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Data Protection Policy of the Swiss National Bank

Introduction

The Swiss National Bank (hereinafter 'SNB') is subject to the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection. This data protection policy provides information on how the SNB collects personal data on its website.

The SNB attaches great importance to the protection and security of your personal data and safeguarding your privacy. For this reason it has designed its website and processes to keep the personal data collected and processed to a minimum. 'Personal data' means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, including data about their surfing and communication behaviour on the internet.

Purpose of use and consent

The SNB uses the personal data collected mainly to:

  • process enquiries, as well as notifications defined by the user;
  • conduct anonymous statistical analysis of usage trends to improve the SNB's online offering;
  • comply with legal obligations;
  • be able to assess risks;
  • perform duties in the public interest.

The personal data are erased as soon as the purpose of their processing is fulfilled and they are no longer required.

By accessing the SNB website you confirm your express consent to this data protection policy, the collection, storage and use of personal data described therein for the purpose of evaluating access and optimising services and online offerings, and to the risks associated with data protection.

You also agree to the use of cookies (for more information see the section Cookies and other technologies when using the SNB website).

You must not access this website if you have not read and/or do not understand this data protection policy or do not agree to being bound by it.

Data collection and storage

Every time the SNB website is viewed and used, the following server data in particular are saved automatically and kept for 30 days (the list is not exhaustive):

  • IP address;
  • webpage visited;
  • access timestamp;
  • resource requested;
  • files downloaded;
  • volume of data transmitted;
  • duration of data transmission;
  • country from which the page was accessed;
  • search terms used;
  • name and version of the browser software used.

These technical data are used to optimise the website and provide information on how it is used and how visitors inform themselves about the SNB. The data recorded are collected on an anonymised basis and as a rule do not allow the individual user to be identified. To this extent no personal data are processed.

If you provide specific information about yourself on a registration page or sign up for a notification service, these personal data are collected directly from the user. This covers all handling of personal data, regardless of the means and procedures used, and in particular the collection, use, storage, application, modification, disclosure, archiving, erasure or destruction of personal data. This is not an exhaustive description. The following personal data can be collected on the basis of the information entered by users on the website:

  • organisation;
  • last name;
  • first name;
  • address;
  • landline and mobile phone number;
  • email address.

Personal data from email enquiries will be used only to answer the enquiry in question.

Information material, notifications or brochures will be sent to you after you have supplied the required information. The data will be used by the SNB only in connection with processing your enquiry. You can object to the sending of information at any time. The relevant personal data will be erased once the regular mailing ends.

Data security

The SNB takes appropriate technical and organisational security precautions (e.g. SSL encryption of SNB websites) to protect your personal data from unauthorised access and processing as well as from misuse. When selecting and instructing external service providers, the SNB makes sure that the recipients of personal data comply with the relevant data protection requirements by taking appropriate technical and organisational measures.

Despite regular checks, however, complete protection from all the risks inherent in the internet as a universally accessible medium is not possible.

Protection of minors

People under 18 years of age should not transmit any personal data to the SNB without the consent of their parents or legal guardians. The SNB does not request personal data from children or young people. Such data are not knowingly collected and are not passed on to third parties.

Links to websites of other providers

The SNB website may contain links to websites of other providers not covered by this data protection policy. The SNB has no influence on these providers' compliance with the relevant data protection rules. In this respect, the data protection policies of the respective websites must be observed.

Cookies and other technologies when using the SNB website

The SNB's web servers automatically register non-personal details of visits to the website, as described in more detail above under Data collection and storage. To differentiate between individual users, the SNB sometimes uses cookies on its website. Cookies are small files that are stored on the user's computer or mobile device to track their use of the website and navigation and to save settings (e.g. selected language). The SNB uses software hosted on its own servers for the anonymised statistical evaluation of website use. This means that no personal data leave the SNB (IP addresses are anonymised immediately). By using this software, the SNB can, among other things, collect statistical data on the frequency and time of use of individual areas of the website and use this information to further develop the website, in particular to make it useful and user-friendly.

You can opt out of the use of cookies at any time by deleting or restricting the cookies set by the SNB website via the settings in your internet browser. For this purpose, an opt-out cookie that deactivates tracking is set in the browser of the user in question.

You can also prevent the collection of your data for statistical purposes.

It appears you have deactived JavaScript in your browser. This feature is only available with JavaScript turned on. If you don’t want your data to be collected, you can still turn on Do Not Track in your browser which is a general setting and is being respected by our Analytics software.

The SNB may use third-party components, for example a video platform, to improve the user experience. These components may also use cookies for similar purposes. Neither these third parties nor the SNB has access to data the other collects using cookies.

Duration of storage of personal data

The SNB stores personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil contractual as well as national and international legal obligations, to pursue business interests, or for the purposes for which processing is used.

Personal data may be retained for as long as claims can be asserted against the SNB or insofar as the SNB is otherwise legally obliged to do so or justified business interests require it. As soon as stored personal data is no longer required, it is erased as far as possible or anonymised.

No automated decision-making

In some cases the SNB processes your personal data on an automated basis with the aim of evaluating certain personal aspects, but it does not use automated evaluation tools (profiling).

Rights of data subjects

Data subjects may request information free of charge on whether their personal data are being processed by the SNB.

In principle, data subjects have the right to object to data processing, the right to have their personal data corrected or erased, the right to restrict data processing and the right to data transferability (so-called data portability). In cases where the SNB processes personal data on the basis of consent, this consent can be revoked at any time; however, this has no effect on data processing already carried out. Incorrect data can be corrected upon request.

These rights may be restricted by legal or regulatory provisions (e.g. the SNB's reporting, archiving or retention obligations).

Changes and amendments

As new technologies are implemented and services are improved for you, changes to this data protection policy may become necessary. The SNB may at any time and without prior notice modify this data protection policy and any content on the SNB website. The SNB therefore recommends that you reread this policy from time to time.

Further information and contact

The SNB is responsible for processing your personal data as described in this data protection policy. If you have any questions about the processing of your data, you can contact the SNB at the following address:

Swiss National Bank
Data Protection Office
Börsenstrasse 15
8022 Zurich

Date

July 2020