This privacy statement informs you about how we handle personal data (“personal data”) collected on our websites (https://www.meerstetter.ch), in email communications with our employees, and in the course of our activities and operations. You can decide whether to consent to the processing of your personal data or to refuse it and inform us of your decision if necessary.
1. General
The term “processing” in this privacy policy may have the following meanings, for example:
- collection,
- storage,
- management,
- use,
- transfer,
- disclosure, or deletion of your personal data.
We collect personal data to provide you with our services and improve our offerings.
This privacy policy is primarily based on the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP). Where the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, we also comply with its requirements.
1.1 Data collection controller
The responsible party (owner of the data collection) is Meerstetter Engineering GmbH, Schulhausgasse 12, CH‑3113 Rubigen, Switzerland.
2. Data security
We take all appropriate and feasible measures (both technical and organizational) to protect personal data from unauthorized access by third parties. However, we cannot realistically guarantee absolute security. In all cases, data that you send to our website or data that you receive from our website is encrypted.
3. Duration of data storage
We store your personal data as we deem appropriate to comply with the law or for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected.
We delete personal data as soon as it is no longer needed and at the latest after the expiry of the maximum retention period prescribed by law.
4. Rights regarding your personal data
Upon written request, we will inform you which of your personal data we have stored.
You have the right to correct or supplement your personal data, to object to its processing, or to request its deletion.
5. Contact
You can contact us regarding data protection issues at the following address: Contact (meerstetter.ch).
6. When and how do we collect personal data?
We process personal data whenever you contact us or visit our website. All data that you transmit to our websites is encrypted. For example, in the following situations:
- You visit our websites and find out about our products.
- You contact us via a form on our website.
- You request a quote on our website.
- You order goods from our shop.
Communication with us by telephone, fax, email, etc. is usually unencrypted. For example:
- Contacting our support team by email
- Contacting our sales team by email
- Participating in surveys conducted by Meerstetter Engineering GmbH
Processing is carried out in particular for the purpose of fulfilling contracts, due to legal obligations, or on the basis of our legitimate interest in efficient business transactions and communication.
7. Type of data
What data is collected? We collect data that you provide to us or that is necessary for processing orders and providing technical support. This includes, for example, the following personal data:
- First and last name of contact persons
- Delivery address and billing address
- Telephone numbers
- Email addresses
- Consent to receive product information and newsletters
We do not process or store credit card data. Payments are processed by third parties (see section 9. Disclosure of personal data).
7.1 Log files
Every time you access our websites, your browser sends data to our web server for technical reasons. We may collect and evaluate this data, for example, to optimize our websites or find errors.
7.2 Web analysis tools
We use the Google Analytics service to analyze user behavior and thus optimize the content of our websites. For this
purpose, data about how you use our websites, as well as your IP address, is sent to Google's servers in anonymized
form. These servers may be located abroad.
You can prevent Google from collecting and using this data by downloading and installing the browser plugin
available at the following link: Download page for the browser add-on to disable Google Analytics.
7.3 Google reCAPTCHA
We use the Google reCAPTCHA service to protect forms on our website from spam and abuse. This service checks whether the entries originate from a human being and not from automated software. In doing so, various technical data from your device is sent in encrypted form to Google's servers. These servers may be located abroad.
8. Processing purposes
Your personal data will be used to fulfill your orders and to communicate with you. To this end, we may store your
data in an address book or ERP/CRM system.
Personal data is also used for communication and marketing purposes. As a customer, you will receive the following
information, for example:
- Important information relating to your products (“Product Change Notifications”)
- Newsletters with product or software news
You can unsubscribe from any communication at any time.
9. Disclosure of personal data
Your personal data will generally not be sold or disclosed to third parties. Personal data will only be disclosed to third parties for the purpose of fulfilling our business objectives, whereby we work with carefully selected third parties.
