Privacy Policy

    We are fiercely protecting the confidentiality and privacy of all information laid into our hands. We comply with applicable Data Protection Regulations including in particular the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Please read this Privacy Policy and learn about your rights, how and what information we collect and how we use and protect it.

    This website is operated by Geistzeit Ltd, a british corporation and a british legal entity.

    The Geistzeit Ltd can use the collected data for commercial purposes and advertising, for the creation of user profiles, internal analytics and statistics to improve the offered services and to send information and offers of services to the people that have subscribed to our newsletter or other customer lists. Each person in our database has the right to revoke the permission of the usage of their data any time.

    How are we collecting personal data?

    • Directly. We obtain personal data directly from individuals in a variety of ways, including obtaining personal data from individuals who complete our online forms, subscribe to our newsletters, register for webinars, register for courses or apply for open positions. 
    • Indirectly. We obtain personal data indirectly about individuals from a variety of sources including our clients. We may attach personal data to our customer relationship management records to better understand and serve our business clients, prospects, subscribers and individuals, satisfy a legal obligation, or pursue our legitimate interests. Personal data may be obtained from public registers (such as Commercial Registers), news articles and internet searches. 

    Types of personal data we collect

    We may obtain the following categories of personal data about individuals through direct interactions with us, or from information provided through client engagements, from applicants, our suppliers and through other situations including those described in this Privacy Policy.

    • Personal data. We commonly collect contact details (e.g., name, company name and personal email and postal address) to conduct our business activities.
    • Sensitive personal data. When we do need to process sensitive personal data, it is with the consent of the individual and in the course of a professional engagement.
    • Location-based data. We may process geographical locations, e.g. when you are using our website.

    What lawful reasons are there for processing personal data?

    We may rely on the following lawful reasons when we collect and use personal data to operate our business and provide our services:

    • Contract – We may process personal data in order to perform our contractual obligations.
    • Consent – We may rely on your freely given consent at the time you provided your personal data to us.
    • Legitimate interests – We may rely on legitimate interests based on our evaluation that the processing is fair, reasonable and balanced. These include:
      • Delivering services and products – To deliver the services and products our clients have engaged us to provide.
      • Marketing – To deliver professional knowledge, offerings and invitations we believe are welcomed by our business clients, prospects, subscribers and other individuals.
      • Recruitment – To seek for qualified candidates.
    • Legal obligations and public interest – We may process personal data in order to meet regulatory and public interest obligations or mandates.

    Why do we need personal data?

    We aspire to be transparent when we collect and use personal data and tell you why we need it, which typically includes:

    • Providing professional advice and delivering reports and services related to our language courses and officially recognized language certificates (e.g. TELC or Goethe)
    • Promoting our professional services, products and capabilities to existing and prospective clients.
    • Sending invitations and providing access to guests attending our courses and webinars.
    • Personalizing online landing pages and communications we think would be of interest based on interactions with us.
    • Administering, maintaining and ensuring the security of our information systems, applications and websites. 
    • Authenticating registered users to certain areas of our sites.
    • Processing online requests, including responding to communications from individuals or requests for proposals and quotations.
    • Preventing fraud or criminal activity, safeguarding our IT systems and handling of claims. 
    • Employment of personnel and work processes.
    • Seeking for qualified candidates.

    In some situations the provision of personal data is required to provide the services in such cases this is indicated on the Website accordingly or pointed out in the disclaimers or contractual agreements. Furthermore, we may be required to collect certain personal data by law. If you fail to provide such data, we may not be able to provide the services, or we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us.

    Do we share personal data with third parties?

    We may share personal data with trusted third parties to help us deliver efficient and quality services and products. These recipients are contractually bound to safeguard the data we entrust to them. We may engage with several or all of the following categories of recipients:

    • Parties that support us as we provide our services and products (e.g. providers of telecommunication systems, IT system support, archiving services, document production services and cloud-based software services).
    • Our professional advisers, including lawyers, auditors and insurers.
    • Payment services providers.
    • Marketing services providers.
    • Law enforcement or other government and regulatory agencies (e.g. FAOA, FINMA) or to other third parties as required by, and in accordance with, applicable law or regulation. 

    Do we transfer your personal data outside Switzerland?

    We store personal data on servers located in Switzerland. We may transfer personal data to reputable third party organisations situated inside or outside Switzerland and when we have a business reason to engage these organisations. Each organisation is required to safeguard personal data in accordance with our contractual obligations and applicable data protection legislation. Such safeguards may include transfer to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection according to lists of countries published by the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner; applying standard data protection model clauses, binding corporate rules or other standard contractual obligations which provide for appropriate protection of data; with providers in the US, use of companies that use the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks.

    Do we use cookies and automatically collect personal information?

    Our website uses cookies and other technologies to automatically collect certain types of information when you visit us online, as well as through emails that we may exchange. The collection of this information allows us to customize your online experience, improve the performance, usability and effectiveness of German Academy Zurich’s online presence, and to measure the effectiveness of our marketing activities. Where cookies are used, a statement will be sent to your browser explaining the use of cookies. There is a detailed Cookie Policy at the end of this Privacy Policy.

