General

As the professional association of Swiss doctors and the umbrella organisation for cantonal and specialist medical societies, the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) takes the protection of your privacy and correct handling of your personal data very seriously.

This privacy policy provides information as to how and why the General Secretariat and the SIME* - the autonomous organ of the FMH which governs continuing professional development of doctors - collects and processes your personal data. Please note that this is not an exhaustive description; other privacy policies may govern specific matters (see e.g. the data privacy notice regarding the application for membership or the terms of use regarding myFMH).

By accessing this website, you accept this privacy policy.

 

Applicable Law

This privacy policy and the processing of data mentioned therein are subject to Swiss law. In particular, the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (DPA; SR 235.1) is applicable. Any references to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are made on a voluntary basis and without acknowledging any legal obligation.

 

Controller 

The controller as defined in data protection legislation is:

FMH
Swiss Medical Association
Elfenstrasse 18
PO Box
3000 Bern 16
Switzerland
Tel: +41 31 359 11 11 

Contact for data protection queries: see below for contact details of the responsible offices and FMH data protection adviser. 

 

Definition of «Personal Data»

«Personal data» means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person («data subject»). An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person. 

As a visitor to this website, a member or contractual partner of the FMH, personal data constitute all data which specifically refer to you, e.g. Name, e-mail address, IP address or user behaviour. 

 

Purpose of Data Processing

The General Secretariat and the SIME collect and process your personal data solely in order to carry out the tasks related to the Association’s purpose and to perform their legal duties. In particular, no personal data are forwarded to unauthorised third parties or used for purposes other than those incumbent on the Association.

The General Secretariat of the FMH offers its members a wide range of services, which entail the processing of data. For example, the myFMH platform, the legal and tariff information service, and the Health Professional Card (HPC). External partners, media representatives and the general public also profit from services such as the annual medical statistics, recommendations, the doctorfmh.ch search engine, and the highly popular advance directive (living will). Finally, the SIME offers services such as the e-logbook and the continuing professional development platform. In this context, a large volume of personal data and information is processed in order to meet our legal, statutory and contractual obligations.

When you use this website, other data may be collected, stored and processed in order to guarantee the security and operation of our technical infrastructure and ensure the availability of our website and services.

 

Collection of personal data when visiting our website

As the operator of this website, the FMH collects data on accesses to this website and stores these data as technical server log files (legal bases: Article 13 para. 1 of the DPA and Article 12b FMH Statues; Legal basis pursuant to the GDPR: Article 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR: legitimate interest in the analysis, optimisation and correct presentation of the website as well as for security reasons). 

The following data are collected: 

• Page visited 
• Time at the point of access
• Volume of data sent, in bytes
• Source / links from which you accessed the page
• Browsers used and version
• Operating system used
• IP address used

In principle, these data are stored only while you are using the website and are subsequently deleted. The server log files are generally stored for six months and then deleted. These data are stored for security reasons, for example in order to investigate cases of unauthorised use. If it is necessary to store data for purposes of evidence, the data are exempted from deletion until the case in question is definitively resolved.

In addition to the aforementioned data, cookies are stored on your computer when you use our website. See below under «Cookies». 

 

Legal bases for data processing

The main legal bases governing the processing of personal data by the organs of the FMH, the General Secretariat and the SIME are as follows:
 

Laws and ordinances

• Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (DPA; SR 235.1): When processing data, the FMH takes into account the general principles governing data protection. As an association, it is also subject to the data protection rules for Private Persons (cf. Article 12 ff. DPA) and, where it is entrusted law with public duties, the rules governing Federal Bodies (cf. Article 16ff. DPA);
• Ordinance on the Federal Data Protection Act (VDPA; SR 235.11): Technical and organisational measures;
• Swiss Medical Profession Act (MedBG; SR 811.11): Legal basis for the MedReg register of medical professions;
• Healthcare legislation: Legislation concerning the processing of personal data and legal obligations of confidentiality are contained e.g. in the Federal Act on Social Insurances (ATSG), Fed-eral Act on Health Insurance (KVG) or the Federal Act on Accident Insurance (UVG).

FMH Statutes

• Purpose and tasks of the Association (Article  2 and 3);
• Membership (Article 4 to 11);
• Designation of a data protection adviser (Article 12 para. 2);
• