constitute personal data, in server log files. The information is required in order to provide our website in a permanent, user-friendly and reliable manner and to ensure data security and thus in particular the protection of personal data - also by third parties or with the help of third parties.

7.3 Tracking pixels

We may use tracking pixels on our website. Tracking pixels are also known as web beacons. Tracking pixels - including those from third parties whose services we use - are small, usually invisible images that are automatically retrieved when you visit our website. Counting pixels can be used to record the same information as in server log files.

7.4 Comments

We allow you to publish comments on our website. In this context, we process in particular the information that a commenting person transmits to us themselves, but also the IP address used and the date and time. This information is required to enable the publication of comments and to ensure protection against misuse, which is in our overriding legitimate interest.

We allow you to subscribe to email notifications of new comments from other people by email. In this context, we require your e-mail address in particular so that we can notify you or have you notified by e-mail. You can unsubscribe from such comment notifications at any time.

8. social media

We are present on social media platforms and other online platforms in order to communicate with interested parties and provide information about our activities and operations. In connection with such platforms, personal data may also be processed outside Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA).

The general terms and conditions (GTC) and terms of use as well as data protection declarations and other provisions of the individual operators of such platforms also apply in each case. In particular, these provisions provide information about the rights of data subjects directly vis-à-vis the respective platform, including, for example, the right to information.

We are jointly responsible with Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (Ireland) for our social media presence on Facebook, including the so-called Page Insights, insofar as and to the extent that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is applicable. Meta Platforms Ireland Limited is part of the Meta companies (including in the USA). The Page Insights provide information about how visitors interact with our Facebook presence. We use Page Insights to make our social media presence on Facebook effective and user-friendly.

Further information on the type, scope and purpose of data processing, information on the rights of data subjects and the contact details of Facebook and Facebook's data protection officer can be found in Facebook's privacy policy. We have concluded the so-called "addendum for data controllers" with Facebook and thus agreed in particular that Facebook is responsible for guaranteeing the rights of data subjects. For the so-called Page Insights, the corresponding information can be found on the page "Information on Page Insights" including "Information on Page Insights data".

9. services of third parties

We use the services of specialized third parties in order to be able to carry out our activities and operations in a permanent, user-friendly, secure and reliable manner. Among other things, we can use such services to embed functions and content in our website. In the case of such embedding, the services used record the IP addresses of users at least temporarily for technically compelling reasons.

For necessary security, statistical and technical purposes, third parties whose services we use may process data in connection with our activities and operations in aggregated, anonymized or pseudonymized form. This is, for example, performance or usage data in order to be able to offer the respective service.

We use in particular:

9.1 Digital infrastructure

We use the services of specialized third parties in order to be able to make use of the necessary digital infrastructure in connection with our activities and operations. These include hosting and storage services from selected providers.

We use in particular:


  • Hostpoint:
     Hosting; Service provider: Hostpoint AG (Switzerland); Privacy policy: Privacy policy.

  • WordPress.com:
     Blog hosting and website builder; Service provider: Automattic Inc. (USA) / Aut O'Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd (Ireland) for users in Europe and elsewhere; Information on data protection: Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy.

9.2 Social media functions and social media content

We use third-party services and plugins to embed functions and content from social media platforms and to enable the sharing of content on social media platforms and in other ways.

We use in particular:

9.3 Digital audio and video content

We use services from specialized third parties to enable the direct playback of digital audio and video content such as music or podcasts.

We use in particular:

9.4 Fonts

We use third-party services to embed selected fonts, icons, logos and symbols on our website.

We use in particular:

10. extensions for the website

We use extensions for our website in order to be able to use additional functions.

We use in particular:

11. success and reach measurement

We try to find out how our online offer is used. In this context, we can, for example, measure the success and reach of our activities and operations as well as the impact of third-party links to our website. We can also, for example, test and compare how different parts or versions of our online offering are used ("A/B test" method). Based on the results of the success and reach measurement, we can in particular correct errors, strengthen popular content or make improvements to our online offering.

In most cases, the IP addresses of individual users are stored for the purpose of measuring success and reach. In this case, IP addresses are generally shortened ("IP masking") in order to comply with the principle of data minimization through the corresponding pseudonymization.

Cookies may be used to measure success and reach and user profiles may be created. Any user profiles created include, for example, the individual pages visited or content viewed on our website, information on the size of the screen or browser window and the - at least approximate - location. In principle, any user profiles are created exclusively in pseudonymized form and are not used to identify individual users. Individual third-party services with which users are registered may be able to assign the use of our online offering to the user account or user profile of the respective service.

We use in particular:

12. final provisions

We have created this data protection declaration with the data protection generator of Datenschutzpartner.

We may amend and supplement this privacy policy at any time. We will provide information about such adjustments and additions in a suitable form, in particular by publishing the current privacy policy on our website.