Privacy Policy
I. Introduction
In this Data Privacy Policy, we inform you about the collection and processing of personal data when using Ricola’s websites www.ricola.com and/or any market-specific versions (e.g. www.ricola.com/de-ch) (hereinafter altogether and each a ”Website”).
This Data Privacy Policy is not necessarily a comprehensive description of our data processing. It is possible that other data protection statements or general terms and conditions, terms of use, terms of participation, or similar documents are applicable to specific circumstances.
The term ”personal data” in this Data Privacy Policy shall mean any information that identifies or could reasonably be used to identify any natural person.
This Data Privacy Policy is aligned with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (”GDPR”) and the Swiss Data Protection Act (”DPA”). However, the applicable law depends on the individual use case.
II. Controller and Contact
The ”controller” (the responsible person) of data processing as described in this Data Privacy Policy is Ricola Group AG, Baselstrasse 31, 4242 Laufen, Switzerland unless, we inform you differently.
You can contact us with any data protection related concerns, regardless of the country Website concerned, using the following contact details:
Data Privacy Officer of Ricola Group AG, Baselstrasse 31, 4242 Laufen, Switzerland or email us at datenschutz@ricola.com.
III. Collection and processing of personal data
We primarily process data (i) which is generated when accessing and using our Website or (ii) which is provided by you for example, when you submit a contact form or participate in a competition.
When you access our Website for informational purposes only (that is, when you do not log in, register, click on social media embedded content or otherwise provide us with specific information), we collect data that your browser shares with the Website, so to enable you to access the Website.
This is particularly: IP address, cookie information, browser type and settings, device type and operating system, time zone difference to GMT, preferred language, country from which our website is accessed, sources from which you reached our website, content of the request (specific pages), the amount of data transferred.
For information about cookies being used on the Website, click here.
When you contact us, take part in a competition, or buy something in an online shop, etc. we primarily process personal data that we obtain from you directly. You may find further information listed below about customer contact inquiries, competitions, and marketing activities (for example, on social media).
IV. Purpose and legal basis of data processing
We process your personal data for different purposes and based on different legal bases that allow the processing.
We process your personal data in particular to provide and improve our services, to provide customer service, to answer your requests or to sell products in an online shop (Art. 6(1)(a) and Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). Data processing is also carried out to analyze the internet traffic on our Website and to improve the functionality of our Website. This processing of personal data is necessary to protect our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We process personal data to comply with laws, directives and recommendations from authorities and internal regulations. We may process your data for further purposes, for example as part of our internal processes and administration or for quality assurance purposes and trainings.
Where we do not ask for consent for processing, the processing of your personal data relies on the requirement of the processing for initiating or performing a contract with you (or the entity you represent) or on our legitimate interest in the particular processing, in particular in pursuing the purposes and objectives set out in this section and in implementing related measures.
If you have given us your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) to process your personal data for specific purposes (for example, when you participate in a competition), we will process your personal data within the scope of and based on this consent, unless we have another legal basis. You may withdraw your given consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.
Marketing activities and/or competitions on the Website and on social media
From time to time, we conduct marketing activities (e.g. giveaways or competitions). To participate in such activities, it is necessary to collect personal data (such as your name, address, age, mailing address and as further described in the conditions of participation). Your data will be processed and stored by us for the purpose of the competition and to comply with legal obligations unless otherwise consented. If we engage third parties to carry out a competition and pass on to them personal data that you have made available to us, we will conclude appropriate data processing agreements with them. You find further information about third parties below. Please note that additional conditions of participation may apply to competitions which take precedence over this Privacy Policy.
Customer inquiries
In order to address customer inquiries, complaints or comments submitted via the contact form on our Website, we will use the personal data you have shared with us (such as your email address, your first and last name or your mailing address) to contact you. The personal data you have shared with us will be used to respond to the inquiry, complaint or comment in question and will be stored for as long as we deem it necessary for the purpose of responding or we deem it appropriate to comply with applicable laws. If necessary, we will pass on the personal data you have shared with us to Ricola Group companies or our sales partner or wholesalers for the purpose of supporting the relevant case.
