Privacy Policy

Responsible person

Unless otherwise stated in individual cases, the Swiss Academy for Development is responsible for the forms of data processing described here. If you have any queries about data protection law, you can contact us as follows:

Swiss Academy for Development
Bözingenstrasse 71
CH-2502 Biel / Bienne
E- Mail: info

General terms

The Swiss Academy for Development (SA4D) does not share your information with outside individuals or organizations and does not sell it for commercial purposes. We collect personal data as part of our commitment to development cooperation in order to conclude contracts with our customers, donors, sponsors and business partners, and comply with the resulting obligations.

We process personal data only for purposes that are recognisable to you (e.g. processing donations, sending newsletters, organising events, providing services, ensuring website security). Depending on the situation, processing is based on contract performance, legal obligations, legitimate interests (such as donor communication or fundraising) or your consent (e.g. for newsletters).

We collect your personal data when we are in contact with you or you visit our website. This is the case in the following situations:

  • You support the SA4D with a donation
  • You sign up for a newsletter
  • You take part in a SA4D event or contact SA4D at third-party events
  • You commission SA4D or use a service
  • You use or communicate with us or third parties via our websites, apps for mobile devices or offerings on Internet platforms, multimedia portals or social networks

The correctness and trustworthiness of our business processes are reviewed annually as part of an external audit and every four years as part of Zewo recertification.

Data protection in the context of donations

On our website you can easily and securely make a donation or process a payment via the Internet. This is done via the certified e-payment platform of the company Payrexx, which is PCI-DSS certified (Payment Card Industry Data Security-Standard). The data necessary for the processing of donations will be stored in compliance with the applicable regulations. Personal data is treated confidentially and is not passed on to third parties. We store the data provided by donors in connection with the donation, such as the amount, the earmarking of their donation and their address, in our donation database. The donor has the right to information, correction and, if necessary, deletion of his stored data at any time. In this case, he can contact us by e-mail at info@sa4d.ch.

When a payment is submitted, payment details will be transferred to our payment provider PostFinance. In order to ensure data security, PostFinance works with a system with several security measures which draws on high quality encryption processes (SSL-encryption). Credit card details will not be saved by us.

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to achieve the purposes described above or as required by law (e.g. accounting obligations).

Cookies/tracking and other technologies related to the use of our website

SA4D’s website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. When data is transferred to the USA, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place (e.g. contractual clauses approved by authorities or comparable measures).

Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may prevent the installation of cookies, as well as the transfer of the IP address and processing of the information by Google via an appropriate browser setting, whereby the available browser plugin can be downloaded and installed here.

Further information about terms and conditions of use and about data privacy in Google Analytics can be found here.

When visiting our website, you will be informed about the use of cookies. You can decide whether to allow only essential cookies or also analytical cookies.

Newsletter

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we will use your e-mail address only to send you the newsletter. Subscription requires your explicit consent. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link provided in each newsletter or by contacting us directly.

Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right to access information about your stored data
  • Right to correction of incorrect or incomplete data
  • Right to deletion of data no longer required
  • Right to receive certain data in a transferable format (data portability)
  • If processing is based on consent, the right to withdraw such consent at any time
  • The right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority (Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner in Switzerland, or the competent EU authority if you are located in the EU).

To exercise your rights, please contact info@sa4d.org.

This privacy policy was last updated in September 2025. We review and update it regularly to reflect current legal requirements and our data processing practices.