Hochalpines Institut Ftan AG, company number CHE-107.056.870, Chalchera 154, 7551 Ftan  (“we”, “us” or “HIF”) take your privacy seriously. As educators, we know the importance of trust. We have created this Privacy Policy so you can understand how we collect, process, use, store, share, transfer and otherwise disclose any Personal Data (see definition below) which you provide to us via this Website, e-mail or in the further course of your interaction with our institution.

This Privacy Policy is available on our official website (“Website”) of HIF (www.hif.ch). Please read carefully and attempt to understand this Privacy Policy before you start to use our services. By (i) using the Website and the functions of the Website, such as filling in online forms; (ii) completing printed forms and sending them to us; (iii) conveying personal data in other any other form to us e.g. by letters, e-mail or phone; and/or (iv) when conducting business with us, you confirm that you have taken notice of  this Privacy Policy and agree to authorize us to collect, process, use, store, share, transfer and otherwise disclose Personal Data that you provide to us as described in this Privacy Policy.

Please make sure that you have the authority and full legal capacity for civil conduct to use the Website, to submit Personal Data as requested via the Website or in any other form (e.g. via phone, letter, e-mail) and when conducting business with us, and to authorize us to collect, process, use, store, share, transfer or otherwise disclose the Personal Data within the scope as described in this Privacy Policy.

Under this Privacy Policy, the applicable data protection law in Switzerland is the Federal Act on Data Protection ("FADP") and the applicable data protection statute in the territory of the EU is the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 ("GDPR"). While we deem that only the FADP is applicable to our business activities, in this Privacy Policy we are also referring to relevant provisions of the GDPR, only if and to the extent that the latter should be applicable in certain cross-border constellations.

PLEASE NOTE that there may be changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time, which will be posted on the Website. We will remind you of such changes through website announcements or by other reasonable means before such changes take effect. The revised Privacy Policy will replace the prior version of the Privacy Policy and will be legally effective on the date specified in the revised Privacy Policy.

1. Who we are

The controller of your personal data is HIF. References in this Privacy Policy to "you" are references to you as a customer and data subject vis-à-vis us.
We have appointed the following Data Protection Officer: Dr. Christoph Hendrickx (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

2. Personal data we process

The following provides an overview of how and when your personal data is collected when you interact with us.

• Your personal data is collected when you provide it to us yourself, e.g., data that you enter directly through online- or physical/written application forms;
• Your personal data is collected when you provide it to us during your daily interaction with us e.g. when you send us letters, e-mails or give us a phone call or when you attend our school and/or housing/accommodations in our institution.
• Your personal data is collected when you send enquiries about HIF to us via the Website or when you subscribe for newsletters and other information about HIF and/ or its sister schools;

Personal data we process about you includes:

• your name, date of birth, contact information, address, email, age, gender, curriculum vitae, previous school reports and/or third party recommendations/references;
• health-related information (e.g. dietary conditions or prescribed medications);
• any other information required for admissions purposes such as nationality, ID, visa, residency, language, education, personal interests, preferences and accomplishments;
• information in relation to materials and communications we send to you electronically, for example your use of our marketing e-mails; and
• any other information relating to you which you may provide to us;

These processing activities occur on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b. GDPR and/or Art. 4 and 13 para. 2, lit. a. FADP, whichever applicable, which allows the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or pre-contractual measures.

3. How we use your personal data

We use your personal data:

• to communicate with you;
• to provide and improve our educational services to you;
• to administer our relationship with you and with other school pupils;
• to promote our services, including by sending alerts, updates, event invitations etc.;
• to provide you personalized feedback on your school progress;
• to assess your school performance;
• to comply with our legal, regulatory and risk management obligations, including establishing, exercising or defending legal claims;
• To manage the relationship with you and your child (e.g. to respond to your queries);
• To facilitate HIF related events (e.g. open day or visit to HIF schools);
• To send you direct marketing relating to HIF (e.g. newsletters and advertisements regarding HIF); and
• Any other purposes related to the smooth running of any school class or tuition matters.

4. On what basis we use your personal information

We process personal data on the following grounds: to perform a contract, such as engaging with an individual to provide services; for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or proceedings; to comply with legal and regulatory obligations; and for legitimate interests. Please see "How we use your personal data" above (Section 3) for additional details.

