Privacy Policy of Tom Flowers AG

As of September 1, 2023

This privacy policy informs you about which personal data (data that directly or indirectly identifies you) we collect and process in connection with our activities. It applies to all processing activities related to personal data.

We process the data we receive and collect responsibly, in compliance with applicable legal provisions and in accordance with this privacy policy. Our processing is generally subject to the Swiss Data Protection Act (DSG). However, this privacy policy is also designed to comply with the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Whether and to what extent these laws are applicable depends on the individual case.

1. Person responsible

We are Tom Flowers AG (Sillerstrasse 1, 8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland) and are responsible for the processing of your personal data as described here (unless otherwise stated in individual cases). References to "Tom Flowers," "we," or "us" in this privacy policy refer to Tom Flowers AG.

If you have any data protection concerns, you can contact our data protection advisor/us: service@tomflowers.ch.

2. Collection and processing of personal data

We primarily process the personal data we receive from our customers and other business partners as part of our business relationships, or from users when operating our website and other applications. In particular, we collect and process the following personal data from you:

Inventory data, such as name, address, email address, telephone number, gender, date of birth, social media profiles, photos, videos, relationship information (customer, service provider, etc.), history, official information (e.g. commercial register extracts, permits, etc.), information on subscribed newsletters or other advertising (including consents);
Communication data, such as contact details, type and method of communication (telephone, email, text messages, video messages, etc.) as well as location, date, time and content of the communication;
Content data, such as user name, password, email address, photographs, videos;
Financial data, such as payment details, credit information;
Contract data, data that arise in connection with the conclusion or execution of the contract, such as information on the conclusion of the contract, acquired claims and demands, information on customer satisfaction, purchasing information (e.g. purchase date, place, time, history as well as quantity, type and value of the goods/services);
Technical data, such as IP address, operating system, date, time, geographical information;
Behavioral data, such as the duration and frequency of visits to our website, the date and time of a visit or opening of a message (newsletter, email, etc.), the location of your device, interaction with our online presence on social networks or other third-party platforms;
Preference data, such as user settings, data from the analysis of the data collected (in particular behavioral data);
Other information you provide to us about yourself.

As a rule, the provision of personal data is voluntary, meaning that in most cases, you are not obligated to provide us with personal data. However, we must collect and process the personal data that is necessary for the execution of a contractual relationship and the fulfillment of the associated obligations, or that is required by law. Otherwise, we cannot conclude or continue the respective contract.

If you provide us with information about other people (e.g., family members, gift recipients), we will assume that you are authorized to do so and that this information is accurate. Please ensure that these other people are aware of this privacy policy.

3. Purpose of processing

We process your personal data primarily to conclude and process our contracts with you, our customers, and our business partners. In particular, we also process your personal data for the following purposes:

to communicate with you;
to provide and improve our services (including our website) to you and our customers;
to manage the business relationship with you and our customers;
to conduct advertising, marketing, market research and product development;
to ensure your and our security and to prevent misuse (e.g. for IT security, theft, fraud and misuse prevention and for evidentiary purposes)
to comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
to enforce our claims and defend ourselves against claims of others;
to prepare and carry out the sale or purchase of business units, companies or parts of companies and other corporate transactions, as well as the associated transfer of personal data;
for business management and to optimize internal processes.

When processing personal data for the purposes described in this statement, we rely, among other things, on our legitimate interest in maintaining, expanding and managing the business relationship and communicating with you as a customer about our products and services.

For certain purposes, you can give us your consent to process your personal data. Unless we have another legal basis, we will process your personal data within the scope of and based on this consent. You can revoke your consent at any time. Revoking your consent will not affect any processing that has already taken place.

4. Security measures

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of protection appropriate to the risk, taking into account the state of the art, the implementation costs and the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing as well as the varying likelihood and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons.

