Information on data protection

It is essential to process your personal data in order to provide advice tailored to your insurance, pension and/or financial needs. It is not possible to conclude or execute an insurance contract without processing your data.

Your data will only ever be used for the purpose you consent to when they were collected, which is apparent from the circumstances or provided for by law.

Helvetia processes personal data in particular to the extent required for business processes, such as acquisition, supporting applications, carrying out risk assessments of applications, protecting against insurance fraud, managing the customer relationship, providing its services, providing advice and support in line with needs, dealing with quotations and contracts as well as claims and benefits, invoicing, answering questions and enquiries as well as evaluating, improving and developing new products and services. In this context, Helvetia also processes your personal data for advertising purposes such as customer satisfaction surveys, general customer communications and customized adaptation of Helvetia offers, as well as creating customer profiles.

Profiling refers to any kind of automated processing of personal data to analyse specific personal aspects, such as economic situation, health, interests, reliability, behaviour, or relocation.

Helvetia uses profiling to set up customer segments to offer you customized advertising or offers that are tailored more closely to your needs. The use of data analysis processes enables Helvetia to compile additional statistical information.

Should decisions be made based on the fully automated processing of personal data (such as your details when applying) which are associated with a legal consequence for you, Helvetia will inform you accordingly and you have the opportunity to contact Helvetia so that corresponding decisions are reviewed.

Examples of such decisions include the conclusion or termination of a contract, possible risk exclusions or the amount of the insurance premium to be paid. This also allows Helvetia to make a fully automated decision on its obligation to pay based on your information on an insurance claim. Fully automated decisions are based on pre-determined rules for weighing the information.

The personal data processed by Helvetia include data provided by the policyholder as well as publicly available data. Data categories include:

• Customer data (such as name, address, date of birth, gender, nationality, creditworthiness data, etc.)
• Data from applications, including the associated supplementary questionnaires (such as information from the applicant about the insured risk, answers to questions, expert reports, information from the previous insurer about previous claims history etc.) 
• Data from contracts (such as contract term, insured risks, benefits, data from existing contracts etc.) 
• Collection data (such as date and amount of premium payments, outstanding payments, reminders, assets, payment connection data etc.) 
• Any claims data (such as claim notifications, assessment reports, invoices, data relating to injured third-parties etc.)

Data about prospective or existing customers may be collected by third-parties to provide optimum processing of the above-mentioned business processes and ensure the accuracy of data, to optimize the performance of business and/or customer needs, as well as to detect or prevent insurance fraud. As a results, the following information (e.g. from information centres and other third-parties) may be collected:

• Contact details
  
• Size and type of household
  
• Income class and purchasing power
  
• Shopping behaviour
  
• Vehicle class
  
• Motorcycle owner
  
• Building size
  
• Language region of your place of residence

Your personal data may be passed on to third-parties ("processors") for the aforementioned purposes and/or to ensure the legal and regulatory provisions are met. Helvetia may also outsource divisions, individual value-creating steps of divisions and/or services (e.g. benefits settlement, IT, contract administration, and product development) in part or in full to third-parties in Switzerland or abroad. In this case, this will also affect the processing of personal data. Helvetia takes great care to ensure that your data is protected from unauthorized access, loss or misuse.

The data may be passed on to the following categories of third-parties both within Switzerland and abroad:

• Service providers (both internal and external), including contract processors
  
• Insurance brokers and other contractual partners
  
• Pension funds
  
• Experts and lawyers
  
• Previous insurers, co-insurers and reinsurers
  
• Social insurers
  
• Cooperation partners of Helvetia (such as Raiffeisen)
  
• Other customers of Helvetia (e.g. in the case of a claim)
  
• Local, national and foreign authorities and official bodies
  
• Industry organizations, associations, organizations and other committees
  
• Acquirer or interested party in the acquisition of business units, companies or other parts of Helvetia
  
• Other parties in possible or actual legal proceedings
  
• Other Helvetia Group companies

If necessary, Helvetia or the processors will consult third-parties – with your consent – depending on the insurance cover to be reviewed (e.g. with your physician, therapist or hospital, with a previous insurance company or with the authorities responsible for administrative measures in road traffic). Based on your consent for the purpose of checking insurance coverage, these persons are explicitly released from their duty to observe confidentiality in respect of Helvetia and the processor.

Your personal data is only passed on to processors abroad if they are subject to adequate data protection laws. If data is transmitted to a country without adequate data protection laws, Helvetia guarantees adequate protection by means of sufficient contractual guarantees or relies on the exception of consent, contract performance or the establishment, exercise and enforcement of legal rights. Contractual guarantees are based on a standard data protection clause accepted by the supervisory institutions.

Data may also be passed on for the purpose of detecting or preventing insurance fraud, especially to insurance companies both within Switzerland and abroad, as well as to law enforcement institutions.

