Data Policy

Dear customer,

These data protection provisions provide you with an overview of what personal data Ringier AG and divisions such as Ringier Advertising (hereinafter either “Ringier”, “we” or “us”) and the companies affiliated with Ringier (hereinafter “Ringier Group”) collect about you, how this personal data is processed and to whom it may be disclosed when you interact with us or we interact with you (e.g. when you use our websites or mobile applications). You will also find out what rights you have under applicable data protection law and how you can exercise them.

For information on data processing by Ringier Advertising in the context of targeted advertising on our publishers’ websites and apps, please see “About our advertising”. 

Please re-read this privacy policy at regular intervals so that you are always up to date on what is happening with your personal data and how you can exercise your rights.

Some things worth knowing about us:

1. Who is Ringier?

We are required by law to inform you of the controller under data protection law for the processing of personal data described in these data protection regulations. Under data protection law, the controller is the person who determines whether, for what purposes and how personal data is processed. This is, in principle, Ringier AG, Brühlstrasse 5, 4800 Zofingen with regard to the processing of personal data in accordance with these data protection regulations.

Ringier is an independent Swiss family-owned company founded in 1833. Today, Ringier is an innovative, digital and diversified media company operating in 19 countries with over 6,400 employees. Based on its 188-year history, Ringier stands for pioneering spirit and individuality, for independence as well as for freedom of expression and diversity of information.

Find out more about Ringier here: https://www.ringier.com/about-us/

When processing personal data in accordance with these data protection regulations, other companies may jointly act as the controller if they contribute to the decision about the purpose or nature of the processing. In particular, this includes advertising partners or companies whose tools we integrate into our websites or applications (a current list of these advertising partners and companies can be found here) as well as the companies of the Ringier Group. We remain your primary point of contact, even if other co-controllers exist.

2. Who belongs to the Ringier Group?

The Ringier Group includes the Ringier-affiliated companies located in Switzerland. These include, for example, the following subsidiaries: DeinDeal AG, Swissprinters AG, JobCloud AG, Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG and several others.

If you would like to find out more about the Ringier-affiliated companies and other holdings of Ringier in Europe and Africa, click here: https://www.ringier.com/brands/

3. What is the nature of the Ringier Group’s operations?

Today, Ringier manages leading brands in print, TV, radio, online and mobile media and runs successful print, entertainment and internet businesses. The Ringier Group produces Blick, SonntagsBlick, Schweizer Illustrierte, Schweizer Landliebe, Handelszeitung, der Beobachter and others. The complete portfolio is listed here: https://www.ringier.com/brands/

4.  What data does Ringier and companies affiliated with the Ringier Group generally process?

4.1 What is personal data and what is the definition of “processing”?

Personal data refers to any information relating to you and that reveals something about you as an individual, such as your first name and surname, postal address, email address, date of birth, phone number and similar information.

Information that cannot be associated with your person, i.e. not with your identity, is not personal and therefore not personal data.

Processing encompasses any handling of your personal data. This means, among other things, the acquisition, anonymization, storage, management, use, transmission, disclosure or deletion of your personal data.

4.2 How do we process your personal data and what is the legal basis for doing so?

Your trust in us when it comes to protecting your personal data and your privacy is important to us, which is why we want you to know that:

We comply with the principles imposed on us by the data protection laws of Switzerland and – if and to the extent applicable – of the European Union. This means that we are transparent with you about what personal data we process and for what purpose. We only collect your personal data lawfully and only process it – in cases where we need to – if we have a legal basis to do so. A legal basis may be a contract, your consent, a provision of a law, a public interest that allows us to process the data, or a legitimate interest on our part.

With these data protection regulations, we inform you about the purposes for which we collect your personal data. If we no longer need your personal data and are no longer required by law to retain it, we will no longer do so (for more information, see Section 4.6).

You can find out what rights you have with regard to your personal data and how you can exercise them in Section 5 below.

4.3 What personal data does Ringier Advertising process, and when and why does it do so (purpose)?

In principle, we always process your personal data whenever you interact with us or we interact with you. In the case of Ringier products this happens when you:

  • Visit our website;
  • Use our Toolbox account;
  • Subscribe to our newsletter;
  • Use our contact form;
  • Receive our advertising; 
  • Visit us.
a) Visiting the website

When you visit our website, your data is processed via log files, cookies, analytics tools, contact forms, social media plugins and other providers. 

