PRIVACY POLICY

VSA Intergroup AG, Via Ginevra 5, CH 6900 Lugano is the operator of the website www.vsaintergroup.com and the services offered on it and thus accountable for the gathering, processing, and utilization of your personal data, as well as ensuring compliance with the relevant data protection laws.

Your trust is important to us, which is why we take the subject of data protection seriously and ensure the relevant security. It goes without saying that we comply with the legal provisions of the Federal Data Protection Act (DSG), the Ordinance to the Federal Data Protection Act (VDSG), the Telecommunications Act (TCA), and any other applicable data protection provisions of Swiss or EU law, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

So that you know which personal data we collect and for what purposes we use them, please take note of the following information.

1. Accessing our website

When visiting our website, our servers temporarily save each access in a log file. The following technical data is collected without any action on your part, as is generally the case with any connection to a web server, and stored by us until they are automatically deleted after 12 months at the latest:

the IP address of the accessing computer
the name of the owner of the IP address range (generally your Internet provider), the date and time of the access
the website from which the access took place (referrer URL), if applicable with the search term used
the name and URL of the retrieved file, the status code (e.g. error message)
your computer’s operating system
the browser you use (type, version and language), the transmission protocol used (e.g. HTTP/1.1)

These data are collected and processed for the purpose of enabling the use of our website (establishing a connection), to permanently guarantee system security and stability, and to optimise our website as well as for internal statistical purposes. This is our legitimate interest in data processing within the meaning of article 6 para 1 lit f GDPR.

2. Opening a customer account

To place orders in the online shop, you can order as a guest or open a customer account. During registration for a customer account, we collect the following data:

first and last name
postal address
e-mail address
password
phone number (voluntary)

We collect this data for the purpose of providing the customer with password-protected direct access to his basic data stored with us. The customer can view his completed and open orders or manage or change his personal data.

The legal basis for the processing of data for this purpose is the consent given by you in accordance with article 6 para. 1 lit a EU GDPR.

3. Purchasing from the online shop

If you would like to place orders in our online shop, we require the following data to process the contract:

First and last name
Billing address (and, if different, shipping address)
Information provided as part of the payment (depending on the selected payment method)
Login data, i.e. e-mail address and password (for registered customers)

Unless otherwise stated in this privacy policy or unless you have given separate consent, we will only use the aforementioned data to process the contract, namely to process your orders, deliver the ordered products, and ensure correct payment.

The legal basis of the data processing for this purpose is the fulfilment of a contract according to article 6 para 1 lit. b EU GDPR.

4. Email newsletter

E-mail advertising with newsletter subscription

If you register for our newsletter, we will use the data required for this purpose or provided separately by you to regularly send you

our email newsletter based on your consent as per article 6 para 1 page 1 lit a GDPR.

You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, either by sending a message to the contact option described below or via a dedicated link provided in the newsletter. After unsubscribing, we will delete your e-mail address unless you have expressly consented to further use of your data or we reserve the right to use your data for other purposes which are permitted by law and about which we inform you in this policy.

E-mail advertising without registration for the newsletter and your right of objection

If we receive your e-mail address in connection with the sale of a product or service and you have not objected to this, we reserve the right, on the basis of 7 para 3 UWG, to send you regular offers by e-mail on products from our product range that are similar to those already purchased. This serves to protect our legitimate interests, which outweigh any other interests, in addressing our customers in advertising.

You may object to this use of your e-mail address at any time by sending a message to the contact option described below or via a dedicated link provided in the advertising e-mail, without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs according to the basic rates.

The newsletter is sent as part of a processing operation on our behalf by a service provider with whom we will share your e-mail address for this purpose.

This service provider is located in the USA and is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield. You can view a current certificate here. Based on this agreement between the USA and the European Commission, the latter has established an adequate level of data protection for companies certified under the Privacy Shield.

5. Contact us via online form and e-mail

Personal data are collected when you provided these to us voluntarily in the context of contacting us by form or email. We exclusively use your data to offer you the desired information or services, which means that only the information and data are stored and processed

that are absolutely necessary to answer your questions or to process a contractual relationship.

When contacting us without a subsequent order, your data will be deleted from our customer database if you ask for this.

6. Sharing your data with third parties

We will only share your personal data if you have expressly consented to this, if there is a legal obligation to do so or if this is necessary to enforce our rights, in particular to enforce claims arising from the contractual relationship.

In addition, we will share your data with third parties, to the extent necessary as part of using the website and processing contracts (also outside the website), such as processing your bookings. This includes transport providers who has been commissioned to ship the ordered goods. The data is transferred for the purpose of providing and maintaining the functionality of our website. This is our legitimate interest within the meaning of article 6 para 1 lit f EU GDPR.

Identity and credit check when selecting Paypal payment methode

For the purpose of its own identity and credit checks, Paypal or partner companies commissioned by Paypal transmit data to credit agencies (credit reference agencies) and receive information from them as well as, if applicable, credit information on the basis of mathematical-statistical methods, in the calculation of which, address data is included, among other things. Detailed information on this and the credit agencies used can be found in the data protection regulations of Paypal. The received information about the statistical probability of a default on payment is used by Paypal to make a balanced decision regarding the reasoning, execution or termination of a contractual relationship.

Furthermore, Paypal may potentially use the assistance of third parties to uncover or prevent fraud. Data obtained with this assistance/tools may be stored by third parties in encrypted form so that they can only be read by Paypal. These data are only used, if you select a payment method of our cooperation partner Paypal. Otherwise, the data automatically expire after 30 minutes.

You may revoke your consent vis-a-vis Paypal at any time. However, Paypal may still be entitled to process, use and transfer your personal data if this is necessary for payment processing in accordance with the contract or is required to do so by law or ordered by a court or authority.