    What are your data protection rights?

    If Geistzeit Ltd processes personal information about you, you have the rights listed below. Before responding to your request, we may ask for proof of identity. This helps us to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also ask you for sufficient information about your interactions with us so that we can locate your personal information.

    • Access – You can ask us to verify whether we are processing personal data about you, and if so, to provide more specific information.
    • Correction – You can ask us to correct our records if you believe they contain incorrect or incomplete information about you. 
    • Erasure – You can ask us to erase (delete) your personal data after you withdraw your consent to processing or when we no longer need it for the purpose it was originally collected and no retention requirements exist
    • Processing restrictions – You can ask us to temporarily restrict our processing of your personal data if you contest the accuracy of your personal data, prefer to restrict its use rather than having us erase it.
    • Data portability – In some circumstances, where you have provided personal data to us, you can ask us to transmit that personal data in electronic form if technically feasible.
    • Automated Individual Decision-making – You can ask us to review any decisions made about you which we made solely based on automated processing, including profiling, that produced legal effects concerning you or which significantly affected you.
    • Right to Object to Marketing including Profiling – You can object to our use of your personal data for marketing purposes, including profiling. We may need to keep some minimal information to comply with your request to cease marketing to you.
    • Right to Withdraw Consent – You can withdraw your consent that you have previously given to one or more specified purposes of processing your personal data. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. It may mean we are not able to provide certain products or services to you and we will advise you if this is the case.

    What about personal data security?

    We have put appropriate technical and organisational security policies and procedures in place to protect personal data (including sensitive personal data) from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. We limit access to personal data in general. Those individuals who have access to the data are required to maintain the confidentiality of such information. We may apply pseudonymization, de-identification and anonymization techniques in efforts to further protect personal data.

    If you have access to parts of our websites or use our services, you remain responsible for keeping your user ID and password confidential. Please be aware that the transmission of data via the Internet is not completely secure. Whilst we do our best to try to protect the security of your personal data, we cannot ensure or guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk.

    How long do we retain personal data?

    We retain personal data to provide our services, make offerings, stay in contact with you and to comply with applicable laws, regulations and professional obligations that we are subject to. We retain personal data for so long as the personal data is needed for the purposes for which it was collected or in line with legal and regulatory requirements or contractual arrangements. We will dispose of personal data when we no longer need it.

    Links to other websites

    Our websites contain links to other sites that are not governed by this Privacy Policy. Please review the destination websites’ privacy policies before submitting personal data on those sites. Whilst we try to link only to sites that share our high standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content, security, or privacy practices employed by other sites.

    Who can you contact for privacy questions or concerns?

    If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal data, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with:

    Geistzeit Ltd

    Felix Zeeb

    Im Bachofen 1

    8304 Wallisellen

    Switzerland

    felix.zeeb@german-academy-zurich.ch

    We aim to respond within 30 days from the date we receive privacy-related communications.

    We regularly review this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy was last updated on 20. August 2022.

    Cookie Policy

    Automatic collection of personal information

    In some instances, the Geistzeit Ltd uses cookies and other technologies to automatically collect certain types of information when you visit us online, as well as through emails that we may exchange. The collection of this information allows us to customize your online experience, improve the performance, usability and effectiveness of German Academy Zurich’s online presence, and to measure the effectiveness of our marketing activities.

    • IP addresses

    An IP address is a number assigned to your computer whenever you access the internet. It allows computers and servers to recognise and communicate with one another. IP addresses from which visitors appear to originate may be recorded for IT security and system diagnostic purposes. This information may also be used in aggregate form to conduct web site trend and performance analysis.

    • Cookies

    Cookies may be placed on your computer or internet-enabled device whenever you visit us online. This allows the site to remember your computer or device and serves a number of purposes.

    On some of our web sites, a notification banner will appear requiring your consent to collect cookies. If you do not provide consent, your computer or internet-enabled device will not be tracked for marketing-related activities. A secondary type of cookie referred to as “user-input” cookies may still be required for necessary functionality. Such cookies will not be blocked through the use of this notification banner. Your selection will be saved in a cookie and is valid for a period of 90 days. If you wish to revoke your selection, you may do so by clearing your browser’s cookies.

    Although most browsers automatically accept cookies, you can choose whether or not to accept cookies via your browser’s settings (often found in your browser’s Tools or Preferences menu). You may also delete cookies from your device at any time. However, please be aware that if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to fully experience some of our web sites’ features.

    Further information about managing cookies can be found in your browser’s help file or through sites such as www.allaboutcookies.org.