We process this data for the following purposes:

  • Provision and optimisation of the online offering (e.g. market research and reach measurement). 
  • Personalisation of the online offering for the users of the online offering.

You can read more about this in chapter 4.3.1.

b) Toolbox account

We provide you with a Toolbox account for the purpose of planning campaigns. In order for us to do this, we collect the following personal data from you:

  • Company
  • First name and last name
  • Address
  • Country
  • Telephone number
  • E-mail
  • Customer number

We process this personal data for the following purposes:

  • Creation and operation of your Toolbox account
  • Conclusion and execution of contracts
  • Maintaining the business relationship with you

We delete data that you transmit to us via your Toolbox account as soon as storage is no longer necessary.

c) E-Mail-Newsletter

If you have agreed to let us use your e-mail address for advertising purposes, we will send you the newsletter of your choice on a regular basis in order to draw your attention to further offers and services from Ringier Advertising. You can object to this processing of your e-mail address at any time in the relevant newsletter itself by clicking on the link at the end of the newsletter and thus unsubscribing from the newsletter.

In order to be able to tailor our newsletters more individually to your interests, the clicks on the articles in our newsletters are measured, stored and assigned to the relevant user. If you do not want this, you can cancel your newsletter subscription at any time as described above. If you would like the data that was stored before you withdrew your consent to be deleted, please write an email to advertising@ringier.ch.

d) Contact form

We offer you the option to contact us directly via our contact form and to send us questions and suggestions regarding our online offering. If you fill out the contact form, the following personal data will be processed exclusively to answer your enquiry:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Telephone number
  • E-mail address
  • Message
e) Advertising about our media products and services (direct marketing)

In order to be able to provide you with further offers on products and services from Ringier Advertising, we also process your personal data for marketing purposes. This means that we send you advertising by post, by telephone and e-mail or by SMS about further products and services.

In addition, for the purpose of customer acquisition, we take personal data (addresses) from publicly accessible sources and also obtain such data from professional third-party providers.

You have the option at any time to object to the processing of your personal data for these purposes in general or in relation to a specific product or service (see section 5).

f) Registration for OneLog

OneLog is a free registration and log-in service provided by OneLog AG. When you register for OneLog, OneLog AG, as the data controller, collects the following personal data and discloses it to Ringier (for more information, see the OneLog Privacy Policy):

  • Title
  • First name
  • Name
  • E-mail addres

For the provision of Ringier’s digital offers within OneLog, we collect the following additional data:

  • Postcode
  • Place of residence
  • Date of birth
  • Nickname
  • Photo/Avatar (optional)

We or OneLog process this personal data for the following purposes:

  • o fulfil and handle statutory obligations;
  • to verify access permissions and manage the user account.

In order to be able to provide you with further offers on products and services of the Ringier Group, we also process the above-mentioned personal data:

  • to develop and maintain the relationship with you;
  • for marketing purposes, i.e. we send you advertising by post, telephone, e-mail or SMS about other Ringier Group products (see section 2 above). You have the option to object to this processing at any time (see section 5).
  • to display personalized online advertising (see section 4.3.g)
g) Personalisation of online advertising

If you register with OneLog, you will see personalised online advertising on certain portals of the Ringier Group. In order to be able to display these online advertisements for you, your personal data will be made available to Ringier Advertising on the basis of an anonymous user identification number. Your identity will not be disclosed to Ringier Advertising or its partners. Ringier Advertising and any business partners are also obliged to refrain from and prevent personal data being related to individuals.

You have the option at any time to object to the processing of your personal data for this purpose by logging out of your OneLog user account. The data already collected for this purpose will be deleted within 7 days.

h) Online tracking and online advertising techniques

When you use our websites and applications, we and third parties engaged by us may collect and process various technical data. Examples of such data are the IP address, the operating system used, the time of use or identification numbers or codes assigned to your end device (PC, smartphone, tablet, etc.) via so-called cookies and similar technologies. We collect and process such data in order to ensure the functionality and security of the websites and applications, to be able to continuously improve our products and services and adapt them to your needs, to recognise trends, to compile and evaluate statistics on the use of our digital offers and also to be able to offer you a good advertising experience.

Detailed information about the data used as well as about the techniques deployed, their purposes and possible settings (e.g. regarding the deactivation of these techniques) can be found here:

i) Video monitoring

When you move around our publicly accessible premises in the Ringier Pressehaus or Medienpark, you will be filmed in the entrance/exit areas of the building and garage as well as in the garage.