7. Cookies

Cookies help in numerous aspects to make your visit to our site easier, more pleasant and more sensible. Cookies are information files that your web browser automatically stores on your computer’s hard drive when visiting our site.

For example, we use cookies to offer the shopping cart function to you across several pages and to temporarily save your entries when filling out a form on the website. This means you do not have to repeat your entries should you open a subpage. Cookies may also be used to identify you as a registered user after you have registered on the website, without you having to log in again when you access another subpage.

Most Internet browsers automatically accepts cookies. However, you can configure your browser to prevent any cookies from being stored on your computer or so that a message always appears when you receive a new cookie. The following pages provide an explanation as to how you can configure the processing of cookies on most current browsers:

Deactivating cookies may lead to a reduced functioning of the website.

Google Tag Manager

We also use the Google Tag Manager to manage usage-based advertising services. The Tag Manager tool itself is a cookie-free domain and does not collect any personal data. Instead, the tool rather triggers other tags that in turn may collect data under certain circumstances (see above in this context). If you have disabled it at the domain or cookie level, it will persist for all tracking tags implemented with Google Tag Manager.

8. Tracking- tools, general matters

We use the Google Analytics web analysis service of to design our website according

to your needs and to continuously optimise it. In this context, pseudonymous user profiles are created and small text files are stored on your computer (cookies). The information generated by the cookie about your website usage is transmitted to the servers of the providers of these services, stored there and prepared for us. In addition to the data listed under point 1, we may also receive the following information:

navigation path that a visitor follows on the site
time spent on the website or subpage
the subpage which the website is exited from
the country, region or city you access the site from
end device (type, version, colour depth, resolution, width and height of the browser window)
returning or new visitors

The information is used to evaluate the use of the website, to compile reports on website activities and to provide further services associated with the use of the website and the Internet for the purposes of market research and demand-orientated website design. This information may also be shared with third parties if the law requires to so or if third parties process this data on our behalf.

Google Analytics

The provider of Google Analytics is Google Inc, a company of the holding company Alphabet Inc, based in the USA. Before the data are transmitted to the provider, the IP address is shortened through IP anonymisation (‘anonymizeIP’) on this website within the member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. The anonymous IP address transmitted by your browser within the framework of Google Analytics is not combined with other Google data. The full IP address is only transferred to a Google server in the USA and shortened there in exceptional cases. In these cases, we provide contractual guarantees to ensure that Google Inc. maintains an adequate level of data protection. According to Google Inc. under no circumstances will the IP address be associated with other data that concern the user.

Further information about the web analysis service used can be found on the Google Analytics website. Instructions on how to prevent the processing of your data by the web analysis service are provided on.

Our website also uses Google Optimize. Google Optimize analyses the use of different variants of our website and helps us improve the usability according to the user behaviour on our site. Google Optimize is a Google Analytics integrated tool.

9. Information on data transmitted to the USA

For completeness sake, we would like to point out to users who are residence or domiciled in Switzerland that monitoring measures are in place in the USA by US authorities, which generally allow the storage of all personal data of all persons whose data has been transferred from Switzerland to the USA. This is done without differentiation, restriction or exception on the basis of the objective pursued and without any objective criterion making it possible to limit the access and subsequent use of the data by the US authorities to very specific and strictly limited purposes that can justify the interference linked both to the access and to the use of these data. Furthermore, we would like to point out that there are no legal remedies available in the USA for data subjects from Switzerland that would allow them to gain access to the data concerning them and to obtain its correction or deletion, or that there is no effective judicial legal protection against the general access rights of US authorities. We explicitly emphasise this legal and factual situation to the person concerned in order to make an appropriately informed decision to consent to the use of their data.

Users residing in a member state of the EU should note that from the point of view of the European Union - among other things due to the issues mentioned in this section - the USA does not have a sufficient level of data protection. To the extent that we have explained in this privacy policy that recipients of data (such as Google) are based in the USA, we will ensure that your data is protected at an appropriate level with our partners. This is done either by means of contractual arrangements with these companies or by ensuring that these companies are certified under the EU or Swiss-US Privacy Shield.

10. Right to information, correction, deletion and limitation of processing; right to data transferability

You have the right to request information about the personal data that we store about you. In addition, you have the right to have incorrect data corrected and the right to have your personal data deleted, as long as this does not conflict with any legal obligation to retain data or a permission to process the data.

You also have the right to reclaim the data you have given us (right to data portability). We will also share the data with a third party should you send us a relevant request. You have the right to receive data in a current file format.

If you have any questions regarding the collection, processing or use of your personal data, for information, correction, blocking or deletion of data as well as revocation of a consent you have granted or objection to a specific use of data, please contact us directly via the contact information listed in our imprint.

11. Data security

We use the relevant technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data stored with us against manipulation, partial or complete loss and against unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological developments.

You should always keep your access data confidential and close the browser window when you have finished communicating with us, especially if you share the computer with others.

We also take the company’s internal data protection very seriously. We have committed our employees and the service companies commissioned by us to maintain secrecy and to comply with data protection regulations.

12. Storage of data

We store personal data only as long as it is necessary to use the above-mentioned tracking and analysis services and to further process within the scope of our legitimate interest. We save contractual data for a longer period of time, as this is prescribed by statutory storage obligations. Retention obligations, which require us to store data, result from accounting regulations and from tax regulations.

According to these regulations, business communications, concluded contracts and accounting records must be stored for up to 10 years. As soon as we no longer require the data to execute the services for you, the data are blocked.

This means that the data may thus only be used for accounting and tax purposes.

13. Right to complain to a data protection supervisory authority

You have the right to complain to a data protection supervisory authority at any time.