These measures include, in particular, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data by controlling physical access to the data, as well as the access, input, and transfer of data, ensuring its availability, and segregation. Furthermore, we have established procedures that ensure the exercise of data subjects' rights, the deletion of data, and response to data threats. Furthermore, we consider the protection of personal data right from the development and selection of hardware, software, and processes, in accordance with the principle of data protection by design and through data protection-friendly default settings.

5. Data sharing and data transfer abroad

We may share your personal information with trusted third parties where necessary or appropriate to provide our services or to fulfill the purposes defined in this Privacy Policy.

This particularly concerns the following recipients:

Our service providers (such as payment service providers, banks, insurance companies, tax consultants or auditors), including contract processors (such as IT providers);
dealers, suppliers, subcontractors and other business partners;
Customers;
domestic and foreign authorities, offices or courts;
Media;
Public, including visitors to websites and social media;
Competitors, industry organizations, associations, organizations and other bodies;
Purchasers or parties interested in acquiring business units, companies or other parts of us;
other parties in potential or actual legal proceedings;

If, as part of our processing, we disclose data to other persons and companies (contract processors or third parties), transmit it to them or otherwise grant them access to the data, this will only be done on the basis of a legal permission, you have consented, a legal obligation provides for this or on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. when using agents, web hosts, etc.).

If we process data in a third country (i.e. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if this occurs as part of the use of third-party services or the disclosure or transmission of data to third parties, this will only occur if it is necessary to fulfill our (pre-)contractual obligations, on the basis of your consent, due to a legal obligation or on the basis of our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we will only process or have data processed in a third country if special guarantees are in place, such as the officially recognized determination of a data protection level equivalent to that of the EU (e.g. for the USA through the "Privacy Shield") or compliance with officially recognized special contractual obligations (so-called "standard contractual clauses").

6. Profiling

"Profiling" is the automated processing of personal data so that personal aspects can be analyzed or predictions can be made (e.g. analysis of personal interests and habits). Preference data is usually derived through profiling. We use profiling in particular for the automatic processing of master, contractual, behavioral and preference data when using and purchasing our offers and services, but also in connection with our website, events, competitions and prize draws. We use profiling in particular to improve our offers, to present these and our content in a needs-based manner, to only show you advertising and offers that are likely to be relevant to you and to decide which payment options are available to you based on a credit check. We can also link personal data from different sources as a basis for profiling in order to improve the quality of our analyses and forecasts.

7. Rights of data subjects

As a potential data subject, you may assert various claims against us in accordance with applicable national and international regulations. We may process your personal data again to fulfill your claims.

You have the following rights with regard to your personal data:

Right to information: You have the right to receive information about what personal data we have about you and how we process it;
Right to data disclosure or transfer: You have the right to receive or transfer a copy of your personal data in a common electronic format, provided that this data is processed automatically and with your consent or in direct connection with the conclusion or execution of a contract between you and us;
Right to rectification: You have the right to have your personal data rectified if it is inaccurate;
Right to erasure: You have the right to have your personal data erased;
Right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data (in particular data processing for direct marketing purposes).

Please note that these rights are subject to conditions and exceptions. We may restrict or deny your request to exercise these rights where permitted by law. We reserve the right to redact copies or provide only excerpts for data protection or confidentiality reasons.

If you wish to exercise your rights against us or disagree with how we handle your rights or data protection, please contact us; you can find our contact details in section 1. To prevent misuse, we must identify you (e.g., with a copy of your ID, if necessary). Furthermore, every data subject has the right to enforce their claims in court or to file a complaint with the competent data protection authority. The competent data protection authority in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (http://www.edoeb.admin.ch).

