Privacy Policy of Scout24 Switzerland Ltd.

Data protection refers not to the protection of data, but rather to the protection of the people to whom the personal data pertain. Consequently, our most important asset is not the personal data but rather the trust that people put in us to handle their personal data in a fair and honest manner.

This Privacy Policy provides information about the ways in which Scout24 Switzerland Ltd., Industriestrasse 44, CH-3175 Flamatt (hereinafter "Scout24") handles personal and non-personal data that are collected in connection with the use of our online platforms (web and apps) or arise in the course of a cooperative relationship. This Privacy Policy also explains your rights under data protection law and how you can exercise them.

The following marketplaces are part of Scout24: AutoScout24, ImmoScout24, MotoScout24 and anibis.ch. Scout24 Advertising markets digital advertising in the desktop and mobile areas on Scout24's own marketplaces. Scout24 is owned by Swiss Mobiliar Holding Ltd. (50%) and Ringier AG (50%) ("Shareholders") (http://scout24.ch/de/wer-wir-sind).

By actively opting-in to our Privacy Policy, you expressly consent to the processing of your personal data pursuant to this Privacy Policy. If it is necessary to process personal data in order to safeguard our legitimate interests that take precedence over protecting the personal data, we may process personal data even without your express consent in certain cases, to the extent such action is permitted by law.

1. What data are processed?

In general, there are two categories of data that are processed when you enter into contact with us: These are (A) personal data and (B) non-personal data.

A) Personal data:

Personal data refers to all information that relate to you and can reveal something about you as a person. This includes, for example, your first name and surname, postal address, e-mail address, date of birth, telephone number and similar information.

Information that cannot be directly associated with you as a person, i.e. with your identity, does not constitute personal data.

Processing includes any handling of your personal data. This means, among other things, acquiring, collecting, anonymising, storing, administering, using, transmitting, disclosing or erasing your personal data.

We comply with the legal provisions imposed on us by the data protection laws of Switzerland and, where applicable, the European Union for your benefit and for the trust you place in us. This means that we are transparent with you regarding the specific personal data we process. We only process personal data that we have obtained lawfully, i.e., either because you concluded a contract with us, you participated in one of our sweepstakes, you gave us your consent to the processing or because we have an interest in improving our offerings, our products and our services for you.

When we no longer process your personal data and are no longer legally obligated to retain them, or if you no longer want us to hold and process these data, we will cease to do so.

You have the option at any time to obtain information about the processing of your personal data or not to permit this processing. You will find the procedure for doing so in Chapter 12.

B) Non-personal data:

When you enter into contact with us, various technologies owned by us and by third parties will collect non-personal data from you on our websites and in our applications.

Non-personal data are information that cannot be directly associated with you as a person, i.e., with your identity. We make no association between these data and your personal data, and therefore, these data are anonymous to us.

We collect and process these data so that we can constantly improve our products and services and adapt them to your needs, identify trends, and compile and evaluate statistical data regarding the use of our digital offerings. These data are also used in order to offer you a positive advertising experience.

2. Collection and storage of personal data

Depending on the website, online platform or application, using certain services requires registering and setting up a user account. When you register, and also when you create ads and search requests, personal data, such as your surname, first name, place of residence, e-mail address, telephone number and potentially other data are collected and stored.

Personal data are also collected and stored where necessary for placing orders, making use of offers, participating in sweepstakes, etc.

Incoming and outgoing consultations with the Scout24 Contact Center may be recorded and stores for training purposes and quality control.

3. Use and disclosure of your data

Use of your data by Scout24

You agree that Scout24 may process your personal data and non-personal data for the following purposes:

  • fulfilling and performing contractual or statutory obligations
  • verifying access authorisation and administering the user account (if any)
  • informing you about updates or changes to our products, services or events as well as in case of amendments to our General Terms and Conditions, advertising policy, etc.
  • anti-fraud operations
  • developing and maintaining the customer relationship
  • marketing, i.e. all promotional measures, e.g. newsletters, telemarketing, online advertising, SMS and push notifications
  • market research, conducting analyses and surveys, as well as for statistical purposes
  • designing and improving our offerings and products to meet our customers' needs
  • evaluating user behaviour
  • delivering targeted advertising

 

In connection with the listed purposes, it is possible that personality profiles will be created and/or profiling will be conducted.