V. With whom do we share your data?
In the course of our business activities and in line with the purposes of the data processing as set out here, we may transfer personal data to third parties, insofar as such transfer is legally permitted and we deem it appropriate. In particular, the following categories of recipients may be concerned:
Ricola Group companies;
our sales partners or wholesalers and service providers (e.g. IT providers, marketing agencies);
our e-commerce service providers;
third parties in order to comply with our legal obligations (authorities, courts).
All these categories of recipients may involve third parties, so that your data may also be disclosed to them. We can restrict the processing by certain third parties (for example IT providers), but not by others (for example authorities).
Recipients may be located in Switzerland, in Europe, and all countries in which any Ricola Group companies, branches or other offices are located as well as in other countries outside of Europe (including the USA) where any sales partners, wholesalers or service providers of Ricola Group companies are located (such as Microsoft or Salesforce). You may find more information about the products and services we use in the sections below.
In the context of our business activities and in line with the purpose of the data processing set out in this policy we may transfer data to a country where data protection laws may provide a different level of protection than the laws in your jurisdiction. We will ensure an adequate level of protection as required by law by means of (i) appropriate agreements in place or (ii) by reliance on certain legal exceptions to data privacy protection, such as in case of consent to data transfer, performance of contracts, the processing, declaratory determination, execution and enforcement of legal claims, an overriding public interest, public availability of personal data or because it is necessary to protect the integrity of the individuals concerned.
Use of cookies
You may find detailed information about the use of cookies here. We use Usercentrics on our Website to manage user consent and compliance with data protection regulations. Usercentrics GmbH, in Germany, provides a consent management platform that helps us obtain and document your consent for the use of cookies and other tracking technologies. We use Usercentrics to inform you about cookies and as a consent management platform. Usercentrics ensures that your preferences are respected and that we comply with legal requirements regarding data privacy. The data collected for consent purposes is stored and processed within the European Union.
VI. Digital services and social media
We would like to inform you about the management of your data on our Website and on our brand pages on social media platforms. Ricola uses multiple digital products and services on our Website to provide streamlined user experiences. We have concluded the necessary contracts with the providers of these products and services to ensure compliance with data protection laws.
Ricola operates several brand accounts on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok; some of these accounts are market specific. We have limited influence on data processing by the platform operators (e.g. management of users and shared information). Where we can exert influence, we work within the scope of the possibilities available to us to ensure that the platform operators handle data in accordance with data protection regulations. You may find more information on data processing by the platform providers in their privacy policies.
We may embed marketing cookies and/or social media content on our Website. For more information about the marketing cookies, please refer to our cookie settings here.
Google LLC
On our Website, we use various services of Google LLC, based in the USA, or if you are based in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, Google Ireland Ltd, based in Ireland. Google LLC is responsible for the processing of personal data when using Google products and services.
We use in particular the following Google products and services on our Website: Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, Google Maps, YouTube, reCAPTCHA. You may find more information about Google's processing and privacy controls in Google's privacy policy and privacy controls.
Google Tag Manager
Our Website uses Google Tag Manager, so that website tags (pixels) can be managed efficiently. Website tags are placeholders that are stored in the source code of the Website, e.g. to record the integration of frequently used website elements, such as code for web analytics services. The Google Tag Manager processes personal data for technical purposes (e.g. to correct any connection errors) and provides for the triggering of other tags, which in turn may collect personal data (e.g. Facebook pixels). Google Tag Manager does not have access to this data.
Google Analytics
For the purpose of analyzing our Website and its visitors, as well as for marketing and advertising purposes, we use the web analytics service, Google Analytics 4.
Google Analytics uses cookies that are stored on your terminal device (laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) and enables an analysis of your use of our Website. This allows us to evaluate the usage behavior on our Website and to design our website experience in a more interesting way via the statistics/reports obtained.