8. Duration of storage of personal data

We process and store your personal data as long as it is necessary to fulfill our contractual and legal obligations or for the purposes pursued with the processing, i.e. for example for the duration of the entire business relationship (from initiation and processing to termination of a contract) and beyond that in accordance with the statutory retention and documentation obligations. It is possible that personal data will be retained for the period during which claims can be asserted against our company and insofar as we are otherwise legally obliged to do so or legitimate business interests require it (e.g. for evidential and documentation purposes). As soon as your personal data is no longer required for the purposes stated above, it will generally be deleted or anonymized as far as possible. Shorter retention periods generally apply to operational data (e.g. system protocols, logs).

9. Newsletter

We offer you the opportunity to subscribe to our newsletter, in which we inform you about news at regular intervals. In order for us to send you the newsletter by email, you must give us your consent using a so-called double opt-in process. This means that we will only send you a newsletter if you have expressly confirmed this in advance. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, e.g., using the link at the end of each newsletter or by informing us of your wish to unsubscribe by email.

We use the Omnisend service from Omnisend, Soundest Limited, 22 Mare Street, London, E8 4RT, United Kingdom ( https://www.omnisend.com ) to send newsletters .

When you register for our newsletter, we collect your email address and first and last name. Any other information is provided voluntarily. We process certain data so that we can determine whether a newsletter email has been opened and which links have been clicked. Furthermore, technical information (e.g., time of retrieval, IP address, browser type, and operating system) is recorded. We process all data for the purpose of sending the newsletter and analyzing the newsletter campaign. We retain your data until you unsubscribe from the newsletter. Data stored for other purposes remains unaffected.

For more information about the data collected, please see Omnisend's privacy policy at: https://www.omnisend.com/privacy/ .

10. Cookies and Tracking

We typically use "cookies" and similar technologies on our website that can be used to identify your browser or device. "Cookies" are small files that are stored on users' computers. Various types of information can be stored within cookies. A cookie is primarily used to save information about a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after their visit to an online service. Temporary cookies, or "session cookies" or "transient cookies," are cookies that are deleted after a user leaves an online service and closes their browser. Such a cookie can store, for example, the contents of a shopping cart in an online shop or a login status. "Permanent" or "persistent" cookies are cookies that remain stored even after the browser is closed. For example, the login status can be saved if users visit the website several days later. Likewise, users' interests can be saved in such a cookie and used for reach measurement or marketing purposes. “Third-party cookies” are cookies that are offered by providers other than the controller who operates the online service (otherwise, if they are only their cookies, they are referred to as “first-party cookies”).

We may use temporary and permanent cookies and provide information about this in this privacy policy. Below, we inform you about the cookies and similar technologies we use. If you do not want cookies stored on your computer, please deactivate the corresponding option in your browser's system settings. Stored cookies can be deleted in your browser's system settings. Excluding cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

A general objection to the use of cookies used for online marketing purposes can be declared for a variety of services, especially in the case of tracking, via the US website http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU website http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ . Furthermore, cookies can be blocked by deactivating them in the browser settings. Please note that in this case, not all functions of this website may be available.

a) Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is a solution that allows us to manage so-called website tags via a single interface (and thus integrate Google Analytics and other Google marketing services into our online offering). The Tag Manager itself (which implements the tags) does not process any personal user data. Regarding the processing of users' personal data, please refer to the following information on Google services. Terms of Use: https://www.google.com/intl/de/tagmanager/use-policy.html .

b) Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC ("Google"), on our website. Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about users' use of the website is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee to comply with European data protection law ( https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active ).

Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate the use of our website by users, to compile reports on the activities within this website, and to provide us with other services related to the use of this website and internet usage. Pseudonymous user profiles may be created from the processed data.

We only use Google Analytics with activated IP anonymization. This means that the user's IP address will be shortened by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. The IP address transmitted by the user's browser will not be merged with other Google data. Users can prevent cookies from being saved by setting their browser software accordingly; users can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to their use of the website and from processing this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de .

For further information on data usage by Google, settings and objection options, please see Google’s privacy policy ( https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads ) and the settings for displaying advertisements by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated ).

