I–CV

the view behind the rating

Research Portal ESG-Radar

Privacy Policy Independent Credit View AG

1. Who we are

Independent Credit View AG (hereinafter also “I-CV”, “we”, “us”) is a stock corporation based in Zurich, whose purpose is to provide consulting and training services in the field of financial and credit analysis. Our service offering includes the services listed on our website https://www.i-cv.ch/.

2. What does this privacy policy cover?

This privacy policy explains how we collect and otherwise process personal data. It also governs the disclosure and retention of personal data and informs you of your rights. This privacy policy is not exhaustive; other privacy policies, individual contracts, terms of use and similar documents may regulate specific situations. Personal data means all information relating to an identified or identifiable person.

In the course of our business activities and the operation of our website, we collect and process personal data (hereinafter also referred to as “data”), in particular personal data about our customers, related persons, offices and authorities, professional and other associations, visitors to our website, participants in events, job applicants, recipients of newsletters and other persons or their contact persons and employees (hereinafter also referred to as “you”). In this privacy policy, we inform you about these data processing activities. In addition, we may inform you separately about the processing of your data (e.g. in forms or contractual conditions).

If you provide us with personal data of other persons (e.g. family members, representatives, business partners or other related persons), we assume that you are entitled to do so and that the data is correct. You also ensure that these persons have been informed about this disclosure, if we are legally obliged to do so (e.g. by making the present privacy statement available to them beforehand).

3. Who is responsible for processing your data?

For the processing activities described in this privacy policy, the data controller is:

Independent Credit View AG
Schweizergasse 21
8001 Zürich
Tel: +41 43 204 19 19
Mail: info@i-cv.ch

Inquiries regarding data protection can be sent to us by letter or e-mail, together with a copy of the ID or passport for identification purposes.

4. For what purpose do we process which of your data

When you use our services, visit our website or otherwise interact with us, we collect and process various categories of your personal data.

In general, we can obtain and process your data for the following purposes:

  • Communication:
    We process personal data in order to communicate with you and with third parties, authorities or courts by e-mail, telephone, letter or otherwise (e.g. to answer enquiries, in the context of consulting and representing or in the context of contract initiation or execution). This also includes that we can inform our customers and other interested parties about events, news about our company or similar things. This can be done, for example, in the form of newsletters and other regular contacts (in particular electronically, by post, by telephone). You can reject such communication at any time or refuse to give your consent to such communication or withdraw it. In the course of communication we process in particular the contents and metadata of the communication as well as your contact data, but also image and audio recordings of (video) telephone calls. In the case of an audio or video recording of the communication, we will point this out separately in advance and it is up to you to let us know if you do not want a recording or to end the communication. If we need to establish or wish to establish your identity, we may collect additional data (e.g. request a copy of an identity document).

  • Negotiating and concluding contracts:
    In connection with the conclusion of a contract, such as a contract to establish a customer relationship with you or your principal or employer, we may process, in particular, your name, contact details, powers of attorney, declarations of consent, information about third parties (e.g. contact persons, family information etc.), contractual content, date of conclusion, creditworthiness data and all other data that you make available to us or that we collect from public sources or from third parties (e.g. commercial register, credit reference agencies, sanctions lists, media from the internet).

  • Administration and management of contracts:
    We process personal data in order to fulfil our contractual obligations towards our customers and other contractual partners (e.g. suppliers, service providers etc.) and in particular to provide and demand contractual services. This also includes data processing for the purpose of order management (e.g. advice to our customers, correspondence) as well as data processing for the enforcement of contracts (debt collection, debt enforcement and court proceedings etc.) and public communication. For this purpose, we process in particular the data that we have received or collected in the context of the initiation and conclusion of the contract as well as data that we create or collect in the context of our contractual services or that we obtain from public sources or from other third parties (e.g. courts, authorities, information services, media, detectives or from the Internet). These data may include in particular consultation protocols, notes, internal and external correspondence, contract documents, documents that we create and receive in the context of proceedings before courts and authorities (e.g. writings, judgments and tax assessments), background information about you or other persons, image and sound recordings as well as further order-related information, documents, performance records, invoices as well as financial and payment information. In this context, we may also process particularly sensitive personal data.

