Explanatory notes on data protection

The Caritas debt counselling service takes the protection of personal data seriously. We should therefore like to inform the users of our online service about what data is stored and how it is used. 

Online counseling

Caritas guarantees you absolute discretion in relation to counselling. We do the following to keep your data secure:

• The only personal details the counsellors can access are those you provided voluntarily when registering, and the contents of your counselling enquiry.
• The counsellors have a legal duty of confidentiality.
• Your IP address is not stored when you access the online counselling service, so it cannot be traced or identified. 
• The counselling enquiry is encrypted and transferred to a database on the server.
• Your enquiry and the counsellor’s response are sent to the server database in encrypted form.
• Unauthorised access by third parties is prevented.

The online counselling process

The online form in which you enter your enquiry also asks for your postcode. This information is used to forward your enquiry to your nearest debt advice centre. You are not obliged to enter your year of birth. The only people who can access your enquiry are you yourself, the relevant debt advice centre and the specialist debt counselling unit of Caritas Switzerland.

All the counsellors have a duty of confidentiality. The personal details you disclose by e-mail are treated in confidence.

The data is deleted no later than 13 months after being recorded. It is deleted manually by the Caritas debt counselling unit and the counsellors at the associated debt advice centres.

Further information on data protection

Data is never forwarded anywhere other than the associated debt advice centres.

Online consultations are analysed for statistical purposes. The analysis is performed in such a way that individuals cannot be identified. No information is forwarded to third parties, e.g. for commercial purposes.

Pursuant to §8 of the Swiss Data Protection Act (FADP), the user has a right to information.

The following information must be given to the party concerned on request:

• All the data held on them in the data collection, including any available information about the origin of the data;
• The recipients or categories of recipient to whom the data is forwarded; and
• The purpose and categories of the personal data processed, of the persons involved in the data collection process and of the data recipients.

The online information and online counselling service of Caritas Switzerland does not collect personal data that would enable the user to be identified. It is therefore impossible to match personal details to a particular user. This means that Caritas Switzerland and/or the server operator are unable to pass information about users’ personal details to the users.

Copyright and liability disclaimer 

Copyright

The entire contents of this website are protected by copyright. Quoting from our website and our publications is permitted. Such quotations must cite the source, and in electronic publications this should wherever possible include a link to the page cited.

Reproducing or publishing lengthy passages of text requires the written consent of the specialist debt counselling unit of Caritas Switzerland.

Liability disclaimer for content and links

All the content on this website is compiled with great care and checked by a lawyer. However, the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be completely guaranteed. Caritas Switzerland and its specialist debt counselling unit therefore cannot be held liable for direct or indirect damage or loss arising from the use of this content.

In addition, Caritas Switzerland cannot accept any responsibility for the content of links to external websites. The operators of the linked websites bear sole responsibility for their content. 

In addition, the privacy policy of Caritas Switzerland shall apply.