I. GENERAL PRIVACY POLICY

Status: 10 May 2024

As the operator of the immobilier.ch Portal and Application (hereinafter jointly referred to as ‘the Portal’), immobilier.ch SA makes it a priority to respect the privacy and personality of Internet users accessing its Portal. In this context, it undertakes to process the personal data collected when using its Portal in accordance with these provisions and in strict compliance with the provisions in force on data protection.

In this Privacy Policy, references to ‘immobilier.ch SA’, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ are references to the entity responsible for processing your personal data, which is generally the entity that obtains your personal data.

Please also note that you will find below the specific privacy policy relating to cookies

1. Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the personal data we obtain through our Portal and the sub-contractors we deal with to provide our services.

In particular, this Privacy Policy describes the types of personal data we obtain, how we may use such personal data, with whom we may share it, how you may exercise your rights in relation to the processing of such information and the measures we take to protect personal data.

This Policy applies to all use of the Portal, regardless of the method or device used.

Please note that we decline all responsibility as to the respect of the protection of your data by third party sites when :

• You click on a link that directs you to a third-party site, including the site of one of our Advertisers (specialised estate agencies) or one of our Partners (Firstcaution and Smartcaution, for rental guarantees, FPRE - Fahrländer Partner AG (FPRE) for estimates of properties for sale or Smarthypothèque for advice on property financing).
• You use certain features of the Portal that involve the use of Partner services
• You subscribe to the services offered by one of our Partners via a link on our Portal
• You request contact or an offer from one of our Partners or one of our Advertisers on our Portal or by means of an e-mail that we send you.

immobilier.ch is also not responsible for the processing of your data by the advertising agencies to which your application is sent at your request.

We therefore invite you to refer to their own general conditions and privacy policies.

2. Who is responsible for processing your personal data?

immobilier.ch SA is responsible for processing the data that we collect or that you transmit to us and that we process in accordance with this data protection declaration.

3. What type of data do we process and where does it come from? 

We process various categories of personal data. The main categories are listed below for information purposes.

3.1 Data provided 

It is often you who provides us with your personal data, for example when you communicate with us or when you :

• Contact us by e-mail or telephone
• Fill in an application form with a view to renting a property
• Create a user account
• Request contact from one of our Advertisers
• Request a non-binding offer from one of our Partners
• Request to be contacted by our Company (‘Contact us’ section)
• Request to subscribe to our Newsletter
• Request a property valuation and contact one of our Advertisers to help you with your sales project

In this context, we may collect :

• Your first name, surname, gender, date of birth and title
• Your address, e-mail address, telephone number
• Any content you may submit by sending us a message
• Any other personal data you provide to us as part of your application for a rental contract
• Any other personal data you provide to us when creating a user account
• Settings concerning newsletters to which you have subscribed
• Your user name
• Information about your status with us (inactivity or blocking of a user account, access bans, etc.)
• All the information you mention in your application for a job with immobilier.ch

When you send us details of other people (e.g. family members, co-tenants or potential guarantors), we assume that you are authorized to do so and that these details are correct. Please also ensure that these other persons have been informed of this data protection declaration.

3.2 Technical data collected

We also automatically collect the following data when you browse the Portal:

• Unique numerical identifiers such as your computer's IP address
• Logs
• Identifiers associated with your device by cookies and similar technologies (e.g. Facebook pixel tags)
• Information about your device and its configuration, e.g. operating system and language settings
• Information relating to the browser with which you access the Portal and its configuration
• Information about your movements and actions on our Portal
• Information about your Internet service provider
• The date and time of access
• Session duration

All this data is information that cannot generally be linked directly to your person, i.e. your identity. We make no link between your personal data and this data, which therefore remains anonymous to us.

The information collected automatically may, however, be linked to personal data stored with us if you have a user account on the Portal or if you use certain functions of the Portal as a guest, such as the contact form or the enquiry function. In addition, they may be linked to other categories of data and thus, where applicable, to you personally, as part of your user accounts, preference data records or analyses.

Please also note our information on cookies concerning the processing of technical data set out below.

3.3 Location data

If you use our Portal or Application with a mobile device, we may, with your prior consent, collect information about the location of your mobile device (longitude and latitude, horizontal accuracy information) using GPS signal data.

We use location data to enhance your user experience by displaying on your mobile device, via the mobile application(s), properties close to your location.

You can click here to find out how to deactivate the collection of this personal location data.