Helvetia processes personal data as long as this is necessary for fulfilling the above-mentioned purposes. Your data will be deleted as soon as they are no longer required for the above-mentioned purposes. Helvetia stores your data due to statutory storage obligations and stores your data for the time period in which claims against Helvetia companies can be made.

The policyholder or beneficiary is obliged to provide the data required to assess the risk, execute the contract and handle claims. If this obligation will not be followed, Helvetia may refuse to conclude the contract or parts thereof or to pay all or part of the claim.

With regard to processing personal data, Helvetia takes adequate technical and organizational measures to prevent unauthorized access and otherwise unauthorized processing. These are based on the international standards in this area and are checked regularly and adjusted when necessary.

Please note that communication via e-mail is not usually encrypted. It is possible that data can be lost, intercepted and/or manipulated by third-parties. Helvetia takes appropriate technical and organizational security measures to prevent this from happening within the Helvetia system. Your access device (PC, smartphone, etc.) is located outside of the secure area controlled by Helvetia. As an Internet user, it is your responsibility to inform yourself about the necessary security precautions and to take appropriate measures (e.g. have up-to-date virus protection, etc.).

If you contact Helvetia using the online contact form, the data you enter into this form are transmitted to Helvetia from your PC in an encrypted format in accordance with internationally recognized security standards, in order to protect them from being misused by third-parties.

You can contact your insurance advisor via live chat or video for Helvetia services, allowing Helvetia to provide you with flexible advice, without having to visit you at home.

To grant this service, Helvetia relies on the following providers:

When contacting Helvetia via the live chat or video advice service, all of the data that you transmit will be collected and processed by the respective service provider. The selected providers grant you the data protection you are entitled to. When using the corresponding applications, data is processed in a pseudonymized form for advertising and optimization purposes. Cookies, which allow the respective Internet browser to be recognized again, are used for this purpose. The data collected during the live chat are not used to personally identify the visitors of the website, unless personal data is voluntarily provided to Helvetia while using the live chat. You will generally be advised of the data processing by these providers before using the service by way of specific information on data protection.

When contacting Helvetia via WhatsApp, data from each conversation may be collected and used by WhatsApp. Helvetia has no influence on the processing of data by WhatsApp. You will find the conditions for use and more information about WhatsApp here:

By contacting Helvetia via WhatsApp, you agree that Helvetia may reply to you via WhatsApp. Please note that Helvetia does not or cannot provide you with certain information via WhatsApp and reserves the right to use traditional communication channels (e.g. by postal service) in this instance.

Helvetia websites use cookies. These are small files which are stored on your access device (PC, smartphone, etc.) when you visit a Helvetia website.

Cookies collect information about the use of websites. Each time you visit the website, the system collects data and information from your access device system.

Certain cookies are automatically deleted at the end of your browsing session (known as session cookies), whereas others are stored for a specified time or permanently in the user's browser and then delete themselves (known as temporary or permanent cookies).

The user data collected in this way are pseudonymized and reference to data subjects is not possible. The data is not stored together with other personal data.

When accessing Helvetia websites, you will be notified about the use of cookies for analytical purposes and be prompted for your consent to the processing of data used in this context.

The cookies stored on your access device may also come from other Helvetia companies, or third-parties such as advertising partners (known as third-Party cookies). They provide personalized advertising and measure its effect.

When accessing Helvetia websites, third-parties simply receive access to data based on an identification number, known as the cookie ID. No personal data will be transmitted.

You can change your browser settings to specify for yourself how cookies are used. However, restricting or preventing the use and functionality of cookies can limit the use of certain websites.

You can manage many online advertisement cookies from companies via the EU website http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/ or the US website http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.

You can completely prevent third-party cookies and the loading of plugins with specialized add-ons for your browser, such as NoScript and Ghostery.

The providers of Helvetia's websites collect and store data in log files when you access the websites. This includes the following data:

• IP address of the website user 
• User name (user ID) when using the customer portal
• Date and time of access to the Helvetia website
• Designation of the websites accessed
• Definition of the files accessed (downloads)
• Notification of successful access
• Previously visited sites

This data is not stored together with other personal user data. Furthermore, this data is only collected for statistical purposes relating to website use, security and optimization of the offering and the website and are not passed on to third-parties for any other purpose.

This data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required for fulfilling the purpose for which they were collected, or if there is no legal basis for their storage.

As this access data is absolutely necessary for providing the website, it is not possible to object to this data processing.

Services from third-parties are shown in some parts of the Helvetia websites. The functionality of these services requires the service provider to store your IP address. It is of the utmost importance to Helvetia that only such services are used whose providers use the IP address simply for providing the service in question. Your IP address is processed by third-parties in accordance with their data protection provisions.