  • Operation of our website:
    To ensure the security and stability of our websites, we collect technical data, such as your IP address, information about your operating system and device settings, the region from which you access the website, the time of your visit and how you use the website. We also use cookies and similar technologies. For more information, see Section 9.

  • Improving our electronic offerings:
    To continuously improve our website and other electronic offerings (e.g. newsletters), we collect data on your behavior and preferences by analyzing, for example, how you navigate through our websites and how you interact with our social media profiles and other electronic offerings (e.g. newsletters).

  • Registration:
    To use certain offers and services (e.g. newsletters), you must register. We process the data provided during registration. We may also collect personal data about you during the use of the offer or service. If necessary, we will provide you with further information about the processing of this data.

  • Security purposes and access control
    We process personal data to ensure the appropriate security of our IT and other infrastructure (e.g. buildings), and to improve it on an ongoing basis. This includes, for example, monitoring and controlling electronic access to our IT systems and physical access to our premises, analysing and testing our IT infrastructure, system and error logs, and creating back-up copies. For documentation and security purposes (prevention and investigation of incidents) we may also keep access logs or visitor lists for our premises, process criminal records, and use surveillance systems (e.g. CCTV). We will inform you about surveillance systems at the relevant locations by means of appropriate signage.

  • Compliance with laws, instructions and recommendations of authorities and internal regulations
    We process personal data to comply with applicable laws (e.g. anti-money laundering, tax or professional obligations), self-regulations, certifications, industry standards, our «Corporate Governance» and for internal and external investigations in which we are a party (e.g. by a prosecution or supervisory authority or a private party).

  • Risk management and corporate governance:
    We process personal data in the context of risk management (e.g. to protect against fraudulent activities) and corporate governance. This includes, for example, our business organization (e.g. resource planning) and corporate development (e.g. acquisition and sale of business units or companies).

  • Job application:
    If you apply for a job with us, we process the corresponding data for the purpose of assessing and evaluating your application, conducting the application process and, if your application is successful, for preparing and concluding a corresponding contract. In addition to your contact details and the information contained in the relevant communication, we process in particular the data contained in your application documents, possibly also criminal record extracts, and the data that we can obtain about you in addition, e.g. from professional social networks, the internet, the media and references (if you have consented to us obtaining references). The processing of data in connection with employment is governed by a separate data protection declaration.

  • Other purposes:
    Other purposes include training and education purposes as well as administrative purposes (e.g. accounting). We may listen in on or record telephone or video conferences for training, evidence and quality assurance purposes. In such cases, we will inform you separately in advance (e.g. by a notice during the relevant video conference) and it is up to you to let us know if you do not wish to be recorded or to end the communication (if you only do not wish to be recorded on picture, please turn off your camera). We may also process personal data for the organisation, execution and follow-up of events, such as participant lists and content of presentations and discussions, but also pictures and audio recordings that are created during these events. The protection of further legitimate interests is also one of the further purposes that cannot be listed exhaustively.

5.    Where do the data come from?

  • From you:
    Many of the data we process are provided by you (e.g. in connection with our services, the use of our websites or communication with us). Some of these data are also automatically transmitted to us by your end device. You are not obliged to provide your data, except in individual cases (e.g. legal obligations). However, if you want to conclude contracts with us or use our services, you must provide us with certain data. The use of our website is also not possible without data processing. We also send marketing e-mails for information purposes. By using them, you agree to the processing of the data collected about you in the manner described in this privacy policy, subject to the cancellation of such marketing e-mails.

  • From third parties:
    We can also obtain data from publicly accessible sources (e.g. debt collection registers, land registers, commercial registers, credit reference agencies, media or the internet including social media) or receive this from authorities, your employer or principal, or other third parties (e.g. customers, legal protection insurers, credit reference agencies, address traders, associations, contractual partners, internet analysis services). This includes in particular the data we process in connection with the initiation, conclusion and performance of contracts, as well as data from correspondence and other communication with third parties, but also all other categories of data pursuant to Section 4.

6.    Who will be given your data?

In connection with the purposes mentioned in section 4, we transmit your personal data to the following categories of recipients. If necessary, we obtain your consent for this.

