Cookie Policy

1.    WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS COOKIE POLICY?

This cookie policy explains how the Thommen Group (hereinafter also “we”, “us”) uses cookies and similar technologies when you use or interact with our website https://thommengroup.com/ and our other pages, apps, and online presence (together the “website”), and what choices you have in this regard. 

This cookie policy should be read in conjunction with our privacy policy, which is available at https://metallum.com/en/privacy-statement and provides you with further information about the personal data we collect, including via cookies, the way in which we process this data, and the rights to which you are entitled. 

This cookie policy applies regardless of how you access and use our website and also includes access via mobile devices and apps.

2.    WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROCESSING YOUR DATA?

Thommen Group AG is the controller responsible for the processing described in this cookie policy. However, this cookie policy also applies to cases in which the controller is not Thommen Group AG but another Thommen Group company. 

You can contact us as follows with your data protection concerns and to exercise your rights:

Thommen Group AG
Alpenstrasse 12
CH-6300 Zug, Switzerland
dataprotection@thommengroup.com

3.    HOW DO WE USE ONLINE TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

We use various technologies on our websites by means of which we and third parties engaged by us can recognize you when you use them and, under certain circumstances, track you over several visits. 

In essence, this is so that we can distinguish access by you (via your system) from access by other users, so that we can ensure that the website functions properly and carry out evaluations and personalization. Our intention is not to draw conclusions about your identity, but even without registration data, the technologies used are designed in such a way that you are recognized as an individual visitor each time you access a page, for example by our server (or the servers of third parties) assigning a specific identification number (so-called “cookie”) to you or your browser.

A distinction is made between the following cookies (technologies with similar functions such as fingerprinting are also included here):

  • Necessary cookies: Some cookies are necessary for the website to work properly as such or for certain functions. They ensure, for example, that you can switch between pages without losing information entered on a form. They also ensure that you remain logged in. These cookies are only temporary (“session cookies”). If you block them, the website may not work. Other cookies are necessary for the server to store decisions or inputs made by you beyond one session (i.e. a visit to the website) if you make use of the function in question (e.g. language selection, giving consent, the automatic login function, etc.). These cookies have an expiry date of up to 24 months. 
  • Performance cookies: We use cookies to record and analyze the use of our website, in some cases beyond the end of the session, in order to optimize our website and corresponding service and to tailor them more closely to the needs of users. We do this through the use of third-party analytical services. We have listed these below. Performance cookies also have an expiry date of up to 24 months. Details can be found on the websites of the third-party providers.
  • Marketing Cookies: We and our contracted advertising partners have an interest in targeting advertising precisely, i.e. only displaying it to those we want to address as far as possible. We have listed our contracted advertising partners below. With your consent, we and our contracted advertising partners also use cookies in this connection, by means of which the content you access can be recorded. This enables us and our contracted advertising partners to display advertising that we believe will be of interest to you on our website, but also on other websites that display advertising from us or our contracted advertising partners. Depending on the situation, these cookies have an expiry date of anything between a few days and 12 months. If you consent to the use of these cookies, you will be shown appropriate advertising. If you do not consent to these cookies, you will not see any less advertising, but the advertising will simply be random. 

In addition to marketing cookies, we use further techniques to control online advertising on other websites and thereby target it more effectively. For example, we may transmit the email addresses of our users, customers, and other persons to whom we wish to display advertising to operators of advertising platforms (e.g. social media). If these people are registered there with the same email address (which the advertising platforms check), the operators display the advertisements placed by us to them in a targeted way. The operators do not receive personal email addresses of persons who are not already known. In the case of known email addresses, however, they will be aware that these people are in contact with us, and they will be able to see what content they have accessed. 

We may also integrate other third-party offers into our website, in particular from social media providers. These offers are deactivated by default. As soon as you activate them (e.g. by clicking on a button), the relevant providers are able to determine that you are on our website. If you have an account with the social media provider, they can match this information to you and thus track your use of online services. These social media providers are responsible for processing this data.

We currently use services of the following providers and contracted advertising partners (insofar as they use data from you or cookies set on your device for advertising purposes):

