Privacy Policy

Our commitment to your privacy is important to us. This policy explains how Swiss Media Skills collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information in connection with our online platform and services, including online journalism courses, digital storytelling workshops, multimedia content creation training, mobile journalism bootcamps, editorial workflow seminars, and data journalism fundamentals. We process personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Information We Collect

We collect personal information when you interact with our site and services. This includes information you provide directly, such as when you register for an account, enroll in a course, communicate with us, or make a purchase. The types of information we may collect include:

Identification details (name, username)
Contact information (postal address)
Payment and transaction data (processed securely via third-party payment processors)
Educational and professional background information
Information related to your use of our services, such as course progress and interaction with content
Communications with us

We also automatically collect certain information when you visit our site, such as:

Technical information (IP address, browser type, operating system)
Usage data (pages visited, time spent on site, interactions with elements)
Information collected via cookies and similar technologies (further detailed below)

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes, including:

To provide, operate, and maintain our services
To process transactions and manage billing
To communicate with you regarding your account, courses, and updates
To personalize your experience on our site
To improve our services, content, and user experience
To monitor and analyze usage and trends
To detect, prevent, and address technical issues and security incidents
To comply with legal obligations

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

We process your personal data based on the following legal grounds:

**Performance of a contract:** Processing is necessary to provide the services you have requested or to enter into a contract with you (e.g., course enrollment).
**Legitimate interests:** We may process your data for our legitimate business interests, such as improving our services, marketing (where allowed by law), and ensuring the security of our site, provided these interests are not overridden by your data protection rights.
**Consent:** We may rely on your consent for specific processing activities, such as sending you marketing communications. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
**Legal obligation:** Processing may be necessary to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject.

Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information with third parties in limited circumstances:

**Service Providers:** We may share information with trusted third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf, such as payment processing, data hosting, analytics, and customer support. These providers are contractually bound to protect your information and use it only for the purposes for which it was disclosed.
**Legal Requirements:** We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency).
**Business Transfers:** In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The retention period varies depending on the type of data and the purpose of processing.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is entirely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Data Protection Rights (GDPR)

Under the GDPR, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. These rights include:

**The right to access:** You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
**The right to rectification:** You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
**The right to erasure (the right to be forgotten):** You have the right to request that we delete your personal data under certain conditions.
**The right to restrict processing:** You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
**The right to object to processing:** You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
**The right to data portability:** You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller under certain conditions.
**The right to withdraw consent:** Where we rely on your consent for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
**The right to lodge a complaint:** You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe we have violated your data protection rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided below. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights).

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our site uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to collect and use personal information, including to analyze and track usage and determine the popularity of certain content. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings or potentially through a cookie consent banner on our site.

Third-Party Links

Our site may contain links to external websites that are not operated by us. We have no control over the content and practices of these sites and are not responsible for their privacy policies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under 16 without parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new policy on this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Swiss Media Skills
58 Talstrasse
8001 Zurich
Switzerland