  • Service provider:
    We work with service providers in Germany and abroad who process data on our behalf (e.g. IT providers), in joint responsibility with us or independently (e.g. IT providers, banks, insurance companies, debt collection agencies, credit reference agencies, address verification services or consulting firms).

  • Contractual partner:
    These are other contractual partners of ours, to whom the transfer of your data arises from the contract (e.g. because you are active for a contractual partner or he provides services for you). This category of recipients also includes those with whom we cooperate. The recipients generally process the data independently.

  • Offices, authorities and courts:
    We may disclose personal data to courts, authorities and other public bodies in Switzerland and abroad if this is necessary for the fulfilment of our contractual obligations, in particular for the processing of orders, or if we are legally obliged or authorised to do so or if we consider this to be necessary to protect our interests. These recipients process the data independently.

  • Other involved persons:
    If necessary for the fulfilment of our contractual obligations, in particular for the processing of orders, we also pass on your personal data to other involved persons (e.g. guarantors, financiers, affiliated companies, information sources or experts).

  • Other persons:
    This refers to other cases where the involvement of third parties arises from the purposes mentioned in section 4. This includes, for example, the delivery recipients or payment recipients you have specified, third parties in the context of representation relationships (e.g. your lawyer or your bank) or persons involved in official or judicial proceedings. We may also pass on your personal data to our supervisory authority. In the course of corporate development, we may sell businesses, business units, assets or companies or enter into partnerships, which may also result in the disclosure of data (including your data, e.g. as a customer or supplier or as their representative) to the persons involved in these transactions. In the course of communication with our competitors, industry organisations, associations and other bodies, there may also be an exchange of data that relates to you.

All these categories of recipients may in turn involve third parties, so that your data may also become accessible to them. We can limit the processing by certain third parties (e.g. IT providers), but not that of others (e.g. authorities, banks etc.).

We also enable certain third parties to collect personal data from you on our websites and at events we organize (e.g. photographers, providers of tools we have integrated into our websites, etc.). Where we are not decisively involved in these data collections, these third parties are solely responsible for the data processing. If you have any questions or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact these third parties directly. We have listed your rights in section 8. Information on activities on our website can be found in section 9.

Finally, we point out that your personal data are transferred and stored in a secure environment and that we take all reasonable steps to prevent third parties who have not been engaged by us to provide services to you from gaining access to your personal data.

7. Are your personal data transferred abroad?

We process and store personal data mainly in Switzerland and possibly in a country where the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is applicable, depending on the case – for example, through subcontractors of our service providers or in proceedings before foreign courts or authorities – but potentially in any country in the world. In the course of our work for customers, your personal data may also be transferred to any country in the world.

If the recipient is located in a country without adequate data protection, we oblige the recipient contractually to comply with an adequate level of data protection (we use the revised standard contractual clauses of the European Commission, which are available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/, possibly with the necessary adjustments for Switzerland), unless it is already subject to a legally recognized regulation for ensuring data protection. We may also disclose personal data to a country without adequate data protection without concluding our own contract, if we can rely on an exception provision. An exception may apply in particular in the case of legal proceedings abroad, but also in cases of overriding public interests or if the execution of a contract that is in your interest requires such disclosure, if you have consented or if it is not possible to obtain your consent within a reasonable period of time and the disclosure is necessary to protect your life or physical integrity or that of a third party, or if it concerns data that you have made publicly accessible and that you have not objected to being processed. We may also rely on the exception for data from a legally prescribed register (e.g. HReg) to which we have lawfully gained access.

8. What rights do you have?

You have certain rights in connection with our data processing. In particular, you may request information about the processing of your personal data, have incorrect personal data corrected, request the deletion of personal data, object to data processing, request the release of certain personal data in a common electronic format or their transfer to other responsible parties and unsubscribe from marketing e-mails

If you wish to exercise your rights against us, please contact us; our contact details are set out in Section 3. In order to prevent misuse, we need to identify you (e.g. by means of a copy of your ID, if necessary).

