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Data Protection Declaration

Zurich University of the Arts (known in German as Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, ZHdK), is happy you have chosen to visit our websites and are interested in what we have to offer. As we take the protection of data very seriously, we wish to inform you about how we process and protect your personal data that is collected as a result of your visiting and using our sites. In this regard we observe as a public-law institution the cantonal Act on Information and Data Protection (IDG).

Legal grounds for the processing of personal data

We process personal data in pursuit of our legitimate interest in providing you with information and offers, in order to meet our legal or contractual obligations or in accordance with your consent.

Storage of personal data

We store personal data:

for as long as it is needed for the purposes for which it was collected or to serve our legitimate interests,
for as long it is needed for us to fulfill our legal or contractual obligations
or until you revoke your consent.

When this period expires personal data are deleted. Where there are concrete indications of an illegal act or an attack on the network infrastructure, the deletion of data may be postponed until the situation has been clarified.

Cookies are used on the website. They store certain settings of your browser as well as data about exchange and improve the user-friendliness and security of our website. After closing the internet browser temporary cookies are automatically deleted and permanent cookies remain stored on your computer or mobile device. These cookies are used in order to record visitors’ behavior on the website and to compile statistical information about the use of the website (see clause 11).

By adjusting the settings in your internet browser you can deactivate the storage of such cookies at any time and in this way prevent the permanent use of cookies. Please note that this may possibly result in individual functions of our website not working properly. You can also delete already stored cookies by means of your browser or other software programmes.

Access data

Every time you visit our website the following information about the access is automatically recorded:

IP address of the requesting computer or mobile device
website from which our website was accessed (referrer)
date and time of the website visit
the contents accessed
the amount of data transferred
the browser used
the operating system used

This information is stored as log files on the servers of ZHdK in Switzerland (Zurich and Winterthur) for the purposes of technical processes and for statistical analysis of access. This analysis is made for the sole purpose of improving the ZHdK online services and the technology that backs them (see clause 11). To protect the security of your data during transfer, we use the most technically up-to-date encryption method (currently via HTTPS with the integration of a SSL Certificate).

Web analysis software

a. Web analysis in general
You can prevent cookies being saved by changing the relevant settings in your internet browser. However, after doing this it is possible that you may not be able to make full use of all the functions of the website. The cookies remain on your end device until you delete them.

By using the website, you declare your consent to the processing of the data collected about you through Siteimprove or Matomo in the manner described below and for the given purpose.

b. Siteimprove Analytics
We use the web analytics software Siteimprove Analytics from Siteimprove A/S, Sankt Annæ Plads 28, 1250 Copenhagen, Denmark. Siteimprove Analytics uses cookies to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by cookies about your use of the website (including the user’s encrypted IP address) is transmitted to and stored on a Siteimprove server in Denmark. Siteimprove uses the information to evaluate the use of the website and to compile reports on website activity for ZHdK. Siteimprove or ZHdK does not transfer this information to third parties. IP addresses are anonymized before any data collected can be viewed via Siteimprove Analytics.

Further information on data protection

The following information is collected:

IP address
Navigation path followed by a visitor on the website
Time spent on the website or subsite
Subsite on which the website is left
Country, region or town from which access is made
Returning or new website visitor

c. Matomo
We use the open-source web analysis software Matomo. Matomo makes use of cookies, which are stored on your computer and which allow your use of the website to be analyzed. The information about your use of the website (including the encrypted IP address) produced by cookies is transferred solely to the servers of ZHdK in Switzerland (Zurich and Winterthur) and is stored there. We do not transfer this information to third parties. After the security analysis, the IP addresses are evaluated anonymously of the use of the website and compiled for ZHdK about website activities.

The following information is collected:

IP address
Time spent on the website or subsite
Subsite on which the website is left
Country, region or town from which access is made
End device (type, version, color depth, resolution, width and height of browser window)
Returning or new website visitor

Services from third parties

a. Hosting
In addition to our internal servers, we host our website at Snowflake Productions GmbH, Birmensdorferstrasse 94, 8003 Zurich, Switzerland. Snowflake creates standard web server log files with the following information for each access to the website: IP address, date and time including time zone, browser request including origin of the request (referrer), operating system used including user interface and version, browser used including language and version, amount of data transmitted. The log files are used to identify technical problems and to ensure the security and statistical evaluation of the use of our website. The data is stored on servers in Switzerland.

Further information

b. Further services
On our website we occasionally place content or offers of services from third-party providers in order to incorporate their contents and services such as, for instance, videos (YouTube or Vimeo) (hereinafter referred to as “contents”). This means that the third-party providers of these contents note the users’ IP addresses. The IP address is required for the transfer and depiction of these contents. This information can be saved in cookies on the users’ device and can contain technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit as well as further details about the use of our online offers. In addition, third-party providers can process such information further, in particular when the web-site visitor is at the same time registered on the platform of the respective third-party provider.
ZHdK has no influence on the manner of data transfer and has a legitimate interest in the incorporation of these external contents.

In particular the following contents from third-party providers are incorporated:

Video platform «YouTube» of the third-party provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irleand
Data protection declaration
Video platform «Vimeo» of the third-party provider Vimeo, Inc., 330 West 34th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA
Data protection declaration

c. Linked websites
Some links on the website lead to websites of third parties. The users are responsible for the use of such linked websites and for observing their data protection declaration. ZHdK assumes no responsibility for the correctness, completeness and legality of the offers and contents provided there.

Rights of the website visitors

Visitors to the website have the right to demand at any time information about stored personal data that relates to them and about its use as well as a right to correction, data portability, blocking or deletion of this data. Where consent to the use of personal data was given, this can be revoked at any time. A revocation does not affect the validity of data processing operations that took place in the past.

For requests for information, to exercise the rights described above and to make suggestions on security and data protection you can write to the Data Protection Officer ZHdK:

Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)
Data Protection Officer ZHdK
Pfingstweidstrasse 96, P.O. Box
8031 Zurich, Switzerland
Email

Furthermore, you have the right to make a complaint to the responsible supervisory authority:

Data Protection Officer of the Canton of Zurich
Beckenhofstrasse 23, P.O. Box
8090 Zurich, Switzerland
Contact

Data security and confidentiality

By using the appropriate technical and organizational security measures the stored personal data is projected against manipulation, loss or unauthorized access by third parties. These measures are being continuously improved. However, the transfer of information through the internet and other electronic media is always subject to certain security risks and ZHdK cannot guarantee the security of information that is transferred in this way.

As is called for in their employment contract (with an obligation for official secrecy) or in accordance with their service agreement the ZHdK staff, our web agency Snowflake Productions GmbH (Zurich), and the service providers we commission agree to observe discretion and to comply with the data protection regulations.

Alterations to this data protection declaration

This declaration can be altered with immediate effect and without notice in the course of developing the website further or as a result of implementing new technology and legislative changes.

Last updated: May 15, 2024