Data protection policy

This website was created and published by the PERMANENT COMMITTEE OF THE GENEVA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW, which is headquartered in Switzerland at Route François Peyrot 30, 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex and registered in the Geneva Trade Register under the number CHE – 104.032.519 (hereinafter: “GIMS”).

We are committed to handling your personal data responsibly. As such, we believe that it is only logical for us to comply with the legal requirements laid down in the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), the Ordinance to the Federal Act on Data Protection (DPO), the Telecommunications Act (TCA) and other provisions of Swiss data protection law. We will also comply with the provisions of the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) insofar as they apply to us.

We hereby wish to inform you of how we process your personal data.

Scope and purpose of the collection, processing and use of personal data

When you visit our site

When you visit our website, our servers temporarily store each instance of access in a protocol file.

These data are generally collected and processed anonymously, with no personal references, for the purposes of allowing use of our website (establishment of a connection), ensuring the long-term security and stability of the system and optimising our Internet offering, as well as for statistical purposes. The aforementioned information is not linked to or stored with personal data.

Only in the event of an attack on the network infrastructure of the website of GIMS or in the event that another form of illicit or abusive use of the website is suspected will the IP address be analysed for the purposes of clarification and defence and, if necessary, used in criminal proceedings for identification and in criminal and civil proceedings against the user concerned.

Please refer to “Tracking tools” below for more information about protocol files.

If you are signing up for a newsletter, using a contact form or taking part in a competition in connection with GIMS.

If you wish to receive a newsletter or contact us through a contact form, you must truthfully provide us with some or all of the following personal data:

your email address;
your title;
your given name;
your surname;
your postal address;
your telephone number.

We need this information to be able to process your request, send you newsletters and/or use your data for marketing purposes, as described below.

If you are purchasing tickets online

We require the following data:

your email address;
your title;
your given name;
your surname;
your postal address;
your telephone number;
your date of birth;
your bank details (credit card details).

We need this information to be able to process your order. We may also use it for marketing purposes, as described below.

If you are requesting media accreditation

We require the following data:

your email address;
your title;
your given name;
your surname;
your job title;
your company;
the type of media/coverage area;
your postal address;
your telephone number;
details of your press card.

We need this information to be able to legitimise your activities as a media representative with a view to giving you special access to events.

If you are registering for an event as an exhibitor

We require the following data:
your email address;
your title;
your given name;
your surname;
your job title/role;
your company;
your postal address;
your country;
your telephone number.

We process this information in order to enter into a business relationship with you. We may also use it for marketing purposes, as described below.

Transmission of data to third parties

We only transmit your data if you have expressly consented to this, if we are required to do so by law, or where we must do so in order to exercise our rights. We also transmit your data to our affiliates.
Furthermore, we transmit users’ personal data to third parties to the extent necessary for the use of the website and in order to answer questions, handle requests for information or, as applicable, provide the services requested by the user. Third-party use of data transmitted to this end is strictly limited to the purposes mentioned above, subject to the following clauses on use of data for marketing purposes.

Use for marketing purposes

Newsletter and other marketing campaigns By signing up for the newsletter, you expressly agree that we can use your address and your personal data for marketing purposes, such as sending newsletters about GIMS, invitations to the event and satisfaction surveys. You can unsubscribe from all marketing campaigns at any time. You will find the relevant contact details below, under “Contact”. There is also an unsubscribe link in all newsletter emails.

Furthermore, we are authorised to entrust the technical development of marketing campaigns to third parties and thus have the right to make your personal data available to third parties to that end.

Each time a newsletter is sent out, information is generated about the address file used, the subject, and the number of newsletters sent. We can also see which addresses have not yet received the newsletter, which address it was sent to and for which addresses sending failed. In addition to that, we can see the opening rate, including information about the addresses that opened the newsletter and clicked on the various links and/or made a purchase (tracking pixels). Finally, we can see information about the addresses that have unsubscribed. We use this data for statistical purposes and with a view to optimising the newsletter’s content and structure.

Transmission of personal data abroad

GIMS has the right to transmit your data to third-party companies abroad to the extent necessary for handling your requests for information, providing services and conducting marketing campaigns. These third-party companies are required to respect users’ privacy in the same way as the provider itself.

Right to information, deletion and correction

You may request information about the personal data concerning you and stored by us at any time. Requests for information must be submitted in writing and must be accompanied by proof of identity. Similarly, you have the right to demand the deletion or correction of the personal data concerning you and stored by us at any time.

You can exercise this right by emailing dpo@palexpo.ch. Other contact options are outlined below.

Please note that by law, certain data must be retained for a specific period. We are therefore required to store such data until that period has ended. We set these data apart in our system and only use them to comply with the relevant legal provisions.