Please note that these rights are subject to conditions, exceptions or restrictions (e.g. to protect third parties or business secrets or due to our professional duty of confidentiality). We reserve the right to redact copies for data protection reasons or due to legitimate confidentiality interests or to deliver them only in part.

9 How are cookies, similar technologies and social media plug-ins used on our website and other digital services (e.g. newsletters)?

When using the internet to contact us, we have various security rules and measures in place to protect your personal data. However, we cannot guarantee or accept liability for the security of your data when it is transmitted over the internet. In this context, we would like to remind you that you can also contact us by other means if you consider this appropriate.

When you use our website (including newsletters), data is generated that is stored in log files (in particular technical data). We may also use cookies and similar techniques (such as pixel tags or fingerprints) to recognize website visitors, analyze their behavior and recognize preferences. A cookie is a small file that is transmitted between your system and the server and enables the recognition of a specific device or browser.

You can set your browser to automatically reject, accept or delete cookies. You can also disable or delete cookies individually. How you can manage cookies in your browser is explained in the help menu of your browser. However, we point out that the deactivation of cookies may result in you not being able to use all the functions of our website.

The technical data we collect and the cookies we use generally do not contain any personal data. However, personal data that we or third-party providers store about you (e.g. if you have a user account with us or with these providers) may be linked to the technical data or to the information stored in or retrieved from cookies and thus to your person.

We also reserve the right to use plug-ins from social networks such as Facebook, Linked-In, Youtube, X etc. (see also the following section 10). These are small software components that establish a connection between your visit to our website and a third-party provider. The social media plug-in informs the third-party provider that you have visited our website and can transmit cookies that the third-party provider has previously placed in your web browser. Such plug-ins are recognizable by the logo of the respective social network. Further information on how these third parties use your personal data collected via their social media plug-ins can be found in their respective privacy policies.

In addition, we may use our own tools and third-party services (which may also use cookies) on our website, in particular to improve the functionality or content of our websites (e.g. integration of videos or maps), to create statistics and to place advertisements.

We currently use the following providers in particular, whose contact details and further information on the individual data processing operations can be found in their respective data protection declarations:

  • Google Analytics:
    We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, Mountain View, California, USA. The responsible entity for Europe is Google Limited Ireland («Google»). Google provides a browser plug-in to deactivate Google Analytics at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de. Google Analytics uses cookies. Google may link your IP address with other data held by Google. For data transfers to the USA, Google has committed to comply with the EU standard contractual clauses. By using our website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

  • Google Maps:
    On our website we use Google Maps (API) from Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; responsible for Europe is Google Limited Ireland, «Google»). Google Maps is a web service for displaying interactive (land) maps in order to visually display geographical information. By using this service, your location is shown and the route is simplified. Already by calling up the sub-pages in which the map of Google Maps is integrated, information about your use of our website (e.g. your IP address) is transmitted to servers of Google and stored there. This takes place regardless of whether Google provides a user account via which you are logged in or whether no user account exists. If you are logged in to Google, your data will be directly assigned to your account. If you do not wish to be associated with your profile on Google, you must log out before activating the button. Google stores your data (even for users who are not logged in) as usage profiles and evaluates them. For data transfers to the USA, Google has committed itself to signing and complying with the EU standard contractual clauses.

  • E-mail contact and online contact forms:
    Contact can be made by telephone, via the e-mail address provided and via contact forms on our website. In this case, the personal data of the sender are stored. The data are used exclusively for processing the communication and for ensuring the security of our information technology systems. If you contact us, you can object to the storage of your personal data at any time (see above under No. 8). In such a case, the communication cannot be continued.

  • CRM (Customer Relation Management):
    For customer relationship management, we use the software Salesmate CRM. With this software, we send emails and store personal data. These data are processed exclusively for communication and the services provided. If you contact us, you can object to the storage of your personal data at any time (see above section 8). In such a case, the communication cannot be continued.

  • Zoom:
    Our webinars are conducted with Zoom. With the registration, the transmitted personal data of the sender are stored. The data will be used exclusively for the processing of the communication and the guarantee of the security of our information technology systems. If you contact us, you can object to the storage of your personal data at any time (see above point 8). In such a case, the communication cannot be continued.