3.4 Data received

We may also receive information about you from third parties, including:

• Online service providers, for example web analysis services
• Your work colleagues in connection with your professional duties
• Recruitment agencies
• Third parties where correspondence and discussions concern you
• Information services to comply with legal requirements
• Authorities, parties and other third parties in connection with administrative and legal proceedings

4. For what purposes do we process your personal data?

We may use the personal data we collect for:

4.1 Communication

• Contact you if we have any questions
• Inform you of updates or changes to our services and adaptations to the T&Cs
• Respond to your requests and expectations
• Develop and maintain our relationship with you
• Authenticate you, for example when using our online forms
• Put you in touch with our Advertisers when you have requested a pre-estimate on our Portal 

4.2 Execution of contracts

• Deciding whether and how we enter into a contract with you;
• Examining the suitability of candidates for employment and, where appropriate, preparing and concluding contracts of employment.
• Provide customer services
• Determining whether we are willing and able to work with a company, and monitoring and evaluating its performance
• Asserting claims arising from contracts (debt collection, legal proceedings, etc.)
• Manage and operate our IT and other resources
• Back up data in accordance with retention obligations
• Cancel and terminate contracts
• Invoice our services and for general accounting purposes
• Back up data within the framework of retention obligations

4.3 Marketing

• Send you our newsletters
• Send you our magazines
• Offer you relevant advertising
• Offer you a service that may be of interest to you

4.4 Market research and service development

• Continually improve your browsing experience
• Analyse traffic on our Portal
• Establish audience analysis and statistics for our advertisements and services
• Monitor and improve our internal processes
• Monitor the market, for example to understand and respond to current developments and trends
• Maintain and improve the quality of our offers and services
• Analyse user behaviour using anonymous data

4.5 Security and prevention

• Combating fraud
• Analyse system records relating to the use of our systems (log data)
• Prevent, detect and defend against cyber-attacks and malware attacks
• Analyse and test our IT networks and infrastructure and monitor systems and errors
• Control access to electronic systems (e.g. logins at user account level)
• Ensure documentation and create back-up copies
• Maintain and improve the quality and security of network services and information resources to prevent fraud and abuse and for evidential purposes

4.6 Compliance with legal requirements and protection of our rights

• Carrying out and meeting contractual or legal commitments
• Carrying out internal investigations
• Ensuring compliance and risk management
• Guarantee the legal protection of data
• Fulfil our obligations with regard to access, information and communication, for example in connection with regulatory and tax obligations, in particular in the context of archiving obligations, as well as to prevent, reveal and investigate infringements and other violations
• Clarify and assert our claims, which may also include those of our Partners
• Defend ourselves against claims made against us and our Partners
• Clarify the chances of success of proceedings and legal, economic and other issues
• Cooperate in external investigations or take part in judicial and administrative proceedings in Switzerland and abroad. For example, we may collect evidence, clarify the chances of success of proceedings or hand over documents to an authority if there is an objective reason or if we are legally obliged to do so.

4.7 Administration

• Manage IT
• Manage accounting
• Manage data archiving and of our archives
• Controlling and improving our internal processes in general

4.8 User account

If a user account is created, we use the data to provide and manage the services of our Partners and Advertisers, to check the plausibility of the data provided, i.e. to justify, structure the content of, execute and modify the contractual relations entered into with you concerning your user account.

5. Is your data shared with third parties?

We only share your personal data to the extent described here or when it is collected.

• We pass on the personal data you provide when you fill in the application form to the authorities responsible for managing the property for which you wish to submit your application.
• We communicate personal information about you to our Partners when you request it by completing a contact or offer request form from one of our Partners.
• We may communicate personal information about you to our Advertisers on our initiative in order to introduce you to or recommend one or more Estate Agencies specialising in the sale of property in order to assist you in your project to sell a property for which you have requested a pre-estimate on our Portal.
• We may disclose personal information about you (1) if we are required or authorised to do so by law or legal process (court order), (2) to the authorities in order to comply with a legitimate legal request, (3) as part of an investigation into suspected fraud or illegal activity, or (4) in all other cases, with your permission.
• We may also use service providers to process all or part of your data, to the extent necessary to carry out the tasks entrusted to them (for example, to host our Portal and Application). These service providers generally process this personal data on our behalf as ‘subcontractors’. Our subcontractors are obliged to process personal data only in accordance with our instructions and to take appropriate data security measures. Some service providers are also responsible jointly with us or independently. Through the selection of service providers and appropriate contractual agreements, we guarantee the protection of your data throughout the processing of your personal data

6. Legal basis for our processing of personal data

The processing of your personal data, as described above, will generally be carried out on one of the following legal bases:

• Your consent
• A contractual relationship we have with you
• Our legitimate business interests
• Compliance with our legal obligations.

