Privacy Policy

1. In brief

Wycliffe Switzerland only collects data necessary to process your donations, respond to your messages, and send you the news you have requested. We neither sell nor rent any personal data.

To understand how the site is used and to improve it, we measure its audience using Google Analytics. This tool is only activated with your consent, which you give or refuse in the cookie banner displayed during your first visit. You can change your mind at any time via the “Manage cookies” link at the bottom of each page. The site does not display any advertising.

This policy is based on the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where applicable, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

2. Data controller

Association des traducteurs de la Bible Wycliffe Suisse (hereinafter “Wycliffe Switzerland”), an association pursuant to articles 60 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code
Rue de la Poste 16, 2504 Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 032 342 02 45

For any questions regarding your personal data, you can write to us at these contact details.

3. Data we process

When you visit the site

Like any website, our server automatically records technical data in log files: IP address, date and time of the visit, page viewed, browser type, and operating system. This data is used solely to ensure the operation and security of the site. It is not used to identify you.

If you accept this in the cookie banner, we also collect data on your browsing for audience measurement purposes (see section 9).

When you make a donation

Through the donation form, we process your first name, last name, and email address, the amount and frequency of the donation, the chosen allocation (priority needs, worker, or supported project) and, if you wish, your subscription to the newsletter.

When you write to us

Via the contact form or by email: your name, your email address, the subject, and the content of your message.

When you subscribe to our publications

For the newsletter and prayer requests: your name, your email address, and, where applicable, the people groups you wish to follow in prayer. For printed publications (Traduire, Übersetzen): your name and postal address.

Sensitive data

Supporting a Christian organisation may reveal religious beliefs, which are sensitive data within the meaning of the FADP. We treat this information with special confidentiality and exclusively for the purposes described on this page.

4. Purposes of processing

We use your data to:

• process your donations, thank you, and issue donation receipts;
• transmit your donation and contact details to the project or worker you support so that they can thank you;
• respond to your messages and requests;
• send you the publications, newsletter, and prayer requests you have requested;
• comply with our legal obligations, in particular accounting obligations;
• ensure the operation and security of the site;
• measure the site’s audience to improve it, with your consent.

Where the GDPR applies, these processing activities are based on the performance of your request (art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR), our legal obligations (lit. c), our legitimate interest in thanking and informing our donors and securing the site (lit. f), or your consent, for example for the newsletter or audience measurement with Google Analytics (lit. a). You may withdraw your consent at any time.

5. Donations and online payment

Online donations are processed by Payrexx AG, in Thun (Switzerland), a specialised Swiss payment service provider. When you validate the donation form, you are redirected to Payrexx’s secure payment page. Your card, TWINT, or PostFinance Pay data is entered directly there: Wycliffe Switzerland never has access to it and does not store it. This payment page is subject to Payrexx’s privacy policy.

We transmit the donation amount, frequency, and allocation, as well as your name and email address, to Payrexx in order to associate the payment with your donation and send you a confirmation. For a monthly donation, Payrexx manages the regular debits. You can terminate this at any time by contacting us.

6. Recipients of data

We process your data ourselves and only transmit it to third parties in the following cases:

• Supported projects and workers: for a designated donation, your name, address, and donation may be transmitted to the project manager or worker concerned, in Switzerland or abroad, so that they can thank you.
• Partner organisations: Wycliffe organisations in other countries, bound to Wycliffe Switzerland by a joint data protection agreement.
• Technical service providers: our web host in Switzerland, our payment provider Payrexx (Switzerland), our messaging service, our newsletter mailing service, our form spam protection service, and, if you accept it, our audience measurement tool Google Analytics. They process your data solely on our behalf and according to our instructions.
• Printing company: our printing company in Switzerland receives your name and address solely for sending printed publications, and then deletes them.
• Authorities: only when required by law.

Upon request, we will gladly provide you with the list of our service providers.

7. Data transfer abroad

Some recipients are located outside Switzerland: Wycliffe workers and partner organisations worldwide, as well as certain technical service providers (messaging, newsletter, spam protection, audience measurement with Google Analytics), whose servers may be located in the European Union or the United States. Where the country in question does not offer an adequate level of protection, we rely on the safeguards provided by law: certification of the provider under the Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework, standard contractual clauses recognised by the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), or a data protection agreement with our partner organisations.

8. Retention period

• Donation data and accounting vouchers: 10 years, as required by law (art. 958f of the Code of Obligations).
• Messages received: as long as necessary to answer them and ensure follow-up.
• Subscriptions (newsletter, prayer, publications): until you unsubscribe.
• Technical server logs: limited duration, set by our host.
• Google Analytics audience measurement data: 14 months maximum, then automatically deleted.
• Cookies: durations indicated in section 9 and in our cookie policy.

9. Cookies and audience measurement

Cookie banner

During your first visit, a banner allows you to accept or refuse non-essential cookies, or to choose category by category. Your choice is kept for 12 months, after which the banner appears again. You can modify it at any time via the “Manage cookies” link at the bottom of each page. Refusing cookies has no impact on the use of the site.

Necessary cookies

Certain cookies are essential for the operation of the site and do not require your consent: they store your choice regarding cookies and the language you have chosen. They are not used to track your browsing.

Audience measurement with Google Analytics

If you accept, we use Google Analytics, a service provided by Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland), to understand how the site is used: pages viewed, duration of visits, site or search engine through which you arrived, type of device, browser and language, approximate country and city, as well as certain interactions such as scrolling, clicking on links, or downloads. To recognise repeated visits, Google Analytics places cookies (_ga and _ga_…, duration of 2 years) which assign a random identifier to your browser.

We use this data solely in the form of statistics to improve the content and ergonomics of the site. We do not seek to identify you personally, we do not cross-reference this data with that of our donors, and we do not use it for advertising purposes. Google Analytics does not record full IP addresses.

This data may be transferred to Google LLC servers in the United States. Google LLC is certified under the Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. To learn more, see Google’s privacy policy.

This processing is based on your consent (art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). As long as you have not given it, Google Analytics is not loaded: no cookies are placed and no data is transmitted to Google. You can withdraw your consent at any time via the “Manage cookies” link.

Other elements

Form spam protection may process technical information necessary for verification when you display or submit a form. Links to Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are simple links: no data is transmitted to these networks until you click on them.

The detailed list of cookies used can be found in our cookie policy.

10. Data security

The site is accessible only via an encrypted connection (HTTPS) and is hosted in Switzerland. We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse, and we review them regularly. However, the transmission of data via the Internet always carries a residual risk.

11. Your rights

You can at any time:

• request what data we hold about you (right of access);
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• request the deletion of your data, subject to data that we are legally required to retain;
• object to processing or withdraw your consent, for example for the newsletter or audience measurement cookies (“Manage cookies” link at the bottom of the page);
• receive your data in a standard format (right to data portability);
• decide whether, and how, you wish to be contacted by Wycliffe Switzerland.

To exercise these rights, write to us at [email protected] or at the postal address indicated above. We may ask you for proof of your identity. You may also lodge a complaint with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) or, if the GDPR applies, with the data protection authority of your country.

12. Amendments

We may adapt this privacy policy, for example when adding a new service or due to a legal change. The version published on this page is authoritative.