  • Invoice Tracking:
    For sending our invoices, we use the software AbaNinja With this software, invoices can be sent and analyzed. To perform this analysis, we collect device and access data. To collect this data, invoices contain a pixel. The invoice or the website that can be reached via the invoice is also tracked with cookies. With the help of these technologies, we receive information about whether the invoice has arrived, whether it has been opened and which contents have been clicked on. We use this information to improve our offers. The setting of a pixel can be prevented by deactivating HTML in the e-mail program (depending on the e-mail program).

10. How we process personal data on our pages and in social networks?

We may operate pages and other online presences on social networks and other platforms operated by third parties. When you communicate with us or comment on our content, we receive data from you (e.g. when you communicate with us or comment on our content) and from the platforms (e.g. statistics). The platform providers may also analyse your use and process this data together with other data they have about you for their own purposes (e.g. marketing and market research purposes and to manage their platforms), and act as independent controllers for this purpose. For further information on the processing by the platform providers, please refer to the privacy policies of the respective platforms.

We currently use the following platforms, with the identity and contact details of the platform provider available in the respective privacy policies:

LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/
XING:       https://xing.com/

We are entitled, but not obliged, to review the content before or after it is published on our online presence, to delete it without prior notice and to report it to the provider of the relevant platform.

Some of the platform operators are located outside Switzerland. Information on data transfer abroad can be found under point 7.

11. How long do we keep your data?

We process and store your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the fulfilment of our contractual and legal obligations or for the achievement of the purposes of the processing, i.e. for example for the duration of the entire business relationship (from initiation, execution until termination of a contract) as well as beyond that in accordance with legal retention and documentation obligations. It is possible that personal data will be stored for the period in which claims can be asserted against our company (i.e. in particular during the statutory limitation period).

statutory limitation period) and to the extent that we are legally obliged to do so or have a legitimate business interest in doing so (e.g. for evidence and documentation purposes).

As soon as your personal data is no longer required for the above-mentioned purposes, it will be deleted or anonymised as far as possible. For operational data (e.g. system protocols, logs), shorter retention periods of twelve months or less generally apply.

12. What if the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies?

We do not assume that the GDPR is applicable to the data processing by us. However, if the GDPR is exceptionally applicable to certain data processing, this section 12 shall apply in addition to the purposes of the GDPR and the data processing subject to it.

  • it is necessary for the preparation, conclusion and performance of contracts and their administration and enforcement (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR; see also section 4),
  • if it is necessary to protect our legitimate interests or those of third parties, e.g. for communication with you or third parties, to operate our websites, for the improvement of our electronic offerings and the registration for certain offers and services, for security purposes, for compliance with laws and regulations, for risk management and corporate governance and for other purposes such as training and education, administration, evidence and quality assurance, organisation, execution and follow-up of events and to protect other legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR; see also section 4),
  • they are required or permitted by law in accordance with the law of the EU or the EEA or a member state of the EU (Art. 6 (1) lit. c GDPR) or are necessary to protect your vital interests or those of other natural persons (Art. 6 (1) lit. d GDPR),
  • You have consented to the processing separately, e.g. by means of a declaration on our website (Art. 6 (1) lit. a and Art. 9 (2) lit. a GDPR).

We would like to point out that we generally process your data for as long as our processing purposes (see Section 4), legal retention periods and our legitimate interests, in particular for documentation and evidence purposes, require or a storage is technically necessary (e.g. in the case of backups or document management systems). If there are no legal or contractual obligations or technical reasons, we generally delete or anonymize your data after the expiry of the storage or processing period in accordance with our retention policy and in accordance with our usual procedures

If you do not provide us with certain personal data, this may result in us not being able to provide the related services or enter into a contract. We generally indicate which personal data we require from you.

The provisions of paragraph 8 Right to object to the processing of your data, in particular in the case of data processing for direct marketing purposes.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your rights or our privacy practices, please tell us (see contact details in section 2). If you are located in the EEA, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority of your country. A list of authorities in the EEA can be found here: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_de .

13. Can this privacy policy be changed?

This privacy statement is not part of a contract with you. We can change this privacy statement at any time. The version published on this website is the current version.