Privacy Statement of the Swiss Aerospace Cluster

What personal data do we collect and how do we collect this data?

We only store personal data that is provided to us. This includes, but is not restricted to, all data provided when creating an SAC account, requesting membership, registering for an event, making a purchase via the website or any kind of submission such as an application, proposal or blog post, by e-mail or fax, or during a telephone conversation or in person. This data includes, but is not limited to, personal data such as your name, job title, institution/company, e-mail address and business address as well as debit/credit card account information or other information required to process payments on your behalf.

Besides that, the device you use to access SAC services may also share data with the SAC, which is also considered to be personal data. You can control this sharing of data in your browser or device settings.

Purpose of use of your data

The SAC processes your data in the following situations:

Creation and maintenance of an SAC account:
To ensure the accuracy of collected and stored data.
To provide you with information regarding the SAC’s activities and aerospace related news.

Membership:
To fulfil the obligations that the SAC has to you as a contract party. For example, your membership of the SAC obliges us to provide you with confirmation, a receipt, information on SAC benefits, as well as events organised by, or on behalf of, the SAC.
To process payments and provide proof of payment.
To create a membership directory to facilitate networking between members. Exclusion from this list is available on request.
To produce confirmation of membership, on request, via direct contact with a third party authorised by the data subject.
From time-to-time to survey our members to improve our services.

Event registration and participation:
To process payments for services, events or products.
To create an event list of participants consisting of name, title, organisation, country and e-mail, which is shared with other attendees of the conference to facilitate networking. Exclusion from this list is available upon request.
To keep you updated on event registrations you have made as well as the results, e.g. certifications you have gained.
To request feedback on events you have attended in order to improve our events and training programs.
To produce certificates of attendance.
To aid in the acquisition of funding, at the request of the attendee.
To aid in a visa application, at the request of the attendee.
The SAC can make and publish photos and/or films during SAC events for the purposes of publicity, advertising, trade or promotional materials. You cannot derive any rights from this publication. Exclusion from being photographed is available upon request at the beginning of the event.

Purchase of products:
To process payment.
To fullfil our contractual obligations and deliver the product to you, either digitally via e-mail or physically through post.
To inform you of similar or related products that may be of interest to you.

Use of our website:
To analyse the use of the website and to gain insights in its usability. The SAC constantly strives to improve the usability of our website. We, therefore, anonymously track your site use through Google Analytics. This service helps us to see how often our website is used, on which dates and times, on which locations and for how long. We also use additional third party software to analyse movement within webpages. Please note that in your browser and in your mobile device you can switch off the sharing of this data.

Who has access to your data and to whom is it disclosed?

Your personal data will primarily be accessible for employees of the SAC. By creating an account or registering for membership or an event, your name, organisation job title, country and e-mail address may be visible within the restricted member platform of the website and on the event list of participants to facilitate networking between members or participants. Exclusion from this service is available on request. Further information relating to speakers, electoral candidates, and members of the SAC leadership may also be visible. Information such as, but not limited to, photo, biography, personal statement and proposal submission content.

We only share your details with third parties for logistical purposes, under the guidance and control of the SAC. Your data is never shared for the purpose of marketing to or contact by third parties for any services other than those offered by the SAC.

Only when legally obliged to do so, we will provide your data to authorities, other parties, persons or supervisory bodies, in-line with GDPR regulations.

Although this situation is highly improbable, we might provide your personal data to third parties if and when we consider this necessary to recognise, to contact or to start legal procedures against persons or legal entities causing harm to you, the SAC or other parties. Besides this, we have to furnish your personal data insofar as we are obliged to do so on a statutory basis.

How do we protect and safeguard your information?

The SAC takes the storage and security of your data seriously. Our primary database is located onsite on our dedicated, secured server. Physical access is limited to staff essential for its maintenance. Remote access is secured through industry standard firewalls managed by our third party IT infrastructure provider. A back-up of this database, crucial in case of damage or hardware failure, is securely stored at an off-site data centre. It is uploaded via a secure encrypted connection, which is secured with fully redundant firewalls, and the data is stored in encrypted format. Physical access is limited to the provider’s employees essential for maintenance and support.

Unfortunately, internet use cannot be completely secured. We, therefore, do not guarantee any aspect related to security or safeguarding of information you have provided us via a data connection.

How can you verif, modify or delete your data?

You have several rights regarding the processing of your personal data.

You have a right to request access, correction, deletion, the right to be forgotten, restriction of the use of your data, and, under circumstances, you have the right to object to the use of your data as well as the right to transfer your data to another organisation/provider.

You may contact us (see our contact details mentioned further up) to see the data we process on you. Within the rules of law, we will provide you with a detailed answer. You also have the right to correction or deletion of your data.

You have the right to object to the use of your data for marketing purposes. We, however, shall not use your data in such a way. You can request that we provide your data to a third party in a machine readable and interoperable format. For example, to re-use your data with another provider. This is your right under law so we inform you and will comply within the mandatory timeframe as set out under GDPR guidelines. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you want to exercise any of your rights. If you think that we have unlawfully processed your data then we kindly request you to inform us.

How long do we keep your data?

We keep your personal data for as long as we consider this necessary to meet the objectives as mentioned. In order to comply with obligations pertaining to the SAC’s financial records, SAC user accounts containing any financial information cannot be deleted for 10 years, this is the timeframe set by law for audit purposes.

SAC accounts with no financial information or other activity will be deleted after a period of inactivity of 2 years.

Are you obliged to provide us with your personal data?

When creating an account, requesting membership, registering for an event, making a submission or making a purchase, you are obliged to provide us with your personal data as it is not possible for us to provide our services without this data. It is your choice to create an account, register for any events/services, make a submission or make a purchase.

Can this privacy statement be modified?

Yes, we are authorised to modify or alter this privacy statement from time to time. An alteration or modification can result from unforeseen circumstances, future legislation or changed policies within the AIEST. We will inform you of such alterations or modifications on our website.

Cookies

The SAC uses cookies on its website. Cookies, generally known as “functional cookies” are used to store your personal settings, such as your account details and password. Legislation allows us to use these functional cookies without your consent, you can control these settings through your web browser. Anonymous analytics cookies are used to track movement around our website to help us improve the website and the user experience, this movement is not attributed to you or your SAC account in any way. Social media cookies are in place to allow you to share the content of our website to your social media channels. These cookies are not placed by us but by the social media parties themselves.

Contact information

If you have any questions and/or remarks on this privacy statement, please let us know. You can contact us by sending a message to info@swiss-aerospace-cluster.ch.