Privacy

Notes on the handling of your data

We, MS Direct AG, with registered office in St. Gallen (hereinafter MS Direct), are the operator of the website www.ms-direct.ch (resp. ms-direct.at, ms-direct.com) and the services offered on it. We are therefore responsible for the collection, processing and use of your personal data on our website.

Your trust is important to us – and so is your data security. We comply with the legal provisions of the Federal Data Protection Act (FADP), the Ordinance to the Federal Data Protection Act (FADP), the Telecommunications Act (TCA).

Therefore, we are pleased to inform you in the following about the handling of your personal data. Please note that the following may be adjusted from time to time. We therefore recommend that you consult this privacy statement regularly.

1. basic information on data processing and legal basis

This privacy policy informs you about the nature, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data in connection with the functionalities of our website and the services offered on it. The privacy policy applies regardless of the domains, systems, platforms and devices used (for example, desktop or mobile) on which the online offer is executed.

Personal data processed within the scope of our websites and the online offers include inventory data (e.g. names and addresses of customers), contract data (e.g. services used, names of companies and persons), usage data (e.g. the websites visited on our online offer, interest in our services) and content data (e.g. entries in the contact form or comments).

The term “user” includes all categories of data subjects. They include our business partners, customers, interested parties and other visitors to our websites and their online offers.

We process your personal data only in compliance with the relevant data protection regulations. This means that your data will only be processed if you have legal permission to do so. I.e. in particular if the data processing is necessary for the provision of our contractual services (e.g. processing of orders) as well as online services, or is required by law, consent is given, as well as due to our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation and security of our online offer, in particular in the case of coverage measurement, creation of profiles for advertising and marketing purposes as well as collection of access data and use of third-party services.

2. safety measures

We use technical and organizational security measures in accordance with recognized market standards to protect personal data stored by us against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized manipulation, deletion, alteration, access, disclosure or use, and against partial or total loss.

Our websites www.ms-direct.ch (resp. ms-direct.at, ms-direct.com, msdirectgroup.ch, msdirectgroup.com) are operated on servers of the hosting provider Cyon. These are located in certified and secured data centers in Switzerland.

The connection to the servers is made using 256-bit SSL encryption (recognizable by the URL that begins with “https” and the green marking in the address bar of your browser).

We also take internal data protection seriously. Our employees and the service companies commissioned by us have been obligated by us to maintain confidentiality and to comply with the provisions of data protection law.

3. disclosure of data to third parties and third-party providers

We will only pass on your personal data if you have expressly consented to this, if there is a legal obligation to do so or if this is necessary to enforce our rights, in particular to enforce claims arising from a contractual relationship. We may also share your personal information when based on legitimate interests in the economic and effective operation of our business.

In addition, we pass on your data to external service providers insofar as this is necessary for the processing of the contract. These service providers use your data exclusively for order processing and not for any other purposes.

We will never sell your personal information to third parties.

If content, tools or other means from other providers (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Third-Party Providers”) are used within the scope of this Privacy Policy and their named registered office is located in a third country (i.e. not in Switzerland), it must be assumed that a transfer of data to the Third-Party Providers’ countries of domicile will take place. The transfer of data to third countries takes place either if there is an adequate level of data protection, user consent or otherwise legal permission.

For certain services, we work together with specialized companies (for example, for the operation of our e mail newsletter). For this purpose, we transfer personal data in order to be able to operate this service. Here, we take appropriate legal precautions as well as corresponding technical and organizational measures to ensure the protection of personal data in accordance with the relevant legal regulations (for details, see Articles 7 and 8).

4. contact & CRM

When contacting us (via contact form or e-mail), the user’s details are processed for handling the contact request and its processing. User information may be stored in our Customer Relationship Management System (“CRM System”).

5. comments and contributions

When users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses are stored for 30 days. This is done for our security, in case someone leaves illegal content in comments and posts (insults, forbidden political propaganda, etc.).

6. collection of usage data

Your personal data is collected and used by us during the use of our websites to the following extent and for the following purposes:

Log file information when visiting our websites

When you visit our website, our servers temporarily store each access in a log file. The following technical data is collected without your intervention and stored by us until automated deletion after 12 months at the latest:

  • the IP address of the requesting computer
  • the name of the owner of the IP address range (usually your Internet access provider)
  • the date and time of access
  • the website from which the access was made (referrer URL), if necessary with the search word used
  • the name and URL of the retrieved file
  • the status code (e.g. server/client error)
  • the operating system of your computer
  • the browser you are using (type, version and language)
  • the transmission protocol used (e.g. HTTP/1.1)

The collection and processing of this data is done for the purpose of enabling the use of our website (connection establishment), to ensure system security and stability on a permanent basis and to enable the optimization of our Internet offering, as well as for internal statistical purposes.