This video recording is for your protection and for the protection of our employees, as well as for evidence if any incidents occur. The recording is stored for a maximum of one week and is not passed on to any third parties. This notwithstanding, Ringier may disclose the video recording for legal reasons; for example, to a law enforcement authority or for the prosecution or exposure of unlawful activities.

4.3.1 Which technologies do we use and why are they used at Ringier Advertising?

We use the following technologies:

a) Cookies

Cookies are used on our websites by us and by third parties. A cookie is a short text file that is stored on your device when you use one of our websites.

Cookies can be divided into session cookies and persistent cookies.

Session cookies can be used to track the web pages you visit and the options you use. A session cookie is only stored for the duration of your visit to the internet, i.e. during a single internet session. So when you close your internet browser, the session is over and the cookie is deleted.

Persistent cookies can be used, among other things, to recognise you on a subsequent visit to one of our websites and, for example, to identify your reading preferences. A persistent cookie is stored for a longer period than a single session.

Cookies can also be divided into functional and non-functional cookies. Ringier uses both functional and non-functional cookies on the websites. Functional cookies are necessary to ensure the functionality of our websites or services. Non-functional cookies are not absolutely necessary for the functionality of the websites. These types of cookies are used to collect and analyse data about website usage or mobile app usage (language preferences, length of a user session, etc.) so that we can improve your reading and advertising experience.

In order to provide you with direct marketing tailored to you and thus avoid unnecessary advertising for you, as well as to tailor our products and services to your interests, the following cookies, for example, are used to analyse your behaviour:

Our website uses Site Kit (Google Analytics, https://sitekit.withgoogle.com/), a web analytics service provided by Google Inc, (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland). The use includes the “Universal Analytics” mode of operation. This makes it possible, if the user is logged in to a Google service, to assign data, sessions and interactions across several devices to a pseudonymous user ID and thus to analyse the activities of a user across devices. Google Analytics uses cookies. The non-personal information generated by the cookies about your use of our website is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. However, the IP addresses are anonymised beforehand using IP anonymisation. The anonymised IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other Google data. Google will use this information on our behalf for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. You can find more information on the terms of use and data protection at https://toolsiehegoogle.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. You can also prevent the storage of cookies by setting your browser software accordingly (see section 4.3.2).

Other technologies used on the website:
Cloudflare (web application firewall and performance caching):
Cloudflare is used as a web application firewall for website security as well as performance caching to speed up the website and improve the end user experience by serving static content from an edge node closest to the end user. More information: https://www.cloudflare.com/gdpr/introduction/

WP Engine (web server):
WP Engine is a specialised WordPress hosting service that provides web application hosting. Further information:https://wpengine.com/legal/dpa/

Amazon Web Services (Media/asset storage):
Amazon AWS – is a cloud service provider that offers a range of services. AWS is used to store static website assets such as PDF files and images. Further information: https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/gdpr-center/

b) Log files

When using websites, the web servers register impersonal usage data, so-called log files. Log files provide information about your IP address, the operating system used, websites you visit, browser type and version, the date, the time and the requested file. This information is technically necessary in order to correctly deliver the contents of web pages requested by you and is compulsory when using the Internet. This anonymous data is stored separately from any personal data you may have provided and thus does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about your person.

This impersonal usage data is statistically evaluated by us in order to optimise our website and the technology behind it, to recognise trends and to improve offers and products or to align them to your needs in the best possible way.

c) Elements from other websites, e.g. plug-ins

Elements from third-party providers, (e.g. social networks such as Facebook, Apple, Twitter and Youtube) may be used on our websites. When you click on a third-party element (e.g. “Like” plug-in from Facebook), a connection to the servers of this third-party provider may be established automatically. In the process, data about your visit to our websites or to a mobile application may be transmitted to the third-party provider. Under certain circumstances, this data may be assigned to your user account with the third-party provider (e.g. Facebook or Twitter account). In addition, the third-party provider may transmit personal data (surname, first name, customer ID and e-mail address) of your user account to Ringier, provided you have consented to this function with the third-party provider. Information on the collection and use of data by third-party providers can be found in the data protection notices of the relevant third-party providers.

4.3.2 How can I deactivate cookies?
a) Cookie settings

By using our websites and applications, you consent to data about you being processed in the manner and for the purposes described above. However, you can control and/or delete cookies at any time by using the opt-out links mentioned above.

