Limitation of liability

Although every care has been taken by the Federal Office of Topography swisstopo to ensure the accuracy of the information published, no guarantee can be given with regard to the accurate, reliable, up-to-date or complete nature of this information.

swisstopo reserves the right to alter or remove the content, in full or in part, without prior notice.

Liability claims against swisstopo for material or immaterial damage resulting from access to or use or non-use of the published information, from misuse of the connection or from technical faults are excluded.

Links

Links to third party websites fall outside the scope of responsibility of swisstopo. Access and use of such websites take place entirely at the user’s own risk. swisstopo expressly declares that it has no influence whatsoever over the content of any linked site. Responsibility for the information and services of linked sites rests entirely with the relevant third parties.

No liability can be accepted with regard to the content of such websites.

Copyright

The information contained on swisstopo's websites is made available to the public. Downloading or copying of texts, illustrations, photos or any other data does not entail any transfer of rights with regard to the content. Exceptions are the free geodata and geoservices, for which special terms of use apply.

Copyright and any other rights relating to texts, illustrations, photos or any other data available on the websites of swisstopo are the exclusive property of swisstopo or of any other expressly mentioned owners. Any reproduction requires the prior written consent of the copyright holder.

Data protection

Legal basis

The handling of personal data at swisstopo is regulated by the Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG, SR 235.1) and the Ordinance to the Federal Act on Data Protection (VDSG, SR 235.11).

Right of access to information, halt to processing and deletion

The right of access to information in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of the Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG) gives every individual, irrespective of his or her place of residence and nationality, the right to ask swisstopo whether data on him or her is being processed. The right of access to information is the means by which Person can check the processing of their data and request any necessary correction. You can also request a halt to processing or the deletion of your data at any time.

Please contact swisstopo’s data protection advisor to exercise your right to access information, halt processing or delete your data.

Information automatically stored when you visit our websites

When you access our websites, the following data is stored in log files: IP address (i.e. the unique address that identifies your computer on the Internet), date, time, browser request and generally transmitted information on the operating system or the browser. In accordance with the Federal Act on the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (SPTA), there is a statutory storage obligation for connection data from the previous six months.

We use these IP addresses, which have been anonymised in advance, to help administer the website and to gather general demographic information for aggregate use.

This usage data forms the basis for statistical anonymous evaluations that enable us to identify trends which we use to improve our offer accordingly. If you order products or subscribe to a newsletter via our websites, your e-mail address is stored separately and not linked to the anonymous log files. You can cancel your registration at any time by sending a corresponding e-mail to swisstopo’s data protection advisor.

Use of cookies

We use cookies on a variety of our web pages in order to make your visit to our website more attractive and to facilitate the use of certain functions. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer. The majority of the cookies we use are deleted from your hard disk when you close your browser session (session cookies), while certain others remain on your computer and enable us to recognise you when you visit our website again (permanent cookies).
You can block or restrict the storage and reading of cookies in your browser. Please note that by doing so you will no longer be able to use certain functions on our website.

Google Analytics

If you have given your consent, Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Ireland Limited ("Google") is used on this website. The use includes the "Universal Analytics" operating mode. This makes it possible to assign data, sessions and interactions across multiple devices to a pseudonymous user ID and thus analyze a user's activities across devices.

Google Analytics uses "cookies" to help the website analyze how users interact with the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. We would like to point out that on this website Google Analytics has been extended to include IP anonymisation in order to ensure anonymous collection of IP addresses (so-called IP masking). The IP address transmitted by your browser in the context of Google Analytics is not merged with other Google data. For more information on terms of use and data protection, please visit https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/gb.html or https://policies.google.com/?hl=en.

Purposes of the Processing

On behalf of swisstopo, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide swisstopo with other services related to website and Internet use.

Legal Basis

The legal basis for the use of Google Analytics is your consent.

Recipients or Categories of Recipients

The recipient of the collected data is Google, on behalf of swisstopo.

Duration of Data Storage

The data sent by us and linked to cookies, user-identifiers (e.g. User-IDs) or advertising-identifiers are automatically deleted after 14 months. Data whose retention period has been reached is automatically deleted once a month.

Rights of the Persons affected

You can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website (including your IP address) and from processing this data by Google by downloading and installing the Browser Add-on. Opt-out cookies will prevent future collection of your data when you visit this website. To prevent Universal Analytics from collecting data across different devices, you must opt-out on all systems used. If you click here, the opt-out cookie will be set: Disable Google Analytics

You can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future by blocking the storage of cookies by setting your browser software accordingly; however, we would like to point out that in this case you may not be able to use all functionalities of this website to their full extent.

Source: the text in the "Google Analytics" section was kindly provided by www.datenschutzbeauftragter-info.de and adapted for the swisstopo website.

Social networks and other third party services

swisstopo manages miscellaneous accounts and profiles on social networks (including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN, Instagram, etc.), its own YouTube channels and various apps. These pages and services are offered and operated by third parties. All of these pages have their own data protection provisions.