In addition, the data is evaluated for the purpose of clarifying and defending against attacks on the network infrastructure or other unauthorized or abusive website use and, if necessary, used in criminal proceedings to identify and take civil and criminal action against the users concerned.

Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g. to clarify acts of abuse or fraud) for a maximum of 30 days and then deleted. Data whose further retention is required for evidentiary purposes is exempt from deletion until final clarification of the respective incident.

Finally, when you visit our website, we use cookies as well as applications that are based on the use of cookies.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer. Cookies help in many aspects to make your visit to our website easier, more pleasant and more meaningful. Cookies are information files that your web browser automatically stores on your computer’s hard drive when you visit our website.

Cookies do not damage your computer’s hard drive, nor can they absorb other data stored on your hard drive.

Most Internet browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can configure your browser so that no cookies are stored on your computer or a notice always appears when you receive a new cookie. On the following pages you will find explanations on how to configure the processing of cookies on the most popular browsers:

  • Microsoft’s Windows Internet Explorer
  • Microsoft’s Windows Internet Explorer Mobile
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Google Chrome for Desktop
  • Google Chrome for Mobile
  • Apple Safari for Desktop
  • Apple Safari for Mobile

You can also opt out of the use of cookies used for reach measurement and advertising purposes via the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page and additionally the U.S. website or the European website.

Deactivating cookies may mean that you cannot use all the functions of our websites.

Google Analytics & Google Adwords

For the purpose of demand-oriented design and continuous optimization of our pages, we use the web analysis service Google Analytics. In this context, pseudonymized usage profiles are created and small text files that are stored on your computer (“cookies”) are used. In addition to the information provided under para. 1 listed data, we may thereby obtain the following information:

  • Navigation path that a visitor follows on the site
  • Dwell time on the website or subpage
  • the subpage on which the website is left
  • the country, region or city from where access is made
  • End device (type, version, color depth, resolution, width and height of the browser window) and
  • Returning or new visitor

This data is sent to servers of Google Inc. transferred to the USA and stored there. The information is used to evaluate the use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to the use of the website and the Internet for the purposes of market research and demand-oriented design of these Internet pages. This information may also be transferred to third parties if this is required by law or if third parties process this data on our behalf. In no case will the IP address be associated with other data concerning the user. The IP addresses are anonymized so that an assignment is not possible (IP masking).

The user may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on the browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

For more information about the web analytics service used, please visit the Google Analytics website. For instructions on how to prevent the processing of your data by the web analytics service, please visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.

AdWords Conversion Tracking also uses a cookie to determine performance, which is stored on your computer for up to 30 days after you click on an AdWords ad. The information is limited to the total number of users who first clicked on an ad and were then redirected to a page tagged with a conversion tracking tag. However, they do not receive any personally identifying information about users. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Use of Leadinfo technology

We use the lead generation service of Leadinfo B.V., Rotterdam, Netherlands. This recognises visits from companies to our website based on IP addresses and shows us publicly available information, such as company names or addresses. In addition, Leadinfo sets two first-party cookies to evaluate user behaviour on our website and processes domains from form entries (e.g. “leadinfo.com”) in order to correlate IP addresses with companies and improve the services. Further information can be found atwww.leadinfo.com. On this page: www.leadinfo.com/en/opt-out you will find an opt-out option. If you opt out, your data will no longer be collected by Leadinfo.

7. additional integration of third party services and content

We use content or service offers from third-party providers within our websites for the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer in order to integrate their content and services, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “content”). This always assumes that the third-party providers of this content are aware of the IP address of the user, since without the IP address they would not be able to send the content to their browser. The IP address is thus required for the display of this content. We endeavor to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address only for the delivery of the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as “web beacons”) for statistical or marketing purposes. The “pixel tags” can be used to evaluate information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user’s device and may contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of our online offer, as well as be linked to such information from other sources.