Most internet browsers are set to automatically accept cookies. However, you are free to set your browser so that cookies are generally rejected by selecting “do not accept cookies” in your browser settings, or so that you are prompted in each case before a cookie from a website you visit is accepted.

You also have the option of deleting the cookies on your computer or on your mobile device by selecting the corresponding function in your browser. Please be aware that you must deactivate or delete the cookies on all your devices.

Please note that deleting cookies in the browser results in an opt-out cookie also being deleted, i.e. if you want to continue to have an opt-out cookie activated and have deleted all cookies, the opt-out cookie must be activated again when you visit this website again. Otherwise, you will be recognised as a new user and your data will be collected again. Also, be aware that you must disable cookies on all your devices.

If you choose one of the options described, you may not be able to use all the functions of the website to their full extent. We would also like to point out at this point that there is no option to object to general advertisements on our websites or in our apps.

4.4 Disclosure of personal data to third parties

All personal data collected when you contact Ringier Advertising will be disclosed within the Ringier Group (see section 2 above) and may be processed for the purposes mentioned above, in particular for marketing purposes. For marketing purposes, Ringier Advertising sometimes works with partners outside the Ringier Group to display the advertising. You have the option to object to this processing at any time (see section 5).

Your personal data can also be disclosed with third parties that are not part of the Ringier Group and who provide technical or organizational services on behalf of Ringier or companies belonging to the Ringier Group and that we require for the purposes mentioned above or to carry out their general business activities. Examples include hosting partners, printers or supplier organizations. These service providers are primarily located in Switzerland and the European Union, but they may be located in any country in the world. We contractually obligate these service providers to process your personal data exclusively on our behalf and in accordance with our specifications and to ensure the protection of your personal data through appropriate security measures of a technical or organizational nature.

When you post comments on an article on a website or in a mobile application and log into a Ringier user account via Facebook or Twitter, you are also agreeing to the publication of your surname and first name and potentially your place of residence (as provided by you in your user account, Facebook account or Twitter account) together with your comments. Your comments, including personal data, can be further shared on third-party websites and indexed by search engines.

Your personal data shall not otherwise be passed on, transmitted or sold to third parties outside the Ringier Group unless required to manage a contract that you have concluded with Ringier or a company belonging to the Ringier Group, or unless you have expressly consented to it.

This notwithstanding, Ringier may disclose personal data for legal reasons; for example, to law enforcement agencies for the purpose of prosecuting and detecting illegal activities or to tax authorities.

4.5 Is your personal data also sent abroad?

As explained in Section 4.4, we also disclose personal data to third parties that are not always located in Switzerland. Your data can therefore be processed both in Europe and, in exceptional cases, in any country in the world. This can also be the case if the recipient is located in Switzerland but data is routed via a foreign country because of its interchange via the internet.

If a recipient, for example one of our service providers, is located in a country without adequate data protection laws, we contractually oblige this recipient to comply with data protection. We use the European Commission’s revised standard contractual clauses for this purpose, which can be found here, unless such a recipient is already subject to a legally recognized set of rules to ensure data protection and we cannot rely on a derogation provision. A derogation may apply, in particular, in the case of legal proceedings abroad, but also in cases of overriding public interest or if the processing of a contract requires such disclosure, if you have consented to it or if it is a matter of data that you have made generally accessible and you have not objected to the processing of this data. Contractual arrangements can partially compensate for weaker legal protection or an absence of any legal protection, but not all risks can be eliminated (e.g. government access abroad).

4.6 How long do we process your personal data for?

We process and store your personal data for as long as our processing purposes, the statutory retention periods and our legitimate interests require, or for as long as storage is technically necessary. We may have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data, for example, if we need it for evidentiary purposes in order to enforce or defend against claims (e.g., in litigation) or if we retain your personal data for archiving purposes or to ensure IT security. Retention may be technically required if certain pieces of personal data cannot be separated from other data and we therefore need to retain it with the rest of this data (e.g. in the case of backups).