7. Is your data shared abroad?

In all cases where a cross-border transfer is carried out, we ensure either that adequate protection is guaranteed for personal data transferred outside Switzerland and the EEA by applying the standard contractual clauses approved by the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) or that we obtain your consent.

For example, we work with a service provider in the United States to send push notifications on our Application and to send our Newsletters. As the United States does not have laws guaranteeing a level of data protection equivalent to that of Swiss law, we rely on your consent for the communication of this data.

8. Where is your data stored?

Our Portal and Application are hosted in Switzerland.

However, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that the e-mail addresses collected as part of our Newsletter tool are stored with a service provider based in the United States, a country which does not have laws guaranteeing a level of data protection equivalent to that of Swiss law. We are therefore relying on your consent to communicate this data.

9. How long do we keep your data?

We will keep your personal data in an identifiable form:

• For as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which your personal data was collected
• For as long as we have a legitimate interest in keeping it. This may in particular be the case when we need it to assert rights, defend ourselves against claims, for archiving purposes and to guarantee IT security.
• For as long as necessary to comply with applicable legal requirements.

For example, we apply the following retention periods, which may be waived on a case-by-case basis:

• Contracts: As a general rule, we retain master and contract data for ten years from the last contractual activity or the end of the contract. However, this period may be longer if necessary for evidential purposes, due to legal or contractual provisions or for technical reasons.
• Technical data: We generally keep log data for six months. Cookies are stored for a few days if they are not deleted immediately at the end of the session.
• Communication data: E-mails, communications via the contact form and written correspondence are generally kept for ten years.
• Tenancy application file: the data you have registered and the documents you have saved on the Portal are kept for 6 months from the time the file is compiled. After this period, an e-mail will be sent to you to extend storage for the same period. You can also delete your file yourself on our Portal, which will result in the deletion from our server of all the data you have saved.
• Job applications: We generally delete application data immediately after a decision not to recruit you. At your request, we may keep your application on hold for 6 months with a view to possible future recruitment.

After this period, your personal data is deleted from our systems or made anonymous so that it can be used for statistical purposes.

You may at any time exercise your right to have your personal data deleted as explained below .

10. What are your rights?

Your personal data belongs to you. You are entitled at any time to know what is happening to it and to decide what to do with it. Provided the applicable conditions are met and no legal exceptions apply, you have the following rights:

• The right to request access to data stored by us concerning you
• The right to have inaccurate or incomplete personal data corrected
• The right to request the deletion of your data insofar as we are no longer obliged to retain it for a certain period, for example by virtue of a legal obligation to retain it
• The right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data insofar as we are no longer obliged to process it for a certain period of time
• The right to receive the personal data you have made available to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format
• The right to withdraw consent with effect for the future, insofar as processing is based on consent
• The right to object at any time to data processing in connection with direct marketing (e.g. e-mails sent to you following a request for a pre-estimate on our Portal).

Please note that these rights may be limited or excluded in particular cases, for example if there are doubts about your identity or if this is necessary to protect other people, to safeguard interests worthy of protection or to comply with legal obligations.

These rights may be exercised by writing to us and enclosing a copy of your identity document. If the request is made by someone other than you, without providing proof that the request is legitimately made on your behalf, the request will be rejected.

The request is free of charge unless your request is unfounded or excessive (for example if you have already requested this personal data several times in the last twelve months or if the request generates an extremely high workload). In such cases, we may charge you a reasonable request fee in accordance with applicable laws.

You are also free to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority if you have any doubts about the lawfulness of the processing of your personal data, which in Switzerland is the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

11. How do we protect your data?

immobilier.ch SA ensures the security of personal data in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. The measures taken are technical and organizational measures relating to data security in order to guarantee an adequate level of protection with regard to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and the resilience of systems.

These measures form part of the lifecycle of our organization and are implemented at all levels. We are also constantly optimizing processes and tools to prevent any intentional or unintentional, illegal or unauthorized manipulation, modification, intrusion, deletion or transmission of your data. However, the technical and organizational measures we take are subject to technical progress and further development, just like risks and threats. However, absolute security on the Internet cannot be guaranteed, so you use the Portal at your own risk.

In the case of a breach of security of personal data, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority of the breach without delay, unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms. If the breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will, if practicable, notify you of the breach as soon as possible.