The following presentation provides an overview of third-party providers and their content, along with links to their privacy statements, which contain further information on the processing of data and, in part already mentioned here, opt-out options:

Our website uses HubSpot, a software of HubSpot Inc, USA. This software is used in the so-called area of inbound marketing and helps us to better coordinate and optimize our marketing strategy by means of statistical analyses and evaluation of logged user behavior, among other things. Cookies (see below) are used. You can prevent the storage of cookies at any time by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser software or delete the cookies already stored. Please note that if cookies are blocked, you may not be able to make full use of the services provided on our website. You can find more information in the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy of HubSpot Inc. All information we collect is subject to this Privacy Policy. HubSpot is subject to TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal and the U.S. – EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S. – Swiss Safe Harbor Framework. Contact: HubSpot, 2nd Floor 30 North Wall Quay, Dublin 1, Ireland, Phone: +353 1 5187500

External fonts from Google, Inc. (“Google Fonts”)The integration of Google Fonts is done by a server call at Google (usually in the USA). Privacy policy and opt-out.

Maps of the service “Google Maps” of the third party provider Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy policy and opt-out.

Videos of the platform “YouTube” of the third-party provider Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy policy and opt-out.

Our online offer uses functions of the network LinkedIn (among others also in combination with Hubspot so-called “Linkedhub“. The provider is LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Each time one of our pages containing LinkedIn functions is accessed, a connection to LinkedIn servers is established. LinkedIn is informed that you have visited our web pages with your IP address. If you click the “Recommend Button” of LinkedIn and are logged into your account at LinkedIn, it is possible for LinkedIn to assign your visit to our website to you and your user account. We would like to point out that we, as the provider of the pages, have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or its use by LinkedIn. Privacy policy and opt-out.

Functions of the Twitter service are integrated within our online offer. These functions are offered by Twitter Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. By using Twitter and the “Re-Tweet” function, the websites you visit are linked to your Twitter account and made known to other users. In the process, data is also transmitted to Twitter. We would like to point out that we, as the provider of the pages, have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or its use by Twitter. Privacy policy of Twitter. You can change your privacy settings on Twitter in the account settings under.

External code of the JavaScript framework “jQuery”, provided by the third-party provider jQuery Foundation.

Social sharing plugins

Facebook

On our blog, we use the “Share” function in the form of the social plugin from Facebook. This is an offer from the US company Facebook Inc. (1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA). When you visit a page of our blog that contains such a plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection with Facebook’s servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by Facebook directly to your browser, which then integrates it into the website. By integrating the plugins, Facebook receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are not currently logged in to Facebook. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted by your browser directly to a Facebook server in the USA and stored there. If you are logged in to Facebook, Facebook can assign your visit to our website directly to your Facebook account. If you interact with the plugins, for example by clicking the “Share” button, the corresponding information is also transmitted directly to a Facebook server and stored there. The information will also be published on Facebook and displayed to your Facebook friends. Facebook may use this information for the purposes of advertising, market research, and customization of Facebook pages. For this purpose, Facebook creates usage, interest and relationship profiles, e.g. to evaluate your use of our website with regard to the advertisements displayed to you on Facebook, to inform other Facebook users about your activities on our website and to provide other services associated with the use of Facebook. If you do not want Facebook to assign the data collected via our website to your Facebook account, you must log out of Facebook before visiting our website. The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook, as well as your rights in this regard and setting options for protecting your privacy, can be found in Facebook’s privacy policy.

Twitter

Plugins of the short message network Twitter Inc., 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA are integrated on our blog pages. You can recognize the Twitter plugins (Tweet button) by the Twitter logo on our page. Here you can find an overview of the Tweet button. When you visit a page of our blog that contains such a plugin, a direct connection is established between your browser and the Twitter server. Twitter thereby receives the information that you have visited our site with your IP address. If you click the “Tweet button” while logged into your Twitter account, you can link the contents of our pages on your Twitter profile. This allows Twitter to assign the visit to our pages to your user account. We would like to point out that we, as the provider of the pages, have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or its use by Twitter. For more information, please see Twitter’s privacy policy. If you do not want Twitter to be able to associate your visit to our pages, please log out of your Twitter user account.

Linkedin

Our blog uses functions of the network LinkedIn. The provider is LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Each time one of our pages containing LinkedIn functions is accessed, a connection to LinkedIn servers is established. LinkedIn is informed that you have visited our web pages with your IP address. If you click the “Recommend Button” of LinkedIn and are logged into your account at LinkedIn, it is possible for LinkedIn to assign your visit to our website to you and your user account.

