Privacy policy
1. An overview of data protection
General
Our privacy policy outlines what happens to your personal information when you visit our website. Personal information is defined as any data with which you could be personally identified.
Data collection on our website
Who is responsible for the data collection on this website?
The data collected on this website is processed by the website operator. The operator's contact details can be found in the website's required impressum/legal notice.
How do we collect your data?
Some data is collected when you provide it to us. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.
Other data is collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website. This data is primarily technical data such as the browser and operating system you are using or when you accessed the page. This data is collected automatically as soon as you enter our website.
What do we use your data for?
Part of the data is collected to ensure the proper functioning of the website. Other data can be used to analyse how visitors use the site.
What rights do you have regarding your data?
You always have the right to request information about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at no charge. You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in the impressum/legal notice if you have further questions about the issue of privacy and data protection. You may also, of course, file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.
Analytics and third-party tools
When visiting our website, statistical analyses may be made of your surfing behaviour. This happens primarily using cookies and analytics. The analysis of your surfing behavior is usually anonymous, i.e. we will not be able to identify you from this data. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools.
You can object to this analysis. We will inform you below about how to exercise your options in this regard.
2. General information and mandatory information
Data protection
The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data as confidential and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.
If you use this website, various pieces of personal data will be collected. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. This privacy policy explains what information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.
Please note that data transmitted via the internet (e.g. via email communication) may be subject to security breaches. Complete protection of your data from third-party access is not possible.
Notice concerning the party responsible for this website
The party responsible for processing data on this website is represented by the head of the steering committee:
Markus Giger
University of Bern
Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
Mittelstrasse 43
CH-3012 Bern
Switzerland
Telephone: +41 31 631 88 22
Email: info@cde.unibe.ch
The responsible party is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (names, email addresses, etc.).
Revocation of your consent to the processing of your data
Many data processing operations are only possible with your express consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
SSL or TLS encryption
This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognise an encrypted connection in your browser's address line when it changes from "http://" to "https://" and the lock icon is displayed in your browser's address bar.
If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.
Information, blocking, deletion
As permitted by law, you have the right to be provided at any time with information free of charge about any of your personal data that is stored as well as its origin, the recipient and the purpose for which it has been processed. You also have the right to have this data corrected, blocked or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in our impressum/legal notice if you have further questions on the topic of personal data.
3. Data collection on our website
Cookies
Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help make our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.
Most of the cookies we use are so-called "session cookies." They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain in your device's memory until you delete them. These cookies make it possible to recognise your browser when you next visit the site.
You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.
Cookies which are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as the shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f of DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure an optimised service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyse your surfing behaviour) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this privacy policy.
Server log files
The website provider automatically collects and stores information that your browser automatically transmits to us in "server log files". These are:
- Browser type and browser version
- Operating system used
- Referrer URL
- Host name of the accessing computer
- Time of the server request
- IP address
This data will not be combined with data from other sources.
The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.
Registration on this website
You can register on our website in order to access additional functions offered here. The input data will only be used for the purpose of using the respective site or service for which you have registered. The mandatory information requested during registration must be provided in full, otherwise, we will reject your registration.
To inform you about important changes such as those within the scope of our site or technical changes, we will use the email address specified during registration.
We will process the data provided during registration only based on your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
We will continue to store the data collected during registration for as long as you remain registered on our website. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.
Leaving comments on this website
If you use the comment function on this site, the time at which you created the comment and your email address will be stored along with your comment, as well as your username, unless you are posting anonymously.
How long comments are stored?
The comments and the associated data (e.g. IP address) are stored and remain on our website until the content commented upon has been completely deleted or the comments are required to be removed for legal reasons (slander, etc.).
Legal basis
The comments are stored based on your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
Data transferred when signing up for services and digital content
We transmit personally identifiable data to third parties only to the extent required to fulfill the terms of your contract with us, for example, to banks entrusted to process your payments.
Your data will not be transmitted for any other purpose unless you have given your express permission to do so. Your data will not be disclosed to third parties for advertising purposes without your express consent.
The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.
4. Analytics and advertising
Matomo (formerly Piwik)
This website uses the open source web analytics service Matomo. Matomo uses so-called "cookies". These are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. For this purpose, the information generated by the cookie about the use of this website is stored on our server. The IP address is anonymised before it is stored.
Matomo cookies remain on your device until you delete them.
The storage of Matomo cookies is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analysing user behaviour in order to optimise both its website and its advertising.
The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website will not be disclosed to third parties. You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website.
If you do not agree with the storage and use of your data, you can disable this feature here. In this case, an opt-out cookie will be stored in your browser to prevent Matomo from storing your usage data. If you delete your cookies, this will mean that the opt-out cookie will also be deleted. You will then need to reactivate it when you return to our site if you wish your activity not to be tracked.
hCaptcha
We use the hCaptcha security service (hereinafter "hCaptcha") on our website. This service is provided by Intuition Machines, Inc., a Delaware US Corporation ("IMI"). hCaptcha is used to check whether user actions on our online service (such as submitting a login or contact form) meet our security requirements. To do this, hCaptcha analyzes the behavior of the website or mobile app visitor based on various characteristics. This analysis starts automatically as soon as the website or mobile app visitor enters a part of the website or app with hCaptcha enabled. For the analysis, hCaptcha evaluates various information (e.g. IP address, how long the visitor has been on the website or app, or mouse movements made by the user). The data collected during the analysis will be forwarded to IMI.
hCaptcha analysis in the "invisible mode" may take place completely in the background. Website or app visitors are not advised that such an analysis is taking place if the user is not shown a challenge. Data processing is based on Art. 6(1)(b) of the GDPR: the processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the website visitor is party (for example, the website terms) or in order to take steps at the request of the website visitor prior to entering into a contract. Our online service (including our website, mobile apps, and any other apps or other forms of access offered by us) needs to ensure that it is interacting with a human, not a bot, and that activities performed by the user are not related to fraud or abuse. In addition, processing may also be based on Art. 6(1)(f) of the GDPR: our online service has a legitimate interest in protecting the service from abusive automated crawling, spam, and other forms of abuse that can harm our service or other users of our service.
IMI acts as a "data processor" acting on behalf of its customers as defined under the GDPR, and a "service provider" for the purposes of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). For more information about hCaptcha’s privacy policy and terms of use, please visit the following links: