Privacy policy

This privacy policy provides information about the processing of personal data in connection with our activities, including our website under the domain name maria-stiftung.li. In particular, we provide information about why, how, and where we process personal data. We also provide information about the rights of individuals whose data we process.

We may publish additional privacy policies or other information on data protection for individual or additional activities and operations.

We are subject to Swiss law and, where applicable, foreign law, in particular that of the European Union (EU) with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In its decision of July 26, 2000, the European Commission recognized that Swiss data protection law ensures adequate data protection. In its report of January 15, 2024, the European Commission confirmed this adequacy decision.

Table of contents

1. Contact addresses

The responsible party in terms of data protection law is:

Maria Foundation
Lettstrasse 37
FL-9490 Vaduz

info@maria-stiftung.li

In individual cases, third parties may be responsible for processing personal data, or there may be joint responsibility with third parties. We will be happy to provide data subjects with information about the respective responsibility upon request.

2. Terms and legal basis

2.1 Terms

Data subject: Natural person about whom we process personal data.

Personal data: All information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.

Sensitive personal data: Data about trade union, political, religious, or ideological views and activities, data about health, privacy, or ethnicity or race, genetic data, biometric data that uniquely identifies a natural person, data on criminal and administrative sanctions or prosecutions, and data on social assistance measures.

Processing: Any handling of personal data, regardless of the means and procedures used, for example, querying, comparing, adapting, archiving, storing, reading, disclosing, obtaining, recording, collecting, deleting, disclosing, arranging, organizing, storing, modifying, distributing, linking, destroying, and using personal data.

European Economic Area (EEA): Member states of the European Union(EU) as well as the Principality of Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway.

2.2 Legal basis

We process personal data in accordance with Swiss law, in particular the Federal Act on Data Protection (Data Protection Act, DPA) and the Ordinance on Data Protection (Data Protection Ordinance, DPO).

We process personal data in accordance with at least one of the following legal bases, insofar as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is applicable:

  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data for the performance of a contract with the data subject and for the implementation of pre-contractual measures.
  • Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data to safeguard legitimate interests, including the legitimate interests of third parties, unless the fundamental freedoms and rights and interests of the data subject prevail. Such interests include, in particular, the long-term, people-friendly, secure, and reliable exercise of our activities and operations, ensuring information security, protection against misuse, enforcing our own legal claims, and complying with Swiss law.
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data to fulfill a legal obligation to which we are subject under any applicable law of Member States in the European Economic Area (EEA).
  • Art. 6 (1) (e) GDPR for the necessary processing of personal data to perform a task carried out in the public interest.
  • Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR for the processing of personal data with the consent of the data subject.
  • Art. 6 (1) (d) GDPR for the processing of personal data necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person.
  • Art. 9 para. 2 ff. GDPR for the processing of special categories of personal data, in particular with the consent of the data subjects.

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) refers to the processing of personal data as the processing of personal data and the processing of particularly sensitive personal data as the processing of special categories of personal data (Art. 9 GDPR).

3. Type, scope, and purpose of personal data processing

We process the personal data that is necessary to enable us to carry out our activities and operations in a sustainable, people-friendly, secure, and reliable manner. The personal data processed may fall into the categories of browser and device data, content data, communication data, metadata, usage data, master data including inventory and contact data, location data, transaction data, contract data, and payment data. The personal data may also constitute particularly sensitive personal data.

We also process personal data that we receive from third parties, obtain from publicly available sources, or collect in the course of our activities and operations, to the extent that such processing is permissible.

We process personal data, where necessary, with the consent of the persons concerned. In many cases, we may process personal data without consent, for example to comply with legal obligations or to protect overriding interests. We may also seek the consent of the persons concerned even if their consent is not required.

We process personal data for the period of time necessary for the respective purpose. We anonymize or delete personal data in particular in accordance with statutory retention and limitation periods.

4. Disclosure of personal data

We may disclose personal data to third parties, have it processed by third parties, or process it jointly with third parties. Such third parties may, for example, be specialized providers whose services we use.

Within the scope of our activities and operations, we may disclose personal data in particular to banks and other financial service providers, authorities, educational and research institutions, consultants and lawyers, interest groups, IT service providers, cooperation partners, credit and business information agencies, logistics and shipping companies, marketing and advertising agencies, media, parent, sister, and subsidiary companies, organizations and associations, social institutions, telecommunications companies, insurance companies, and payment service providers.

5. Communication

We process personal data in order to communicate with individuals as well as with authorities, organizations, and companies. In particular, we process data that a data subject provides us with when contacting us, for example by letter or email. We may store such data in an address book or using similar tools.

Third parties who provide us with data about other individuals are obliged to ensure the data protection of these data subjects themselves. In particular, they must ensure that such data is accurate and may be transmitted.

6. Data security

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure data security commensurate with the respective risk. With our measures, we ensure in particular the confidentiality, availability, traceability, and integrity of the processed personal data, without, however, being able to guarantee absolute data security.

Access to our website and our other digital presence is provided using transport encryption (SSL/TLS, in particular with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, abbreviated HTTPS). Most browsers warn against visiting a website without transport encryption.

Like all digital communication, our digital communication is subject to mass surveillance without cause or suspicion by security authorities in Switzerland, the rest of Europe, the United States of America (USA), and other countries. We cannot directly influence the processing of personal data by secret services, police stations, and other security authorities. Nor can we rule out the possibility that a data subject may be subject to targeted surveillance.

7. Personal data abroad

We generally process personal data in Switzerland and in the European Economic Area (EEA). However, we may also export or transfer personal data to other countries, in particular for processing or to have it processed there.