    Below is a list of the types of cookies used on our web sites:

    Purpose Description Type & Expiry
    Performance (i.e. User’s Browser) Our web sites are built using common internet platforms. These have built-in cookies which help compatibility issues (e.g. to identify your browser type) and improve performance (e.g. quicker loading of content). Session Deleted upon closing the browser
    Security(e.g. Asp .NET) Cookies If you register for access to a restricted area, our cookies ensure that your device is logged for the duration of your visit. You will need your username and password to access the restricted areas. Session Deleted upon closing the browser
    Site Preferences Our cookies may also remember your site preferences (e.g. language) or seek to enhance your experience (e.g. by personalizing a greeting or content). This will apply to areas where you have registered specifically for access or create an account. Session Deleted upon closing the browser
    Analytical We use several third party analytics tools to help us understand how site visitors use our website. This allows us to improve the quality and content on german-academy-zurich.ch for our visitors. The aggregated statistical data cover items such as total visits or page views, and referrers to our web sites. For further details on our use of Google Analytics, you can find a detailed description below.  Persistent Deleted automatically after 2 years if you no longer visit german-academy-zurich.ch
    Site visitor feedback We use a third party survey tool to invite a percentage of visitors to provide their feedback. Cookies are used to prevent visitors from being invited multiple times.The first cookie (1) is set if the visitor is not invited to participate in the survey, and is used to ensure visitors are not invited after their first page view. The second cookie (2) is set if the visitor is invited to participate in the survey, and is used to ensure the visitor is not invited again to participate for a period of 90 days. 1 Session Deleted upon closing the browser 2 Persistent Deleted automatically after 90 days or presenting survey invite.
    Social sharing We use third party social media widgets or buttons to provide you with additional functionality to share content from our web pages to social media websites and email. Use of these widgets or buttons may place a cookie on your device to make their service easier to use, ensure your interaction is displayed on our web pages (e.g. the social share count cache is updated) and log information about your activities across the Internet and on our web sites. We encourage you to review each provider’s privacy information before using any such service. For further details on our use of social media widgets and applications, you can find a detailed description below. Persistent, but will be deleted automatically after two years if you no longer visit german-academy-zurich.ch

    Other third party tools and widgets may be used on our individual web pages to provide additional functionality. Use of these tools or widgets may place a cookie on your device to make their service easier to use, and ensure your interaction is displayed on our web pages properly.

    Cookies by themselves do not tell us your email address or otherwise identify you personally. In our analytical reports, we may obtain other identifiers including IP addresses, but this is for the purpose of identifying the number of unique visitors to our web sites and geographic origin of visitor trends, and not to identify individual visitors.

    BY NAVIGATING ON OUR WEB SITES OR ENTERING YOUR LOGIN DETAILS TO ACCESS AREAS RESERVED FOR REGISTERED USERS, YOU AGREE THAT WE CAN PLACE THESE COOKIES ON YOUR COMPUTER OR INTERNET ENABLED DEVICE.

    • Google Analytics

    The website german-academy-zurich.ch uses Google Analytics. To provide website visitors with more choice on how their data is collected by Google Analytics, Google have developed the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics. The Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on does not prevent information from being sent to the website itself or to other web analytics services.

    • Retargeting

    The Geistzeit Ltd uses retargeting technologies. For this purpose, cookies or similar technologies are used by third parties to record which of our websites have been visited with your browser. This enables us to make your experience on our website more interesting and you can be recognized on other websites and reminded of us by means of advertisements.

    We use LinkedIn Insight Tag (opt-out), Facebook Pixel (opt-out) and Google Ads Remarketing, Youtube (opt-out). As mentioned above, you can also disable the storage of cookies by changing the settings of your browser.

    • Web beacons

    A web beacon is a small image file on a web page that can be used to collect certain information from your computer, such as an IP address, the time the content was viewed, a browser type, and the existence of cookies previously set by the same server. The German Academy Zurich only uses web beacons in accordance with applicable laws.

    The German Academy Zurich may use web beacons to gather aggregate visitor statistics and manage cookies.

    You have the option to render some web beacons unusable by rejecting their associated cookies. The web beacon may still record an anonymous visit from your IP address but cookie information will not be recorded.

    In some of our newsletters and other communications, we may monitor recipient actions such as email open rates through embedded links within the messages. We collect this information to gauge user interest and to enhance future user experiences.

    • Location-based tools

    The Geistzeit Ltd may collect and use the geographical location of your computer or mobile device. This location data is collected for the purpose of providing you with information regarding services which we believe may be of interest to you based on your geographic location, and to improve our location-based services.

    Social media widgets and applications

    The websites of the German Academy Zurich may include functionality to enable sharing via third party social media applications, such as the Facebook Like button and Twitter widget. These social media applications may collect and use information regarding your use of websites of the German Academy Zurich. Any personal information that you provide via such social media applications may be collected and used by other members of that social media application and such interactions are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that provide the application. We do not have control over, or responsibility for, those companies or their use of your information.

    In addition, websites of the Geistzeit Ltd may host blogs, forums, crowd-sourcing and other applications or services (collectively “social media features”). The purpose of social media features is to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and content. Any personal information that you provide on any social media feature of the Geistzeit Ltd may be shared with other users of that social media feature (unless otherwise stated at the point of collection), over whom we may have limited or no control.

    Policy up-dates and changes

    We regularly review this Privacy Policy and post updates to it on this web page. This Cookie Policy was last updated 14. August 2023.