Users’ personal data will be deleted or anonymized after 14 months.

c) Google Universal Analytics

We use Google Analytics in the form of " Universal Analytics ." "Universal Analytics" refers to a Google Analytics process in which user analysis is based on a pseudonymous user ID, thus creating a pseudonymous profile of the user with information from the use of various devices (so-called "cross-device tracking").

d) Target group creation with Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to display ads placed within Google's and its partners' advertising services only to users who have also shown an interest in our online offering or who exhibit certain characteristics (e.g., interests in specific topics or products determined based on the websites visited) that we transmit to Google (so-called "remarketing" or "Google Analytics audiences"). With the help of remarketing audiences, we also want to ensure that our ads correspond to the potential interests of users.

e) Google Adsense with personalized ads

We use the services of Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, ("Google"). Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Framework and thus guarantees compliance with European data protection law ( https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active ).

We use the AdSense service, which displays ads on our website, and we receive compensation for their display or other use. For these purposes, usage data, such as clicks on ads and the user's IP address, are processed. The IP address is truncated by the last two digits. Therefore, user data is processed pseudonymously.

We use Adsense with personalized ads. Google draws conclusions about users' interests based on the websites they visit or apps they use and the user profiles created in this way. Advertisers use this information to tailor their campaigns to these interests, which benefits both users and advertisers. Google considers ads to be personalized when collected or known data determines or influences ad selection. This includes, among other things, previous searches, activity, website visits, app usage, demographic and location information. Specifically, this includes: demographic targeting, targeting based on interest categories, remarketing, and targeting based on Customer Match lists and audience lists uploaded to DoubleClick Bid Manager or Campaign Manager.

For further information on data usage by Google, settings and objection options, please see Google’s privacy policy ( https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads ) and the settings for displaying advertisements by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated ).

f) Google Adsense with non-personalized ads

We use the AdSense service, which displays ads on our website, and we receive compensation for their display or other use. For these purposes, usage data, such as clicks on ads and the user's IP address, are processed. The IP address is truncated by the last two digits. Therefore, user data is processed pseudonymously.

We use Adsense with non-personalized ads. The ads are not displayed based on user profiles. Non-personalized ads are not based on previous user behavior. Targeting uses contextual information, including coarse (e.g., at the location level) geographic targeting based on the current location, the content on the current website or app, and current search terms. Google prohibits any personalized targeting, including demographic targeting and targeting based on user lists. For more information about Google's use of data, settings, and opt-out options, please see Google's privacy policy ( https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads ) and the settings for displaying ads by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated ).

g) Google AdWords and conversion measurement

We use the online marketing process Google "AdWords" to place ads in the Google advertising network (e.g., in search results, in videos, on websites, etc.) so that they are displayed to users who are likely to be interested in the ads. This allows us to display ads for and within our online offering more specifically, in order to present users only with ads that potentially match their interests. If, for example, a user is shown ads for products in which they have shown interest on other online offerings, this is referred to as "remarketing." For these purposes, when our and other websites on which the Google advertising network is active are accessed, Google code is immediately executed by Google and so-called (re)marketing tags (invisible graphics or code, also known as "web beacons") are integrated into the website. With their help, an individual cookie, i.e. a small file, is stored on the user's device (similar technologies can also be used instead of cookies). This file records which websites the user has visited, which content they are interested in and which offers the user has clicked on, as well as technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of the online service. We also receive an individual "conversion cookie". The information obtained with the help of the cookie is used by Google to compile conversion statistics for us. However, we only learn the anonymous total number of users who clicked on our ad and were redirected to a page with a conversion tracking tag. We do not, however, receive any information that can be used to personally identify users. User data is processed pseudonymously within the Google advertising network. This means that Google does not store and process the name or email address of users, for example, but processes the relevant data cookie-related within pseudonymous user profiles. This means that from Google's perspective, the ads are not managed and displayed for a specifically identified person, but for the cookie owner, regardless of who this cookie owner is. This does not apply if a user has expressly permitted Google to process the data without this pseudonymization. The information collected about users is transmitted to Google and stored on Google's servers in the USA. Further information on data usage by Google, settings, and opt-out options can be found in Google's privacy policy ( https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads ) and in the settings for the display of advertisements by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated ).

h) Facebook Pixel, Custom Audiences and Facebook Conversion

Our online offering uses the so-called "Facebook Pixel" of the social network Facebook, which is operated by Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, or, if you are located in the EU, Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Facebook"). Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law ( https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active ).