In principle, the following retention periods apply to us, for example, although we may deviate from this in individual cases:

Employee data:
  • Contract data is generally retained for 10 years from the last contract activity or from the end of the contract.
  • Master data , e.g. the personnel file and reference data, is retained for 10 years after the employee leaves the company.
  • Access data and system user data is deleted immediately after the employee leaves or after the technically required duration has passed.
  • Applicant data is usually deleted 4 months after the end of the application process, unless we have consent to keep the application pending.
Customer data:
  • Contract and master data relating to subscribers is generally kept for 10 years from the last contract activity or from the end of the contract, as required by law.  
  • Event participant/raffle data is generally kept for 3 months.
Business partner data:
  • Contract and master data is generally stored for 10 years from the last contract activity or from the end of the contract, as required by law.  
  • Creditor data is retained for 10 years from the date on which the personal data was collected.

If there are no legal or contractual obligations to the contrary, we delete or anonymize your personal data once the storage or processing period has expired, as part of our normal processes.

5. What are your rights with respect to your personal data?

Applicable data protection law grants you the right to object to the processing of your data in certain circumstances, in particular, for the purposes of direct marketing, direct marketing profiling and other legitimate interests in processing.

Depending on the applicable data protection law, you may also have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

  • The right to access information from us as to whether we process your personal data and which data this relates to;
  • the right to have us rectify personal data if it is inaccurate;
  • the right for us to restrict the processing of personal data;
  • the right to request the erasure of personal data;
  • the right to request that we provide certain personal data in a commonly used electronic format or transfer it to another controller;
  • the right to withdraw consent, insofar as our processing is based on your consent;
  • the right to receive, upon request, further information necessary for the exercise of these rights.

If you wish to exercise your rights against us in relation to your personal data, please contact us in writing at the following address: Ringier AG, Customer Service Center, Brühlstrasse 5, 4800 Zofingen. You can also contact us by email (datenschutz@ringier.ch). To prevent misuse, we must be able to identify you: please send a copy of an identity document when you contact us.

Please note that conditions, derogations or limitations apply to these rights under applicable data protection law (e.g., to protect third parties or trade secrets). In particular, we may need to process and store your personal data in order to fulfill a contract with you, to protect our own interests worthy of protection (e.g. when asserting, exercising and defending legal claims or to comply with legal obligations). To the extent legally permissible, in particular to protect the rights and freedoms of other data subjects and to safeguard interests worthy of protection, we may therefore also refuse a data subject’s request in whole or in part (e.g. by blacking out certain content that relates to third parties or our trade secrets). We will inform you about conditions, derogations and limitations on a case-by-case basis.

If you do not agree with how we handle your personal data or with your rights in this regard, please let us know. You also have the right to complain to the supervisory authority of the country where you live or work, or of the place or country where the alleged breach of data protection law took place. You can contact the Swiss supervisory authority here: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/de/home/der-edoeb/kontakt/adresse.html 

A list of authorities in the European Economic Area can be found here: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_de

6. How you can protect your children

We all need to work together to ensure that future generations become responsible citizens of the digital world.

Because children are less cognisant of the risks and consequences of the processing of their personal data and are unlikely to know their rights in this regard, special protections should be in place when it comes to their personal data. In particular, this of course applies to the use of such personal data for advertising purposes, which is why you will also find the relevant age limits in our terms of use as well as information about the legal age of consent.

Information and tips on using media can be found here (DE/FR/IT): https://www.jugendundmedien.ch/themen/sicherheit-und-datenschutz

7. Data security

Ringier operates secure data networks which meet the relevant technical standards. All necessary and reasonable technical and organisational precautions are taken to protect your personal data against loss, destruction, falsification, manipulation and unauthorised access.

Although Ringier has taken every necessary step to prevent personal data from being disclosed through data transfer errors and/or unauthorised access by third parties, it cannot accept any liability for such unwanted incidents.

8. Who can you contact?

There are various ways to contact us:

If you have a legal question regarding data protection, you can send an email to datenschutz@ringier.ch. Of course, you are also free to write us a letter: Ringier AG, Datenschutz, Dufourstrasse 23, 8008 Zurich.

If you have a question regarding your subscription or other customer relationship with us, please send an email tokundenservice@ringier.ch or a letter to Ringier AG, Kundenkontakt Center, Brühlstrasse 5, 4800 Zofingen. You can also reach our Customer Contact Centre by calling +41 (0)848 880 850.

9. Legal basis

When processing your personal data, we observe the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection along with its regulations and – where applicable – the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR).

10. Changes to and acceptance of these data protection regulations

Ringier modifies these data protection regulations as appropriate according to new or changing requirements. The latest version of this data privacy statement can always be found in the appropriate place.

The current data protection regulations published by us on this website apply in each case.

Version 2.0 / 29.08.2023