Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 14, 2025

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Ukrainian Diaspora (Switzerland) (Verein) (“we”, “us” or “our”) collects, uses, stores and protects personal data when you visit www.ukrdiaspora.ch or make a donation via our payment channels. We process personal data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (revDSG / FADP).

2. Data Controller

Ukrainian Diaspora (Switzerland) (Verein)
Altstetterstrasse 155, 8048 Zürich, Switzerland
IBAN: CH50 0900 0000 1653 2245 7
General contact: info@ukrdiaspora.ch
Data protection contact: privacy@ukrdiaspora.ch
Finance contact: finance@ukrdiaspora.ch

3. Personal data we collect

Depending on your interaction with our website and services, we may collect:

  • Identification and contact details (e.g. name, email address, phone number) you provide voluntarily;
  • Donation and transaction information (amount, currency, date, transaction ID, selected project);
  • Technical data (IP address, browser type and version, device identifiers, pages visited, timestamps and cookies);
  • Communications you send to us (messages, inquiries, attachments);
  • Any other information you provide when contacting us or using our donation forms.

4. How we use your personal data

We process your data for the following purposes:

  • To process, confirm and record donations and to issue receipts;
  • To communicate with donors and respond to inquiries;
  • To maintain accounting and legal records required by Swiss law;
  • To improve our website, services and donor experience through (anonymized) analytics;
  • To prevent and detect fraud and to ensure security of our services;
  • To comply with legal obligations and legitimate interests related to our non-profit activities.

5. Legal basis for processing

Our legal bases for processing personal data include:

  • Performance of a contract or to take steps at your request (e.g. processing a donation);
  • Compliance with legal obligations (e.g. accounting and tax retention requirements);
  • Consent (e.g. for marketing communications and cookies where required);
  • Legitimate interests (e.g. fraud prevention, site security and improvement), balanced against individuals’ rights and freedoms.

6. Payments and third-party processors

All online card payments and supported alternative methods are processed through reputable third-party payment providers such as Stripe and, where available, UnionPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay. We do not store full card details on our servers. Payment data is transmitted securely and processed in accordance with PCI-DSS standards.

Payment processors and other third parties may process data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. When such transfers occur, we rely on appropriate safeguards (e.g. standard contractual clauses, adequacy decisions or other lawful transfer mechanisms) to ensure adequate protection of personal data.

7. Sharing and disclosure of personal data

We may disclose personal data to:

  • Payment processors and banks to process donations;
  • Service providers (hosting, email, analytics, CRM) that act as processors under contracts protecting your data;
  • Legal or regulatory authorities where required by law or in response to lawful requests;
  • Third parties in connection with the sale, merger or reorganization of our organization (with appropriate data protection safeguards).

8. Cookies and tracking technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, provide functionality, and collect anonymized analytics. On your first visit you will see a cookie consent banner where you may accept or refuse non-essential cookies. You can change your cookie preferences at any time via the banner or your browser settings.

We recommend using a cookie consent tool (e.g., Complianz, CookieYes) to manage consent and to provide a dedicated Cookie Policy.

9. Data retention

We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described and to comply with legal obligations. Typical retention periods include:

  • Donation and accounting records: retained in accordance with Swiss legal requirements (generally at least 5–10 years);
  • Communications and support data: retained as long as necessary to respond and for record-keeping;
  • Analytics and logs: retained in anonymized or aggregated form for service improvement; raw logs typically retained up to 12 months;
  • Marketing consent records: retained until consent is withdrawn.

10. Your rights

Under applicable data protection laws, you may have the right to:

  • Request access to the personal data we hold about you;
  • Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data;
  • Request deletion of your personal data (where there is no legal basis to retain it);
  • Request restriction of processing;
  • Object to processing where our legal basis is legitimate interests;
  • Request portability of your data in a structured, commonly used machine-readable format;
  • Withdraw consent at any time (this will not affect processing carried out prior to withdrawal).

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@ukrdiaspora.ch. We will respond within statutory timeframes (generally within one month). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (e.g., the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner or an EU supervisory authority).

11. Security measures

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse and alteration. Measures include:

  • Use of SSL/TLS (HTTPS) for secure transmission;
  • Access controls and role-based permissions for administrative systems;
  • Regular backups and security updates for our CMS and infrastructure;
  • Two-factor authentication (2FA) for administrative accounts where feasible;
  • Data processing agreements (DPA) with third-party processors.

12. Data breach notification

In the event of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority and affected individuals in accordance with applicable law.

13. Children

Our website is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children without parental consent. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data without appropriate consent, please contact privacy@ukrdiaspora.ch and we will take steps to remove such data.

14. International donors (including China)

If you donate from outside Switzerland or the EEA (including China), please note that your payment data may be processed by payment providers located outside your jurisdiction. Cross-border transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards as described above. For large donors we can provide bilingual (English/Chinese) reporting upon request.

15. Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to third-party sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external sites. Please review the privacy policies of any third party sites you visit.

16. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any material changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. Continued use of the website after changes indicates acceptance of the revised policy.

17. Contact

For questions or to exercise your rights, please contact:

Ukrainian Diaspora (Switzerland) (Verein)
Altstetterstrasse 155, 8048 Zürich, Switzerland
Email: privacy@ukrdiaspora.ch
Finance: finance@ukrdiaspora.ch
General: info@ukrdiaspora.ch
IBAN: CH50 0900 0000 1653 2245 7

Thank you for supporting our mission. We are committed to protecting your personal data and maintaining transparency about our use of it.

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