The term "personality profile" is defined in Swiss law. It refers to the collection of data that permits an assessment of essential characteristics of the personality of a natural person.

The term "profiling" is used in the laws of the European Union. It refers to any form of automated processing of personal data that are used to evaluate, analyse or predict certain personal aspects of a natural person. Examples of such aspects include a person's financial situation, interests, user behaviour, place of residence or change of location.

By accepting this Privacy Policy, you expressly consent to personality profiles being created and/or profiling being conducted.

If you have agreed that we may use your e-mail address for this purpose, we will send you newsletters on a regular basis in order to bring additional offers and services to your attention. You can opt out of the processing of your e-mail address in this manner at any time in the respective newsletter itself by clicking on the link at the end of the newsletter and unsubscribing from it in this way.


Disclosure of your data to Shareholders and use by the same

You agree that Scout24 may disclose your personal data and non-personal data to its Shareholders and that they may process the data for the following purposes:

  • anti-fraud operations
  • marketing, i.e. all promotional measures, e.g. newsletters, telemarketing and online advertising
  • market research and conducting analyses and surveys, as well as for statistical purposes
  • designing and improving offerings and products to meet customers' needs
  • evaluating user behaviour
  • delivering targeted advertising

 
Scout24 is permitted to enrich the data with data from third-party sources before disclosing them to the Shareholders.

The Shareholders, in turn, may disclose the data to their majority-owned subsidiaries, which may process the data for the same purposes as the Shareholders themselves may process them.

In connection with the listed purposes, it is possible that personality profiles will be created and/or profiling will be conducted. By accepting this Privacy Policy, you expressly consent to personality profiles being created and/or profiling being conducted.

 

Disclosure of your data to cooperation partners and third parties

You further agree that your personal data and non-personal data may be disclosed for marketing purposes to current and future cooperation partners as well as to advertising networks (such as Facebook and Google). Scout24 is permitted to enrich the data with data from third-party sources before disclosing them.

If you fill out a contact form on the online marketplaces or in the applications, Scout24 has the right, but not the duty, to disclose your IP address and country of residence to the provider of the respective offer.

You acknowledge that by law, the content of the contact form and the subsequent e-mail correspondence from Scout24 must be retained for six months.

Your personal data may be disclosed to third parties who process them on behalf of Scout24 as agents or for the provision of certain services, which also may involve a data transfer abroad. In doing so, steps are taken to ensure that the transferred personal data are adequately safeguarded and that the processors abide by the applicable data protection laws. There is no other disclosure, transmission or sale of your personal data to third parties outside Scout24 or to its cooperation partners, unless this is necessary for the performance of a contract that you have concluded with Scout24 or you have expressly consented to it.

Scout24 reserves the right to disclose the data as required by law, e.g., for purposes of prosecuting and detecting unlawful activities.

4. Cookies, similar technologies and online advertising

We have created a separate document on this subject, which we display to you via an info banner the first time you visit our websites.

5. Apps (applications on mobile devices)

If you use our apps, we receive technical information regarding your mobile device and data concerning your use of the application and we may, under certain circumstances, also obtain personal and non-personal data from you.

6. Children

Persons under 16 years of age are not permitted to use our services.

7. Storage

We store personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the contract or to comply with legal requirements. Subsequently, we strive to anonymise the data in order to continue using them for statistical purposes. If for some reason this is not possible, the data are erased.

8. Data Security

Scout24 operates secure data networks that adhere to the technical standards applicable in each case. Reasonable technical and organisational precautions are taken in order to properly safeguard your data against loss, destruction, falsification, manipulation or unauthorised access.

Although Scout24 takes technical and organisational measures to protect its marketplaces and data from disclosure resulting from errors in data transmission and/or unauthorised access by third parties, it assumes no liability for such unintended events.