  • Google Analytics: Google Ireland (based in Ireland) is the provider of the “Google Analytics” service and acts as our commissioned data processor. Google Ireland in turn uses Google LLC (based in the USA) as its commissioned data processor (both “Google”). Google uses performance cookies (see above) to track the behavior of visitors to our website (duration, frequency of pages accessed, geographical origin of access, etc.) and compiles reports for us on the use of our website on that basis. We have configured the service so that the IP addresses of visitors are truncated by Google in Europe before being forwarded to the USA and therefore cannot be traced back. We have disabled the “Data transfer” and “Signals” settings. Although we can assume that the information we share with Google is not personal data for Google, it is possible that Google can use this data for its own purposes to draw conclusions about the identity of visitors, create personal profiles, and link this data to the Google accounts of those persons. If you agree to the use of Google Analytics, you explicitly consent to such processing, which also includes the transfer of personal data (in particular, usage data for the website and app, device information, and individual IDs) to the USA and other countries. You can find information about Google Analytics data protection here [https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245] and if you have a Google account, you can find further information on processing by Google her [https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites?hl=en].
  • Google reCAPTCHA: We use “Google reCAPTCHA” (hereinafter referred to as “reCAPTCHA”) on our websites. The provider is Google Inc. (based in California). The purpose of reCAPTCHA is to check whether the data entered on our websites (e.g. on a contact form) is made by a human being or by an automated program. For this purpose, reCAPTCHA analyzes the behavior of the website visitor based on various characteristics. This analysis begins automatically as soon as the website visitor accesses the website. For analysis purposes, reCAPTCHA evaluates various pieces of information (e.g. IP address, time spent by the website visitor on the website, and mouse movements made by the user). The data collected during the analysis is forwarded to Google. reCAPTCHA analyses run entirely in the background. Website visitors are not informed that an analysis is taking place. Data processing is carried out on the basis of Art. 6(1) point (f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its website from improper automated spying and SPAM. Google’s privacy policy can be found under the following link: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

4.    HOW CAN YOU CONTROL THE USE OF COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES?

Before we use performance and marketing cookies, we ask for your consent. You can manage your preferences regarding the use of cookies and similar technologies on our website by changing your settings here [link]. 

Browsers can automatically accept or reject cookies and allow you to change these settings. You can also deactivate or delete cookies that you have previously accepted if you wish. Please note that all settings will be lost if you delete all cookies, including the setting that you do not want to accept cookies, as this in turn requires an opt-out cookie to be set. The settings must be changed separately for each browser you use. Further information about managing cookies in your browser can be found on the help menu of your browser.

If you decide to reject cookies, you can continue to use our website, but your access to some functions and areas of our website may be restricted.

If you consent to the use of cookies, you agree that your data may be transferred to a country that does not have an adequate level of data protection and accept the risk that your data may be exposed to lawful government access in the recipient’s country despite the security measures we have taken. You can withdraw your consent to cookies at any time, as explained.

5.    HOW DO WE PROCESS DATA IN SOCIAL NETWORKS?

We may also operate pages on social networks and other platforms (such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) and collect data about you. We receive this data from you and from the platforms when you interact with us via our online account (e.g. when you communicate with us on these pages, comment on our content or visit us online). At the same time, the platforms evaluate your use of our online accounts and potentially merge this data with other data. They also process this data for their own purposes, in particular for marketing and market research (e.g. to personalize advertising) and to manage their platforms (e.g. what content they show you). In this context, they act as separate controllers.

Our websites contain social plugins (hereinafter referred to as “plugins”). The plugins are marked with a logo or a text label. When the user accesses a page of a website that contains such a plugin, the user’s browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the networks. The networks transmit the content of the plugin directly to the browsers, which integrate them into the web pages. If users are logged on to one of the networks, it is possible for the networks to assign the visit to the account to the corresponding network. When users interact with the plugins, the browser transmits the corresponding information to the networks. The networks then assign the information to the corresponding account. 
For further information on processing by the platform operators, please refer to the privacy policies of the respective platforms. These will also inform you about the countries in which your data is processed, what information, erasure, and other rights you have, and how you can exercise them.

We currently use the following platforms:

  • Facebook: We operate the page www.facebook.com/thommengroup. The controller responsible for the operation of the platform for users from Europe is Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, Dublin, Ireland. Its privacy policy is available at www.facebook.com/policy. Some of your data will be transferred to the USA. Objection to advertising is possible here: www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads. We are joint controllers with Facebook Ireland Ltd, Dublin, Ireland, for the data that is collected and processed when you visit our site for the creation of “Page Insights". In the context of Page Insights, statistics are compiled about what visitors do on our site (comment on posts, forward content, etc.). This is described at www.facebook.com/legal/terms/information_about_page_insights_data. It helps us to understand how our site is used and how we can improve it. We only receive anonymous, aggregated data. We have regulated our responsibilities regarding data protection in accordance with the information at www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum.
  • LinkedIn: On LinkedIn we operate the page https://www.linkedin.com/company/thommengroup. The controller responsible for the operation of the platform for users from Europe is LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Dublin, Ireland. Its privacy policy is available at www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy. Some of your data will be transferred to the United States. You can object to advertising here: www.linkedin.com/psettings/advertising-data. We have aligned our responsibility for data protection in accordance with the information at https://legal.linkedin.com/pages-joint-controller-addendum.
  • Instagram: On Instagram we operate the page https://www.instagram.com/thommengroup. The controller responsible for operating the platform for users from Europe is Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, Dublin, Ireland. Its privacy policy is available at https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875. Some of your data will be transferred to the United States. You can object to advertising here: https://help.instagram.com/1415228085373580.

6.    CAN THIS COOKIE POLICY BE CHANGED?

This cookie policy is not part of any contract with you. We may change this cookie policy at any time. The version published on this website is the current version. 

Last update: 05.12.2023