Advertising partners

The data transmitted to Helvetia by accessing this website may be processed for advertising purposes and made accessible to advertising partners on the basis of a pseudonymized identification number without reference to individuals (known as a cookie ID) for the purpose providing target-group-based advertising. Helvetia does not provide your identity to either advertising partners or partners of advertising and marketing networks. Those involved are obliged to refrain from and prevent the creation of reference to individuals.

The advertising partners are only provided with information about you in anonymized form, such as age group, gender and the region you live in, as well as personal information and household information provided by third-parties.

The services of the following advertising partners are used:

• Adobe Audience Manager
  
• Adobe Target
  
• Adobe Optimizer
  
• Custom Audience Pixel (Facebook)
  
• DoubleClick by Google
  
• Google AdWords Conversion
  
• Google Remarketing
  
• ShareThis

You can object to the processing of data by these providers at any time. You will find the links required to do this in the section on Restricting third-party services under "Advertising partners".

Data analysis and tracking

Data analysis and tracking tools are used to obtain information about the use of Helvetia websites and to optimize offerings. These tools are provided by third-parties. In general, the information about the use of a website will be transmitted to the provider's server through the use of cookies. Your IP address is transferred by the service provider before being anonymized stored so that it can no longer be associated with you.

The following tools may be used on Helvetia websites for the purposes mentioned:

• Adobe Audience Manager
  
• Adobe Analytics
  
• Adobe Target
  
• Adobe Media Optimizer
  
• Google Analytics

You can object to the processing of data by these providers at any time. You will find the links required to do this in the section on Restricting third-party services under "Tracking".

Retargeting

By means of "retargeting" tags, users of Helvetia websites can be made aware of Helvetia again on third-party websites through Helvetia advertisements.

To do this, services from the following providers may be used on Helvetia websites:

• Adobe Media Optimizer
  
• Custom Audience Pixel (Facebook)
  
• Google Remarketing

You can object to the processing of data by these providers at any time. You will find the links required to do this in the section on Restricting third-party services under "Advertising partners".

Social Plugins

Helvetia websites use "social plugins". These are additional programs which are integrated into the Helvetia websites and enhance their range of functions. They can be recognized by their respective logos. Please refer to the providers' privacy policies to find out more about the purpose and scope of data collection.

Helvetia websites generally use the following social plugins:

When you access a Helvetia website that contains an activated plugin (for example, an activated YouTube video), your browser creates a direct connection to the social plugin server. Through this plugin connection, certain information is transmitted to and stored by the provider.

Advertising partners

You can deactivate (opt out of) the services of the following advertising partners used on Helvetia websites under the respective links.

Data analysis and tracking

You can deactivate (opt out of) the services of the following providers of data analysis and tracking services used on Helvetia websites under the respective links.

Retargeting

You can deactivate (opt out of) the services of the following providers of retargeting services used on Helvetia websites under the respective links.

Social plugins

All of the social plugins on Helvetia websites are activated via a 2-click process. This means that a plugin is only activated when you click on the respective provider's icon.

You can usually subscribe to newsletters via Helvetia websites and apps. In addition to the personal data you enter into the input screen, the following information is collected when registering:

• Pseudonymized IP address of the device used to access the website
• Date and time of registration

This data is not passed on to third-parties for any other purpose in connection with sending the newsletter, except for entry into competitions, where you will be explicitly notified of this. When the newsletter is sent, anonymized link tracking is performed for statistical purposes.

You can unsubscribe from Helvetia newsletters using the links in them specially provided for this purpose.

If you have registered at the Helvetia customer portal, the portal/Helvetia website use is recorded by Helvetia. Your behaviour on these websites can be compared with data from the Helvetia customer portal (e.g. age group, region you live in, and gender) in order to offer customer-specific products.

As a Helvetia customer portal user, you can change the customer data held with Helvetia yourself at any time.

An Identity Provider is used to allow you to use the Helvetia customer portal. This is a central registration system with which users of Service Provider services register. During this process, the following data is transmitted to the third-party service provider:

• Salutation (gender)
  
• First name, last name
  
• E-mail address
  
• Password for portal access

This data is only transmitted in an encrypted format. It is not possible for the third-party to obtain reference to an individual.

You have the right to receive information about your personal data processed by Helvetia. You may submit your request for information in writing, providing a copy of your identity card or passport, to Helvetia's contact address.

If, despite Helvetia's best efforts to ensure the accuracy of data, false information is stored about you, this will be amended at your request. You will be notified once this has been amended. If you are a customer of Helvetia and have registered in the customer portal, you can also amend certain information yourself.

You are entitled to have your data erased from the Helvetia system, as long as Helvetia is not obliged or entitled to store some of your personal data owing to prevailing laws and regulations.

You may object to your data being processed at any time and with effect for the future, if this is not necessary for performing a contract or if Helvetia is not obliged or entitled to it owing to prevailing laws and regulations.

If your rights are violated, you may submit a complaint to the responsible data protection authority.