Google Analytics 4 has IP address anonymization enabled by default. This means that your IP address is shortened by Google before it is transmitted. Google uses this information to evaluate your (pseudonymous) use of our Website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide us with other services related to website activity and internet usage. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other Google data, according to Google. When you visit our Website, your user behavior is recorded in the form of events (such as page views, interaction with the Website), as well as other data such as your approximate location (country and city), technical information about your browser, and the end devices you use or the referrer URL, i.e. via which website / advertising material you came to our Website.
Google Ads
We use Google Ads, an online advertising service from Google, to place ads on Google Search Network and Google Display Network. Google Ads uses cookies to analyze the use of our Website. A cookie is set if you have reached our website via a Google ad. Cookies of this type have a limited validity, do not contain personal data and are therefore not used for personal identification. If you visit certain pages of ours and the cookie has not yet expired, we and Google can recognize that someone has clicked on the ad and thus been redirected to our Website.
We also use the remarketing function of Google Ads. This enables us to display interest-based advertising to visitors to our website on other websites within the Google advertising network, such as YouTube or Google Ads. For this purpose, the interactions of our Website users are analyzed (e.g., which products they were interested in), so that we can show them targeted advertising on other websites even after they have left our Website. To make this possible, Google sets cookies when they visit certain Google services or websites within the Google advertising network. The cookies are used to identify the browser used and not to identify a person. To find out more about Google Ads privacy policy, please click here. To see the details of cookies placed on our Website, please refer to our cookie information settings here.
Google Maps
To integrate interactive maps on our website, we use the online map service, Google Maps. By using Google Maps, information about your use of our Website (including your IP address) may be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Google may store this data as usage profiles for the purpose of tailoring its services, advertising and market research. If you are logged in to Google, your data will be directly assigned to your account. If you do not wish this, you must log out beforehand.
YouTube
We may integrate videos on our Website through the services of the provider YouTube LLC, based in the USA, a subsidiary of Google LLC. ("Google"). When you start playing a YouTube video on our Website, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. This lets the YouTube server know, which of our Website you have visited. This information (including your IP address) may be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. If you are logged into your YouTube account at the same time, you enable YouTube to assign your viewing activity to your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account before visiting our Website. For more information about YouTube's privacy policy, please visit https://www.youtube.com/t/privacy
reCAPTCHA
The reCAPTCHA service is used to distinguish whether an entry (e.g. in a contact form) is made by a human or automatically by a computer program (so-called bots). In this way, it is possible to ensure the security of our Website and protect it from automated entries (or bot attacks) and from spam. The data sent from reCAPTCHA to Google includes user behavior, device information, IP addresses, and other signals that can be used to determine the likelihood that a user is human or a bot.
Salesforce
We use Salesforce Service Cloud, a customer relationship management (CRM) system provided by Salesforce (SFDC Ireland Limited), to manage customer inquiries. Data that you make available to us via our Website (e.g. as part of contact form on our Website) is stored in Salesforce’s system. The data is stored and processed on servers within the European Union. You find more information here: https://www.salesforce.com/company/privacy/
Formspree
We use the digital platform, Formspree, operated by Formspree, Inc. on our Website to manage and streamline form submissions. Formspree allows us to create, manage, and analyze various types of forms for user interactions. The data you provide through these forms, such as contact details and feedback, is stored and processed by Formspree. For more information on how Formspree uses data, please visit: https://formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy/
Cituro
To manage the demand of inquiries and to organize tours to the facilities of Ricola, we use the digital platform Cituro for appointment bookings on our Website. Cituro GmbH in Germany provides an online appointment management and booking solution that allows us to confirm, schedule, reschedule the tour reservations made on our Website, as well as to process online payments upon booking. Cituro processes data that you make available to Ricola while booking a tour on our Website. You find out more here: https://www.cituro.com/datenschutz
MikMak
We use MikMak on our Website as a store locator for some markets. TIPO Entertainment, Inc., doing business as MikMak, provides the digital infrastructure to locate stores that carry a specific product of Ricola, so that the product availability and store information can be displayed directly on our Website. Data that you make available in the store locator on our Website is transferred to MikMak. You find more information on https://www.mikmak.com/legal/privacypolicy
DatoCMS
We use DatoCMS on our Website as our content management system. DatoCMS, operated by Dato S.r.l. in Italy, enables us to manage and deliver digital content seamlessly. The data you provide, such as personal details and content submissions, is stored and processed on servers within the European Union. For more information, please refer to: https://www.datocms.com/legal/privacy-policy
Shopify
We use Shopify on our Website as our e-commerce platform. Shopify Inc. provides the infrastructure to manage and sell products online, including payment processing and order fulfillment. The data that you provide during the purchase process, such as your contact details and payment information, is stored and processed by Shopify. You may find more information on: https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy
Meta
We use various products and services of Meta, such as:
Facebook and Instagram brand pages
We operate brand pages on Facebook and Instagram. According to Meta Terms of Service, which each user agreed to when signing up on Facebook and/or Instagram, we may be able to identify the users of the platform and view their profiles and other information shared by them to us. You do not need to be a member of Facebook and/or Instagram to view the content on our brand pages.
