Privacy policy
Last updated: 25 October 2026
This statement is available in German, English, French and Italian. The German version is legally binding.
1. Controller
The Tierfreunde Schweiz association, Weidächerstrasse 13, 8706 Meilen, Switzerland, is responsible for processing your personal data. For any data protection questions, please contact info@tierfreunde-schweiz.ch.
2. Principle
We only process personal data to the extent necessary for our association's purposes: rehoming animals, looking after our members and donors, and operating this website. We do not sell data or use it for advertising.
3. Visiting the website
Our website is hosted by Hostfactory (OptimaNet Schweiz AG, Seuzach) on servers in Switzerland. When you visit, the server stores technically necessary information in log files, such as IP address, date and time, the page requested, and browser and operating system. This data is used to keep the site secure and stable, is not combined with other data, and is deleted once the technical retention period has expired.
4. Cookies, statistics and fonts
The public pages of our website do not set cookies and do not use any third-party analytics or tracking services. To understand which pages and animals are of interest, we count page views anonymously on our own server: we store only the date, the page viewed, the source (e.g. Instagram or Google) and whether a phone or computer was used – without IP addresses, without cookies and without recognising individual people. For this purpose, the source is stored temporarily only in your browser window (session storage) and deleted when you close it; if you submit a form, we store this source together with your enquiry. In the password-protected members' area and the board's administration area, we use a technically necessary session cookie to keep you logged in; it is deleted when you log out or close your browser. If you choose “Stay logged in on this device”, we additionally store a cookie containing a random key – for at most 7 days for the board and team and at most 30 days for members and foster families; it is deleted when you log out. Your language choice (German, English, French or Italian) is stored only in your browser and is not transmitted to us. When you fill in the adoption request, your progress is stored only in this browser window (session storage) so nothing is lost on reload; it is deleted when you submit or close the window and is only sent to us when you submit. Fonts and images are loaded from our own server; no data is transferred to third parties such as Google or social networks when you visit.
5. Contact forms and email
If you contact us via a form on this website or by email, we process your details (e.g. name, email address, subject and the content of your message) in order to respond to your enquiry. Form submissions are stored in the association's own database on our server at Hostfactory in Switzerland; only authorised board members with a personal login have access. To prevent misuse, your IP address is briefly processed in encrypted (hashed) form and deleted after 24 hours at the latest. Our mailbox is also operated by Hostfactory in Switzerland. We delete enquiries once they have been dealt with and no retention obligation applies, after twelve months at the latest.
6. Adoption and foster enquiries
To rehome an animal, we need additional information, for example about your living situation, household and experience with animals. Where appropriate, we hold a conversation or a home visit and record the outcome in writing. We use this data solely to find a suitable home for the animal and to complete the adoption. If no adoption takes place, we delete the information after twelve months at the latest. If an adoption takes place, we keep the contract and related documents for as long as necessary for follow-up checks and legal obligations.
7. Membership
For membership, we process your name, address, email address, telephone number where applicable, date of joining and membership payments. We use this data to administer the association and to inform you about our work. Members and foster families may receive a personal login to the members' area by invitation; for this we additionally store the email address as username, the password in encrypted form only, and the time of the last login. You can update your telephone number and place of residence there yourself. After you leave, we delete the data and the login unless retention obligations apply.
8. Donations
For donations by bank transfer, we receive your name, address where applicable, the amount and the date from the bank. We use this information for bookkeeping, to thank you and, on request, to issue a donation receipt. We keep accounting records for the statutory period of ten years (Art. 958f of the Swiss Code of Obligations).
PayPal: If you donate via PayPal or pay for a sponsorship via PayPal, you are redirected to the website of PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., Luxembourg. PayPal processes your payment data as an independent controller under its own privacy policy. We receive your name, email address, the amount and the date from PayPal.
Sponsorships: For a sponsorship we store your name, email, optionally your phone number, the chosen animal, the payment method and your message in our own administration. We use this information to manage the sponsorship, send you videos of your sponsored animal and inform you when it is adopted. When the sponsorship ends, we delete the data unless we are legally obliged to keep it.
Instagram: Our website links to our Instagram account. No Instagram content is embedded; data is only transferred once you click the link and visit Instagram (Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd.).
9. Disclosure of data
We only pass on personal data where this is necessary for the purposes mentioned, for example to our hosting and email provider or to banks. We do not pass on information from adoption enquiries to other organisations. Personal data is not disclosed abroad; our service providers process the data in Switzerland.
10. Data security
Our website is encrypted throughout via HTTPS. Only those people in the association who need access to personal data for their role have it.
11. Your rights
Within the scope of the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, you have the right to request information about the personal data we process about you, to have incorrect data corrected and data deleted, to object to processing, and to request the release or transfer of your data. Please contact info@tierfreunde-schweiz.ch. You may also lodge a complaint with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).
12. Changes
We will update this privacy policy if our processes or the legal situation change. The version published on this website applies.