In addition, third-party services, such as those provided by YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, bit.ly etc., are directly embedded into individual swisstopo web pages. These providers also use cookies, etc. When they use the relevant swisstopo web pages, the user’s data is automatically transmitted to these companies. In such cases, the data protection provisions of the provider concerned expressly apply. Users must be aware that data is collected via these services and may also be passed on to third parties. If users also have an account with the service concerned, the operator may assign the information transmitted directly to the personal account concerned.

swisstopo has no influence over the collection of data or its further use by these operators. swisstopo has no knowledge of how much data they store, where they store it and how long, the extent to which they comply with duties to erase data, the analyses they make of the data, the links they make to the data and to whom they pass on the data. 

The most important third-party services swisstopo uses are:

YouTube: As soon as you call up a swisstopo webpage that has a YouTube video embedded in it, a connection is established with the YouTube servers, and plug-ins from YouTube (YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA; subsidiary of Google LLC) are used from time to time. YouTube receives information on which page was visited from which IP address.

Instagram: Instagram, Inc. is owned by Facebook. For further information on how Instagram handles user data, please consult its Data Policy.

Twitter: Twitter, Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94103. For further information on how Twitter handles user data, please consult its Privacy Policy and its Cookies guidelines.

Bitly: Bitly is a URL shortening service. Bitly, Inc. is based in New York, USA. You will find further information on how Bitly handles user data at https://bitly.com/pages/privacy

Google reCaptcha: Under the name reCaptcha, Google LLC operates services that may recognise and prevent automated actions on websites. Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

What personal data do we collect and for what purpose?

geocat. ch (geospatial metadata)
geocat.ch is the metadata catalogue for geodata in Switzerland, i.e. the application for administering and publishing geospatial metadata in accordance with standard GM03 (Swiss standard SN 612050). At least one contact point is defined for each geospatial metadata set.

geocat. ch contains the following publicly available data:

• Last name and first name
• Name and abbreviation of the organisation
• E-mail address and telephone number of the person or organisation
• Address of the organisation (house number, street, postal code, town, etc.)
   

Address list of geologists
The address list of geologists and the geology scene respectively in Switzerland (Network Geology CH) is available in PDF format or as a web-based database (operated by SCNAT).

The address list contains the following publicly available data:

• Last name or first name
• Name of the organisation, business, institute, etc.
• Address (house number, street, postal code, town, etc.)
   

swisstopo’s online shop
swisstopo offers its products in its online shop both in analogue (paper maps) and in digital form. Maps, aerial and ortho images, landscape and elevation models, software and other products are available in digital form.
The range of products and services is being constantly expanded.

swisstopo maintains a customer database for the shop with the following data:

• Last name, first names
• Username (e-mail address) and password
• Address
• Phone
• Information on products ordered
   

Data processing is carried out exclusively for the order and delivery of the products. Your data will be disclosed to our delivery companies to the extent that this is necessary for the delivery of the goods. To process the payment, we pass on your payment data to our payment service provider PostFinance AG. The payment service provider processes your data only to the extent that we are allowed to process it ourselves. Your personal data will not be disclosed to any further third parties. Data processing is carried out in accordance with the National Land Survey Ordinance NLSO, Art. 24 ff.

When you place an order, your personal data is transmitted in encrypted form via the Internet using HTTPS (TLS 1.2 128 bits). Credit card data is not stored, but collected and processed directly by our payment service provider, PostFinance AG. We secure our website and other systems through technical and organisational measures designed to prevent the loss, destruction, access to, alteration of, or dissemination of your personal data by unauthorised persons. Your customer account can only be accessed by entering your personal password. You should always treat your payment details as strictly confidential and close the browser window when you have completed your order, especially if you are sharing your computer with other users.

swisstopo newsletter
The newsletter contains news, offers and further information from swisstopo. With the newsletter, you receive advertising about our products or services or suggestions for participating in promotions, such as sweepstakes.

When you register for the newsletter, only your e-mail address is saved and no further personalized summary or evaluation of your data is made. Data processing is carried out in accordance with the National Land Survey Ordinance NLSO, Art. 24 ff.

If you want to cancel your subscription to the newsletter, then simply click on the ‘unsubscribe’ link that is provided in each newsletter or send us an e-mail stating your wish to unsubscribe.

Further information

Non-disclosure of personal data

Any other use of your personal information, in particular its sale, disclosure or dissemination to third parties, is explicitly excluded.

Security

swisstopo uses the latest technologies to protect personal data from unauthorised access and improper use.

Data protection advice

The data protection advisor at swisstopo is the contact person for your enquiries relating to data protection and the right to information at swisstopo.

We will be pleased to receive your questions or comments of any kind:

Federal Office of Topography swisstopo
Data protection advisor
Seftigenstrasse 264
P.O. Box
3084 Wabern

E-mail: privacyPolicy@swisstopo.ch