We may export personal data to all countries on Earth and elsewhere in the universe, provided that the local law guarantees adequate data protection in accordance with a decision by the Swiss Federal Council and – if and to the extent that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies – also in accordance with a decision by the European Commission.

We may transfer personal data to countries whose laws do not guarantee adequate data protection, provided that data protection is guaranteed for other reasons, in particular on the basis of standard data protection clauses or other appropriate safeguards. In exceptional cases, we may export personal data to countries without adequate or appropriate data protection if the specific data protection requirements are met, for example, the express consent of the data subjects or a direct connection with the conclusion or execution of a contract. Upon request, we will be happy to provide data subjects with information about any guarantees or provide a copy of any guarantees.

8. Rights of data subjects

8.1 Data protection claims

We grant data subjects all claims in accordance with applicable law. Data subjects have the following rights in particular:

  • Information: Data subjects may request information as to whether we process personal data about them and, if so, what personal data is involved. Data subjects shall also receive the information necessary to assert their data protection rights and to ensure transparency. This includes the personal data processed as such, but also, among other things, information on the purpose of processing, the duration of storage, any disclosure or export of data to other countries, and the origin of the personal data.
  • Rectification and restriction: Data subjects can rectify inaccurate personal data, complete incomplete data, and have the processing of their data restricted.
  • Opportunity to express one's own point of view and human review: Data subjects can express their own point of view and request human review in the case of decisions that are based exclusively on automated processing of personal data and have legal consequences for them or significantly affect them (automated individual decisions).
  • Deletion and objection: Data subjects can have personal data deleted ("right to be forgotten") and object to the processing of their data with effect for the future.
  • Data disclosure and data transfer: Data subjects may request the disclosure of personal data or the transfer of their data to another controller.

We may postpone, restrict, or refuse the exercise of data subjects' rights within the legally permissible scope. We may inform data subjects of any conditions that must be met in order to exercise their data protection rights. For example, we may refuse to provide information in whole or in part with reference to confidentiality obligations, overriding interests, or the protection of other persons. We may also refuse to delete personal data in whole or in part, in particular with reference to statutory retention obligations.

In exceptional cases, we may charge a fee for exercising these rights. We will inform the persons concerned in advance of any costs.

We are obliged to take appropriate measures to identify data subjects who request information or assert other rights. Data subjects are obliged to cooperate.

8.2 Legal protection

Data subjects have the right to enforce their data protection claims through legal action or to file a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.

The data protection supervisory authority for private controllers and federal bodies in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

European data protection supervisory authorities are organized as members of the European Data Protection Board(EDPB). In some member states of the European Economic Area (EEA), the data protection supervisory authorities are structured federally, particularly in Germany.

9. Use of the website

9.1 Cookies

We may use cookies. Cookies – both our own cookies (first-party cookies) and cookies from third parties whose services we use (third-party cookies) – are data that are stored in the browser. Such stored data are not necessarily limited to traditional cookies in text form.

Cookies can be stored in the browser temporarily as "session cookies" or for a specific period of time as so-called permanent cookies. "Session cookies" are automatically deleted when the browser is closed. Permanent cookies have a specific storage period. Cookies enable us, in particular, to recognize a browser when it next visits our website and thus, for example, to measure the reach of our website. Permanent cookies can also be used for online marketing, for example.

Cookies can be completely or partially deactivated, restricted, or deleted at any time in the browser settings. The browser settings often also allow for automated deletion and other management of cookies. Without cookies, our website may no longer be fully available. We actively request your express consent to the use of cookies, at least to the extent required by applicable law.

9.2 Logging

We may log at least the following information for each access to our website and our other digital presence, provided that this information is determined or transmitted as standard when such accesses are made to our digital infrastructure: Date and time including time zone, IP address, access status (HTTP status code), operating system including user interface and version, browser including language and version, individual subpages of our website accessed including amount of data transferred, last website accessed in the same browser window (referrer).

We log such information, which may also constitute personal data, in log files. This information is necessary in order to provide our digital presence in a permanent, user-friendly, and reliable manner. The information is also necessary to ensure data security—including by third parties or with the help of third parties.

9.3 Tracking pixels

We may integrate tracking pixels into our digital presence. Tracking pixels are also known as web beacons. Tracking pixels – including those from third parties whose services we use – are usually small, invisible images or scripts written in JavaScript that are automatically retrieved when you access our digital presence. Tracking pixels can be used to collect at least the same information as is logged in log files.

10. Third-party services

We use services from specialized third parties to enable us to carry out our activities and operations in a sustainable, user-friendly, secure, and reliable manner. These services enable us, among other things, to embed functions and content in our website. When embedding such content, the services used collect the IP addresses of users, at least temporarily, for technically compelling reasons.

For necessary security-related, statistical, and technical purposes, third parties whose services we use may process data in connection with our activities and operations in an aggregated, anonymized, or pseudonymized form. This includes, for example, performance or usage data in order to be able to offer the respective service.

In particular, we use:

10.1 Digital infrastructure

We use the services of specialized third parties in order to be able to use the digital infrastructure required in connection with our activities and operations. These include, for example, hosting and storage services from selected providers.

In particular, we use:

10.2 Fonts

We use third-party services to embed selected fonts, icons, logos, and symbols in our website.

In particular, we use:

11. Final notes on the privacy policy

We have created this privacy policy using the privacy policy generator from Datenschutz-Partner .

We may update this privacy policy at any time. We will inform you of any updates in an appropriate manner, in particular by publishing the current privacy policy on our website.