To learn more about Meta’s privacy policy, please visit https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy.
You can learn more about how privacy works on Facebook and on Instagram.
Meta Ads Manager
We use Meta Ads Manager to place ads on Facebook or Instagram. You can find more information here.
X (Twitter)
We operate brand pages on X (Twitter). The X (Twitter) privacy policy can be found here.
TikTok
We operate brand pages on TikTok. We may use TikTok to retarget users in TikTok Ads. For more information about TikTok’s privacy policy, please visit https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/privacy-policy/en
We operate brand/company pages on LinkedIn. We may embed LinkedIn content to our Website. For more information about LinkedIn’s privacy policy, please visit: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
VII. Information about your data
Data of Children
Our services on the Website are not targeted at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 on our Website. If personal information about children has been provided to us in error and that you wish to request deletion of that personal information, please contact us.
Duration of data storage
Unless otherwise stated, we store usage data or other personal data for as long as we deem it necessary, or appropriate to comply with applicable laws, or for as long as we deem it necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. We delete your data as soon as it is no longer needed and, in any case, after the legally prescribed maximum retention period has expired.
Data security
We maintain up-to-date technical measures to ensure data security, in particular to protect your personal data from risks during data transmission and from third parties gaining access to it. These are adapted to the current state of the art.
Links to partner websites
Our Website may contain links to websites or services provided by third parties that are not operated by us. Please note that we have no control over the content, privacy practices, or data processing activities of these third-party websites. When you click on a link to a third-party website, you are subject to their terms of use, privacy policies, and data processing practices. We recommend that you read the privacy policies of all third-party websites you visit to understand how your personal data is collected, used, and disclosed.
VIII. Your Rights
Subject to the fulfilment of the respective relevant legal requirements and to possible restrictions under national law, as a data subject, you are entitled to the following rights: you have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability regarding your personal data. Furthermore, you have the right to object at any time to the processing based on your consent or our legitimate interests.
Please note, however, that we reserve the right to assert the restrictions provided by law, for example: if we are obliged to store or process certain data, if we have an overriding interest in doing so (insofar as we are entitled to invoke this), or if we need it for the assertion of claims. If exercising certain rights will incur costs on you, we will notify you thereof in advance. We have already informed you of the possibility to withdraw consent above. Please further note that the exercise of these rights may conflict with your contractual obligations, and this may result in consequences, such as premature contract termination or involve costs. If this is the case, we will inform you in advance unless it has already been contractually agreed upon.
The exercise of such rights usually requires that you clearly prove your identity (e.g. by means of a copy of your identity card, where your identity is otherwise not clear or cannot be verified). To assert your rights, you can contact us by email or at the address given above.
Moreover, you have the right to pursue your claim through the courts or to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection authority. The competent data protection authority of Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. For a list of the contact details of the European Data Protection Authorities, please visit https://www.edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en.
IX. Amendment of the privacy policy
We may change this privacy policy at any time without prior notice. The current version published on our Website applies. If the Data Privacy Policy is part of an agreement with you, we will notify you by email or other appropriate means in case of an amendment.
Latest update: 2024-10-01