5. Who we share your personal data with

We will share your personal data with trusted third parties including:

• IT service providers;
• vendors who are performing services for HIF, such as the servers for our email communications;
• our auditors;
• third parties involved, such as hosting providers, external consultants or organizers of events/seminars;

With such third parties, appropriate data processing agreements are concluded. These agreements are usually based on the EU standard contractual clauses.

For the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy and where necessary, we may share personal data with courts, regulatory authorities, government agencies and law enforcement agencies. While it is unlikely, we may be required to disclose your information to comply with legal or regulatory requirements. We will use reasonable endeavors to notify you before we do this, unless we are legally restricted from doing so.

6. Countries we transfer your personal data to

We may transfer your personal data to recipients abroad, including in countries that do not provide the same level of protection asthe EU or Swiss law. Before we do so, we will implement appropriate measures to protect your personal data, for example by requiring the recipient to agree to data transfer agreements. We may also transfer personal data with your explicit consent and in certain other situations as permitted by applicable law.

7. How we retain your personal data

We retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which the data is collected, and as long as we have a legitimate interest in keeping personal data, for example to enforce or defend claims or for archiving purposes and IT security. We also retain your personal data as long as it is subject to a legal retention obligation.

8. How we protect your personal information

We protect your information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration or destruction by implementing various organizational and technological security measures including encryption, firewalls and secure socket layer technology. However, these measures do not guarantee that your information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by breach of such firewalls and secure server software. By using our service, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to undertake these risks.

All Personal Data is treated in strict confidence and is processed in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

You should ensure that the Personal Data you provide is true and accurate. We will not assume any legal liability arising from any inaccurate, unauthorized or false information that you provide. If you provide any Personal Data that belongs to others, you must ensure that their proper consent and authorization has been obtained.

9. Use of Cookies (text files temporarily stored in the browser) and similar technologies

When you visit the Website, non-personally identifiable data about you is automatically detected and logged by our servers. Typically, this will include your domain name and location, the page(s) visited, search terms and search engines used and the web browser used. Such information is used by us to monitor usage of the Website and to find ways of improving it.

The Website uses cookies. A cookie is a simple text file that we store on your computer or mobile device. These cookies allow us to store information about you which we can access when you visit our site in the future. This will enable us to provide you with a more user-friendly experience. The cookies we set are session cookies (from the website itself) and XSRF-token cookies (to prevent XSS attacks).

We may from time to time use targeting or advertising cookies to deliver ads that we believe are more relevant for you and your interests on third party platforms and websites. Such cookies remember what you have looked at on our Website and we may share this information with various third parties to provide targeted advertising on selected third party platforms.

If you wish to restrict or delete cookies already on your computer, you can do so through your browser. For more information on cookies and how to manage them, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

10. Minors

The Website is intended to be used by persons aged 18 and above. Persons under 18 years of age should view the Website with a parent or guardian. Prior consent of a parent or guardian is required whenever we collect Personal Data about a child under 18 years of age on the Website.

11. Non-identifiable Personal Data

We may gather statistics with respect to academic performance and applications for admission and share with members of the EiM Group or other institutions or publicly disclose such statistics and analytical data, for the purpose of analyzing the operations of the HIF school or EiM Group.  

Save as permissible above, we will only disclose your Personal Data to third parties or the public with your consent or based on applicable laws and regulations.

12. Your rights

You are entitled to ask for details of the information we hold about you and how we process it and to receive a copy of your personal data. You may also have your data rectified or deleted, restrict our processing of that information, and object to the processing of your personal data. You may also choose to withdraw your consent. Please note that even after you have chosen to withdraw your consent we may be able to continue to process your personal information to the extent required or permitted by law. You may also lodge a complaint in relation to our processing of your personal data with a local supervisory authority.

In order to ensure that your personal information is accurate and up to date, please advise us of any changes to your information by contacting us at the address indicated above.

13. Various

Links to Other Sites
HIF accepts no responsibility for the content of third party sites linked to or by this Website, which you view at your own risk.

Copyright
All materials, design, content and data on the Website are protected by copyright under copyright laws throughout the world. While you may download or print these materials, designs, content or data on the Website for your own personal use, you may not reproduce, sell, publish, distribute or reprint any material, design, content or data on the Website for any commercial purpose without our explicit permission.

Contact Information
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or requests, including but not limited to requests regarding the management of your Personal Data, please contact us by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Last updated June 2022