Personal data may be disclosed to third parties such as banks, consultants and lawyers, insurance companies, payment service providers, or logistics companies.
For shipping purposes, we may disclose your personal data to the following logistics companies, whose servers may be located abroad:
- FedEx Corporation (USA)
- United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (USA)
- DHL International GmbH (Germany)
- Die Schweizerische Post AG (Switzerland)
For credit card payments on our website, you will be redirected to a third-party provider before entering your data. In doing so, you disclose your data to the following companies:
- PostFinance Ltd (Switzerland)
- SIX Group AG (Switzerland)
When transferring personal data abroad, we ensure that an adequate level of data protection is in place. This is achieved in particular through:
- Adequacy decisions (e.g., EU/EEA),
- Standard contractual clauses,
- or other appropriate safeguards.
10. Third‑party services
We use services from carefully selected third-party providers to ensure that our offerings are reliable, secure, and user-friendly. This allows us, for example, to integrate certain functions or content directly into our website. When such integration takes place, these services collect the IP addresses of visitors at least temporarily for technical reasons.
We use services from:
- Google: Google LLC (USA) / Google Ireland Limited (Ireland) for users in the EEA and Switzerland (Principles of Data Protection and Security, Privacy Policy, Google Product Privacy Guide, Cookie Policy).
- Microsoft: Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited (Ireland) for users in the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK (Privacy at Microsoft, Data protection & privacy, Microsoft Privacy Statement, Manage data & privacy settings).
- Odoo: Platform for business functions & processes incl. CRM. Provider: Odoo SA (Belgium) (Odoo Privacy Policy, Odoo on Security)
10.1 Digital infrastructure
We use services from specialized third-party providers in order to utilize the digital infrastructure required for our activities. These include, for example, services for hosting websites and storing data, which we obtain from carefully selected providers.
We use:
- Microsoft Azure: Storage space and other infrastructure offered by Microsoft (Privacy in Azure).
- Novatrend: Website hosting by NovaTrend Services GmbH (Switzerland) (Privacy Policy).
We also use various services/tools to work more efficiently, such as scheduling tools, tools for online meetings, and collaboration. These services/tools may have their own terms of use or privacy policies that supplement this privacy policy.
We use:
- Microsoft Bookings: Online scheduling from Microsoft (Microsoft Bookings “Frequently Asked Questions”).
- TeamViewer: Video conferencing from TeamViewer Germany GmbH (Germany) (World-class data protection).
- Microsoft Teams: Platform for productive collaboration, in particular with audio and video conferencing from Microsoft (Security and compliance in Microsoft Teams, including data protection).
10.2 Map material
We use the following service to display maps on our website:
- map.search.ch: Map service from Swisscom Directories LTD (Switzerland) (Privacy policy and terms of use, including rights of use for personal purposes).
10.3 Digital content
We use third-party services to integrate digital content (in particular image and video material) into our website:
- YouTube: Google's video platform (Privacy and safety Center, Your Data in YouTube).
11. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation
We may process personal data automatically and use artificial intelligence (AI) for this purpose where appropriate.
We may also use profiling to automatically analyze or evaluate certain personal characteristics of data subjects. Profiling is used, for example, to identify interests, behaviors, or personal preferences. Profiling is carried out exclusively to a limited extent and without significant impact on the data subjects, i.e., we do not engage in high-risk profiling.
Artificial intelligence (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or comparable systems) is used in a supportive manner, in particular to increase the efficiency of internal processes.
No exclusively automated decisions with legal effect on data subjects are made.
12. Cookies
Our websites use cookies (text information) that are stored on your computer by your web browser when you visit our websites. No personal data is stored in cookies.
The cookies used by our websites serve to provide the functions of our websites. For example, the shop uses cookies to ensure the functionality of the shopping cart. In addition, cookies are set by Google Analytics.
You can prevent cookies from being stored by adjusting the settings in your browser. Please note that some functions on our websites will not work if you do not accept cookies.