9. Your rights concerning your personal data

Your personal data belong to you. Therefore, you have the right to determine yourself what happens with your personal data. You may find out at any time what is being done with your personal data. Under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, you have the following rights:

Right to information:

You have the right to find out at any time whether and which of your personal data are being processed by Scout24.

Right to rectification of your personal data:

You have the right at any time to have your personal data rectified if you notice that we are processing erroneous data about you.

Right to erasure of personal data:

If the processing of your personal data is no longer necessary, e.g., because your contractual relationship with Scout24 has ended or because you no longer consent to the processing of your personal data, you may request the erasure of your personal data. We will erase your personal data, provided we are not under any other obligation, e.g., a statutory retention obligation, to preserve your personal data for a certain period of time.

Right to restrict or block the processing of your personal data:

You have the right at any time to restrict or block the processing of your personal data, provided we are under no other obligation to retain and process your personal data for a certain period of time.

Right to object:

You have the right to revoke your consent to this Privacy Policy at any time. You will find the corresponding option after logging in to your account. Alternatively, you may simply send an e-mail including the respective request for revocation to dataprotection@scout24.ch. To do this, please use the e-mail account that you used to register with Scout24. This will allow us to verify that the revocation request comes from you.

Please note in this context that there is no option for objecting to general advertisements on our websites or in our applications. These advertisements consist of the same type of advertising that you can also find in a printed newspaper or in a magazine.

To restrict the misuse of personal data in the best manner possible, Scout24, in the interests of data protection, sets high standards on identifying the requester. The following table explains the procedure for each type of request:

Information

  • Purpose of the request: To find out whether – and if so, which – personal data about the requester are stored by Scout24
  • Submission of the request: E-mail, post or personal visit to the headquarters during regular business hours
  • Identification of the requester: A copy of his or her passport, a copy of the front and back of his or her ID card or a copy of his or her Swiss driver's licence.

Rectification

  • Purpose of the request: To correct personal data erroneously stored by Scout24
  • Submission of the request: E-mail, post or personal visit to the headquarters during regular business hours
  • Identification of the requester: A copy of his or her passport, a copy of the front and back of his or her ID card or a copy of his or her Swiss driver's licence.

Blocking

  • Purpose of the request: To block personal data stored by Scout24 from being used for any further processing
  • Submission of the request: E-mail, post or personal visit to the headquarters during regular business hours
  • Identification of the requester: A copy of his or her passport, a copy of the front and back of his or her ID card or a copy of his or her Swiss driver's licence.

Erasure

  • Purpose of the request: To erase personal data stored by Scout24
  • Submission of the request: E-mail, post or personal visit to the headquarters during regular business hours
  • Identification of the requester: A copy of his or her passport, a copy of the front and back of his or her ID card or a copy of his or her Swiss driver's licence.

10. Contact information

  • E-mail address: dataprotection@scout24.ch
  • Postal address: Scout24 Switzerland Ltd. – Data Protection – Industriestrasse 44 – 3175 Flamatt
  • Headquarters address: Scout24 Switzerland Ltd. – Industriestrasse 44 – 3175 Flamatt

11. Legal basis

In processing your personal data, we take into account not only the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection and its Data Protection Ordinance, but also, to the extent applicable, the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR).

12. Right to lodge a complaint

You have the right to make a report to or lodge a complaint with the appropriate supervisory authority if you believe that the processing of your personal data is not in compliance with data protection law. You can do this by contacting the supervisory authority in the country where your place of residence or work is located or in the place or country where the alleged data protection infringement occurred.

13. Changes and users' consent to this Privacy Policy

Scout24 adapts its Privacy Policy to the most current level of measures dealing with the use and protection of personal data. Every new version will be made available to you in an appropriate location.

The most recent Privacy Policy published by Scout24 shall apply in each case. Please reread this Privacy Policy at regular intervals so that you are always current as to what we do with your personal data and how you can exercise your rights.

 

 

Version: May 2019 – Scout24 Switzerland Ltd.