12. How to unsubscribe

12.1 From our newsletter

You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time by clicking either on the link at the bottom of each newsletter or in the ‘My account’ section of the Portal by unchecking the relevant box.

12.2 Search alerts

If you have created one or more search alerts with your criteria for a property to rent or buy (by email or push notifications on the Application), you can delete these search alerts at any time, either by clicking on the link dedicated to deleting alerts in the emails sent for this purpose, or from ‘My account’ / ‘My alerts’ on the Portal (while logged in).

12.3 Press alerts

If you have created email alerts and/or subscribed to press content: articles and/or E-papers NEWS immobilier.ch; le magazine immobilier.ch and Prestige magazine, you can delete these subscriptions or email alerts at any time, either by clicking on the ‘Unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of the emails received, or from ‘My account’ / ‘Alerts for new articles’ on the Portal (while logged in).

12.4 Pre-estimate requests

If you have requested one or more online pre-estimates for properties, you may delete these pre-estimates at any time from ‘My account’ / ‘My pre-estimates’ on the Portal (while logged in).

12.5 Location data

If, after having given your consent, you no longer wish your geolocation data to be used (see chapter 3.3 above regarding the use of this data), you can deactivate the location services at any time in the settings of your application or browser.

13. How can you contact us?

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, if you wish to update any information we have about you or your preferences, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, you may contact us:

By e-mail to dataprivacy@immobilier.ch

Or by letter to the following address

immobilier.ch SA

Rue de la Terrassière 58

1207 Geneva, Switzerland

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

The most recent version of this Privacy Policy will be available on our Portal. The date indicated at the top of this Privacy Policy corresponds to its last update.

immobilier.ch SA may update this Privacy Policy at any time and without prior notice to reflect changes in our information practices. The changes are applicable with immediate effect even if you have already accessed the Portal.

15. Applicable law and settlement of disputes (place of jurisdiction)

This Policy and all related matters will be governed by Swiss law, to the exclusion of all other laws and rules of conflict of laws.

Any dispute relating to this Privacy Policy shall be brought exclusively before the courts of Geneva, subject to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court.

  

II. INFORMATION ON COOKIES

Whenever you use our Portal and Application, cookies and other tracking technologies may be used in various ways.

This cookie information describes how and why personal and other data is collected, processed and used when using our Portal and Application, in particular in relation to cookies and similar technologies.

In addition, please refer to the General Privacy Policy for any questions that are not specifically dealt with in this privacy policy relating to cookies.

1. What are cookies and similar technologies?

A cookie is a file consisting of a set of characters which is sent to your terminal when you browse our Portal or our Application. When you use our Portal or our Application, certain data is temporarily recorded in our log files (log data) and is accumulated automatically. When you close your browser, the cookies are stored on your computer in a text file and are reopened the next time you connect to the server. They cause no damage to your computer and contain no viruses.

Cookies contain a unique identifier (ID) that allows us to differentiate each visitor from others, generally without identifying them.

We may also use similar technologies such as pixel tags, fingerprints and other technologies to record data in the browser. Pixel tags are small, generally invisible images or programme codes which are loaded from a server and transmit certain information to the server operator, for example if and when a website has been visited. Fingerprints are information about the configuration of your device or browser that are collected when you visit our Portal or Application and that enable your device to be distinguished from other devices. Most browsers also use other data storage technologies in browsers, similar to cookies, which we may also use (e.g. ‘local Storage’).

2. What types of data do we process?

The data stored when you use our Portal or Applications is as follows:

• IP address,
• Information relating to your Internet service provider,
• Information relating to the operating system of your device (tablet, PC, smartphone, etc.),
• Information about the referring URL,
• Information about the browser used,
• The date and time of access, the place of consultation, the time spent and the content consulted when visiting the Portal or the Application.
• The website you previously visited;
• The keywords you used to find our Portal;
• Operator system ;
• Referrer; type of referrer ;
• If you have responded to a marketing communication;
• Language settings and preferences

Cookies primarily enable the Portal or the Application to recognize you on a subsequent visit and to facilitate your future browsing. We use cookies so that you can navigate freely on our Portal and our Application and use their functionalities, for example when accessing user accounts, for smooth navigation between the different pages and to save your preferences. The use of cookies also makes it possible to use the choices you have made or the decisions you have made as parameters to make your visit to our Portal more pleasant. Generally speaking, cookies are used to improve our services and make them more efficient and secure.

The same applies when you fill in a contact form with an Advertiser, for example, to obtain information about a property you are interested in renting or selling. We know that finding a property to rent or buy can sometimes be a long and complicated process, so this service is here to try and make things easier for you and save you time.