With the help of the Facebook pixel, Facebook is able to define visitors to our online offering as a target group for displaying advertisements (so-called "Facebook ads"). Accordingly, we use the Facebook pixel to display the Facebook ads we place only to those Facebook users who have also shown an interest in our online offering or who have certain characteristics (e.g., interests in certain topics or products determined based on the websites visited) that we transmit to Facebook (so-called "custom audiences"). With the help of the Facebook pixel, we also want to ensure that our Facebook ads correspond to the potential interests of users and are not annoying. With the help of the Facebook pixel, we can also track the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes by seeing whether users were redirected to our website after clicking on a Facebook ad (so-called "conversion"). The processing of data by Facebook takes place within the framework of Facebook's data usage policy. Accordingly, general information on the display of Facebook ads can be found in Facebook's data usage policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php . Specific information and details about the Facebook pixel and how it works can be found in Facebook's help section: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/651294705016616 .

You can opt out of the Facebook pixel's collection and use of your data to display Facebook ads. To control which types of ads are displayed to you on Facebook, you can visit the page set up by Facebook and follow the instructions for settings for usage-based advertising: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads . The settings are platform-independent, meaning they apply to all devices, such as desktop computers and mobile devices.

You can also object to the use of cookies for reach measurement and advertising purposes via the Network Advertising Initiative deactivation page ( http://optout.networkadvertising.org/ ) and additionally the US website ( http://www.aboutads.info/choices ) or the European website ( http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/ ).

11. Social Media

We may operate pages and other online presences on social networks and other platforms operated by third parties (e.g. fan pages, channels, profiles) and collect and process data about you (in particular contact and profile data) that you or the social networks provide to us. We receive this data when you come into contact with us via our online presence (e.g. viewing and commenting on posts). We receive aggregated or otherwise sufficiently anonymized data from the platforms for evaluation so that we can further develop the posts and services we offer. We process the data in particular for communication, for marketing purposes (including advertising on these platforms) and for market research. We may republish content published by you ourselves or delete or restrict content from or to you in accordance with the terms of use. Personal data may also be processed outside Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA).

Furthermore, the platforms evaluate your use of our online presence and link this data with other data about you known to the platforms. They also process this data for their own purposes under their own responsibility, in particular for marketing and market research purposes (e.g., to personalize advertising) and to control their platforms (e.g., which content they display to you).

When using the platforms, in addition to the corresponding data protection declarations, other legal documents (e.g. general terms and conditions of use) also apply.

We currently use the following platforms:

Facebook, including the so-called Page Insights from Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. We are jointly responsible with Meta Platforms Ireland Limited and have concluded the so-called "Controller Addendum" (https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum). Further information regarding data processing can be found in Facebook's privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy

Pinterest: Under the GDPR, Pinterest Europe Ltd. and Pinterest, Inc. are jointly responsible for processing your personal data. Pinterest Europe Ltd. is an Irish company located at Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Pinterest, Inc. is a US company located at 651 Brannan St., San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. For more information regarding data processing, please see Pinterest's privacy policy: https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy

Instagram, including Insights from Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbor, Dublin 2, Ireland. For more information regarding data processing, see Instagram's privacy policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy

12. Changes

We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time without prior notice. The most current version published on our website will apply. If this Privacy Policy is part of an agreement with you, we will notify you of any changes by email or other appropriate means.

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