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Privacy statement

In this privacy statement, you will find information about the processing of personal and non-personal data by MeteoSwiss.

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1. What is this Privacy Statement about?

In this privacy statement, you will find information about the processing of personal data and non-personal data by MeteoSwiss.

By using services of MeteoSwiss, you agree to the Terms of Use (Legal information) as well as to this privacy statement.

For information on data protection in connection with the use of the MeteoSwiss App, see Privacy Statement MeteoSwiss App

For other providers’ websites that are linked to or referenced on the MeteoSwiss website, their own data protection statements and declarations apply. All responsibility and liability is declined for the content or use of such webservices and websites.

The Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss, Operation Centre 1, P.O. Box 257, 8058 Zurich-Airport, (“MeteoSwiss” or “we”) is responsible for data processing in accordance with this privacy statement.

If you wish to contact us, please get in touch with the Data Protection Officer at the following address:

Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss
Data Protection Officer
Operation Centre 1
P.O. Box 257
8058 Zurich-Airport
rechtsdienst@meteoswiss.ch

2. What is “personal data” and what does “processing” mean?

“Personal data” means all information relating to an identified or identifiable person. This includes, for example, information such as name, address, email address or telephone number.

Processing” means any handling of personal information. This includes, for example, the following actions:

  • Collection and storage
  • Adaptation and amendment
  • Use and application
  • Link to other data
  • Disclosure
  • Deletion and destruction

3. What data do we process?

When you provide us with your name, email address or other personal data via the contact form or another contact option, we process this data.

When you access our website and/or specialist applications, the following data in particular is stored in log files: IP address, date, time, browser request and general information collected about the operating system or browser. When you visit or use our website and/or specialist applications, we process certain technical data, including: information about the time of accessing our website or specialist applications, the duration of the visit, the pages and specialist applications accessed, as well as information about the device used and browser used. This information is not personal data and cannot be traced back to a specific person.

4. For what purposes do we process personal data?

We process personal data for the following purposes in particular:

  • Fulfilment of orders
  • Registration, administration and monitoring of correspondence
  • Communication
  • Payment transactions and debt collection
  • Provision of services
  • Monitoring compliance with our terms of use and taking measures in the event of violation;
  • Non-personal analysis, particularly for the purpose of planning and compiling statistics
  • To verify and comply with legal obligations, including orders issued by a court or other authority

5. To whom are personal data disclosed?

Personal data is treated confidentially. Our employees have access to your personal data only to the extent necessary for the purposes described and the activities of the employees concerned. These include employees in support areas such as IT.

Your personal data is not processed exclusively by us. In specific areas we work together with external service providers (e.g. IT service providers) or other authorities. Such third parties are subject to contractual and/or legal confidentiality and data protection obligations. External service providers may also be based in countries outside Switzerland. In these cases, the strict provisions of the Data Protection Act (FDPA, SR 235.1; Art. 16 et seq.) are complied with.

In connection with the exercise of rights, the defence against claims, and compliance with legal requirements, we may, under certain circumstances, disclose data to other authorities, offices, courts and other public bodies, for example, in the context of administrative, judicial and pre-trial and extrajudicial proceedings, as well as in the context of legal information requirements and cooperation obligations.

6. Cookies and analysis

We use “cookies” (files that are stored on your device) and similar technologies when you visit our website or use our specialist applications. We use cookies in order to store certain settings (e.g. “My Favourites” or various local forecast settings) for subsequent visits, for anonymous statistics about the use of our website, and for personalising certain content on the website. The cookies used for the anonymous statistics are deleted within one year after your visit to the website.

Integrated external applications use cookies from third parties to enable them to collect the data required for their services. In such cases, the data protection provisions of the respective provider expressly apply. MeteoSwiss has no influence on the data collection and processing by these providers.

For anonymous statistical analysis of the use of our website, we use the web analytics software “Matomo”. “Matomo” is operated in a dedicated environment by an external service provider on behalf of MeteoSwiss.

Tracking on our website via JavaScript is controlled by MeteoSwiss. The IP address is anonymised before storage. The data obtained is used exclusively for web analytics and is not shared or combined with other data sets.

7. Social media platforms

MeteoSwiss operates accounts and profiles on social media platforms (including X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). These pages and services are provided and operated by third parties. Each of these pages has its own data protection provisions. MeteoSwiss has no influence on the data collection and processing by these providers.

8. How long do we store personal data?

We store your personal data  for as long as is necessary to fulfil the specific purpose for which we collected it. In the case of registrations, this is usually at least for the duration of the registration. You can cancel your registration at any time.

We also store personal data if we have a legitimate interest in doing so, e.g. for documentation and evidence preservation purposes or to protect rights and defend against claims. In addition, we store your personal data for as long as it is subject to a statutory retention obligations.

9. How do we protect personal data?

We treat personal data confidentially and take appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your personal data, to protect it against unauthorised or unlawful processing and to counteract the risk of loss, unintentional modification, unwanted disclosure or unauthorised access.

10. What rights do you have in connection with the processing of your personal data?

Under the applicable law, you have the right to information, correction, deletion, restriction of data processing and objection to our data processing and the right to receive from us, free of charge and in a readable format, the personal data that you have provided to us. You also have the right to revoke consents, but doing so does not affect the legitimacy of the data processing performed prior to the revocation. Please note that we will need to identify you in order for you to exercise these rights, and that these rights may be subject to certain limitations or exceptions.

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, you can contact us using the contact details provided in Section 1. You can also contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.