We also use cookies to find out who has visited our Portal and to deduce how often certain pages are visited, which parts of the Portal are particularly popular and how the Portal is used in general.  On the basis of this statistical data, we can carry out analyses and make the necessary improvements to make your browsing on our Portal and our Application even more pleasant and efficient.

The IP address is also analyzed together with other log data and, where applicable, with other data available in the event of attacks on the IT infrastructure or other potentially unauthorized or abusive use of the Portal or the Application, with a view to defending ourselves. It may also be used in criminal proceedings for identification purposes and to take civil and criminal action against the persons concerned. 

3. What type of cookies do we use?

We use both session cookies, which are deleted as soon as the browser is closed, and permanent cookies, which remain stored on the computer or mobile terminal for a certain period of time after the browser is closed (usually a few days) and are only automatically deactivated when the set period expires.

We also use the following types of cookies and similar technologies:

• Necessary cookies :
  Necessary cookies help to make our Portal and Application work by enabling basic functions such as page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
• Performance cookies :
  Preference cookies enable our Portal and Application to remember information that modifies the way the site behaves or is displayed, such as your preferred language or the region in which you are located.
• Statistics cookies :
  Statistical cookies help us, by collecting and communicating information anonymously, to understand how visitors interact with Our Portal and Application.
• Marketing cookies :
  Marketing cookies are used to track visitors through our Portal and Application. The aim is to display advertisements that are relevant and interesting to the individual user and therefore more valuable to third-party publishers and advertisers.
• Unclassified cookies:
  Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.

4. How do you configure your choices or deactivate cookies?

When you arrive on our Portal and Application for the first time (or after having cleared your cookies and cache), you will find a banner at the bottom of the screen which allows you to configure your choices with regard to cookies.

Find below the list of cookies, their purposes and their duration:

 

5. How do we use cookies and similar technologies from other companies?

For example, we use analysis services to evaluate how you use Portal and Application in order to optimize and personalize it.

For example, we use the Google Analytics 4 cookie to analyze user behavior and collect statistical data (e.g. number of clicks, browser used, etc.) by Google. Please note that this new version does not record or store your IP address.

This data is then transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

Google provides us with reports and can therefore be regarded as our subcontractor in this respect. Google does, however, process certain data for its own purposes. In some cases, Google may be able to draw conclusions about the identity of website users from the data collected and thus create personal profiles and link the data collected with any Google accounts these people may have.

Further information on this subject can be found in the Google Analytics privacy statement.

Third party cookies may allow us to display advertisements to you on our Portal and Application and to measure the impact of these advertisements. Third party suppliers may record your usage behaviour on our sites and, where appropriate, associate it with data that has been collected on other sites. Insofar as the supplier can identify you (e.g. because you have a customer account), it may associate you with the user data. Such processing is subject to the data protection provisions of the third-party supplier.

Our third-party suppliers are Google, Facebook, AdRoll, Maptiler Google Tag Manager, Ad Manager and Newrelic.

6. Meta Pixel

Our Portal and Application uses the Meta pixel (Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., Harbour 4, Grand Canal Quay, Grand Canal Bridge, Dublin 2, Ireland) to perform conversion measurements. The Meta Pixel allows us to track your behavior when you reach our Portal and Application after clicking on a Facebook ad. The data collected is anonymous to us as the site operator and cannot be linked back to you personally.

We use the Meta pixel to evaluate the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes and to optimize our future advertising measures.

For further information on data processing by the operators of this platform, please consult the platform's data protection provisions. You will also find out in which countries this data is processed, what your rights are to information, deletion and other rights and how to assert them or obtain further information.

7. How do we use our social media pages?

We may operate our own pages on social networks and similar third-party platforms. If you want to communicate with us or comment on or share our content via these pages, we collect the relevant information and process it in accordance with our general data protection declaration .

We have the right, but not the obligation, to check content before or after publication and to remove content without notice, if technically possible, or to report it to the provider of the relevant platform. In the event of a breach of the rules of decorum and behavior, we may also notify the provider of the user account concerned so that it can be blocked or deleted.

When you visit our social media pages, data (e.g. about your user behavior) may also be transmitted directly to the relevant service provider or collected by the latter and processed together with other data already known to it (e.g. for marketing and market research purposes and to personalize the content of the platform). Information on the essential content of this agreement can be obtained from the service provider. Further information on data processing by social network providers can be found in the data protection provisions of the relevant social networks