Likewise, our posts on Linkedin may be linked to Hubspot (so-called Linkedhub). Linkedhub collects three types of data:

  • Contact details
  • Company data

For conversation data, see the following listing:

  • LinkedIn messages sent to and from the contact
  • Sales navigation messages sent to and from the contact
  • InMails sent to and from the contact
  • Connection requests if, and only if, they are accepted

We would like to point out that we, as the provider of the pages, have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted data or its use by LinkedIn. Privacy policy and opt-out.

8. newsletter

The following information explains the contents of our newsletter as well as the registration, dispatch and statistical evaluation procedures and your rights of objection. By subscribing to our newsletters, you agree to receive them and to the procedures described, and you consent to us processing your personal data for promotional purposes, such as sending e-mails of an advertising nature.

Newsletter content

We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications with promotional information (hereinafter “newsletter”) only with the consent of the recipients or a legal permission. In the context of the registration for the newsletter, the expected contents are specifically described and are decisive for the consent of the users. In addition, our newsletters contain information about our offers and promotions, our company and the latest news from the digital marketing industry.

Login data

To subscribe to the newsletter, it is sufficient to provide your e-mail address. Optionally, we ask you to provide your first and last name as well as your salutation. This information is only used to personalize the newsletter.

Statistical collection and analyses using Hubspot

Our newsletters are generated via Hubspot, which means that certain data is retrieved from Hubspot’s server when the newsletter is opened.

In the course of this retrieval, technical information such as information about the browser and your system, as well as your IP address and the time of the retrieval are collected. This information is used for the technical improvement of the services based on the technical data or the target groups and their reading behavior based on their retrieval locations (which can be determined with the help of the IP address) or the access times.

Statistical surveys also include determining whether newsletters are opened, when they are opened, and which links are clicked. While this information can be attributed to individual newsletter recipients for technical reasons, it is neither our nor Hubspot’s intention to monitor individual users. The evaluations rather serve us to better align the information and offers in our newsletter to the individual interests of the respective recipient. The web beacon is deleted when you delete the newsletter.

To prevent the use of Hubspot in our newsletter, please set your mail program so that no HTML is displayed in messages, if this is not already the case by default. On the following pages you will find explanations on how to make this setting in the most popular e-mail programs:

Convert to HubSpot, Somewhere it should still say that we use Hubspot as a newsletter tool, right?

Microsoft Outlook

Mail for Mac (“Load remote content into messages”)

Online call and data management

There are instances where we direct newsletter recipients to Hubspot’s websites. For example, our newsletters contain a link that newsletter recipients can use to access the newsletters online (for example, in the event of display problems in the e-mail program). Furthermore, newsletter recipients can subsequently correct their data, such as the e-mail address. Likewise, Hubspot’s privacy policy is only available on their site.

In this context, we would like to point out that cookies are used on Hubspot’s websites and that personal data is thus processed by Hubspot, its partners and service providers used (for example, Google Analytics). We have no influence on this data collection. For more information, please see Hubspot’s privacy policy.

In addition, we draw your attention to the possibility of objecting to the collection of data for advertising purposes on the websites http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ and http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ (for the European area).

Termination / Revocation

You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, that is, revoke your consents. You will find a link to cancel the newsletter at the end of each newsletter. After cancellation, your data will be deleted except for the e-mail address. The email address is stored in a blacklist and is only used to ensure that we do not send further emails to your email address.

9. right to information, deletion and correction

You can request information about your personal data stored by us at any time. A formal request for information must be made in writing and must include proof of identity.

We will retain personal information you submit for as long as we deem it useful to contact you regarding the newsletter service or our other services, or to fulfill our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our contracts. After that, we delete the data in a secure manner. You can also have your data deleted or corrected at any time. This can be done by sending a request to this effect by e-mail to marketing@ms-direct.ch. We would like to point out that in case of deletion of your data, it will not be possible to use our services or not to the full extent.

You can revoke your consent to certain data processing at any time with effect for the future.
Please note that legal retention periods apply to certain data. This data must be stored by us until the expiry of the deadline. We block these files in our system and use them exclusively for the fulfillment of legal obligations.

10. contact person

If you have any questions regarding data protection on our website, would like to request information or request the deletion of your data, please contact us by e-mail at marketing@ms-direct.ch.

Status: June 2024