Information for children and parents

The website of GIMS is intended for an adult audience. Minors, especially children under the age of 16, are prohibited from sending us their personal data or signing up for a service. If we discover that such data have been transmitted to us, we will delete them from our database. The child’s parents (or legal representatives) can contact us and request deletion or unsubscription. In order to fulfil such a request, we require a copy of an official document certifying that you are the child’s parent or are otherwise responsible for the child’s upbringing.

Data security

We use appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect data concerning you and stored by us from manipulation, partial or total loss, and unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are adapted constantly to keep pace with technological developments.

We also take our own in-house data protection very seriously. Our employees and the service providers acting on our behalf are required to maintain confidentiality and comply with the legal provisions on data protection. Moreover, access to personal data is only granted to the extent that it is necessary.

Cookies

Cookies help, among other things, to make your visit to the website of GIMS easier, more pleasant and more useful. Cookies are information files that your web browser automatically saves to your computer’s hard drive when you visit our website.

Cookies do not damage your computer’s hard drive and do not send us your personal data.

One way in which we use cookies is to recognise you as a registered user without requiring you to log in every time. In this case, this use does not mean that we receive new personal data about you as an online visitor.

Most web browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can also set up your browser so that cookies are not filed on your computer or so that you receive a warning message when a new cookie arrives. See your browser’s settings for more information.

Disabling cookies may result in you being unable to use all the features available on our portal.

Tracking tools

The website of GIMS uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (www.google.com). The data collected through the cookies deposited by this site are collected by Google Analytics and retained for a period of 14 months. Google Analytics uses a number of methods to analyse website usage, such as cookies (see “Cookies” above). Information about website usage is generally 6 transmitted to a Google server in the USA, where it is then stored. Since IP anonymisation has been activated on this website, the IP address is shortened in European Union Member States, other signatory States of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and Switzerland before being sent to the USA. The full IP address is transmitted to a Google server in the USA, where it is only shortened in exceptional cases. The anonymised IP address sent by the user’s browser in connection with Google Analytics is not grouped with other Google data.

For your information, the following data are collected in connection with the above and stored by us:

the IP address of the requesting computer;
the date and time of access;
the name and URL of the data viewed;
the website from which our domain was accessed;
the operating system of your computer and the browser you are using;
the country from which our website was accessed; and
the name of your Internet service provider.

This information is used to analyse website usage, produce reports on website activity and provide other services linked to website usage for the purposes of market research and organisation of websites according to user needs.

Users can prevent the cookie-generated data relating to their website usage (including their IP address) from being collected and processed by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available from the link below: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en

As an alternative to the browser plugin, users may also click on the banner at the bottom of the page to prevent Google Analytics from collecting data on the website in future. If users click on the banner, an opt-out cookie will be filed on their computer. If they delete cookies (see “Cookies” above), they will need to click the banner at the bottom of the page again.

Social media features

Links to our social media profiles

The website of GIMS features links to our social media profiles on the following social networks:

Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA,
Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
Pinterest, Inc., 808 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA,
Twitter Inc.,1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland
Snap Inc., 63 Market Street, Venice, CA 90291, USA
YouTube, a service operated by Google Inc.

Some content (text and photos, username) that is published on social networks and directly related to GIMS may be picked up for display on the aforementioned sites.

If you click on one of the social network icons, you will be connected to the social network in question. However, you will need to sign into your user account or already be signed in.

A direct connection will be established between your browser and the server of the relevant social network if you choose one of the available features and click on the symbol of the relevant social network. The network will then be informed that you visited our website with your IP address and accessed the link. If you access a link to a social network while you are logged into your account on that network, the content of your site may be linked directly to your profile on the network, meaning that the network will be able to directly attribute your visit to our website to your user account. If you wish to prevent this, you should sign out before clicking on any such links. In any case, the network will still be able to attribute your visit to your account if you sign in after clicking on the link.

Contact

If you have any questions about data protection on our website, want to request information or want to have your data deleted, please contact us by email at dpo@palexpo.ch.

If you wish to contact us by post, please send your request to the following address:

Permanent Committee of the Geneva International Motor Show
Data Protection Office (dpo)
Case postale
112 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex

Consent and permission

By accepting our data protection policy, you give us your consent and permission in accordance with the applicable parts of the above text. For the purposes of clarification, your consent and permission relate, specifically, to one or more of the points listed below (depending on the context in which the data are processed), it being specified that you can withdraw your consent and connection at any time and for the future. Your consent may therefore imply, depending on the case(s) in question, that you agree to allow GIMS, assisted by third parties if necessary, to:

process your personal data to provide the services that you requested from GIMS and/or any of its affiliated entities;
regularly email you information about GIMS and/or invitations to events relating to GIMS;
collect cookies with a view to gathering, storing and using usage data for marketing purposes;
inform you, through targeted advertising if applicable, about events relating to GIMS, including through sending invitations, satisfaction surveys, offers and special services, if necessary on the basis of additional data to be subjected to specific analysis.

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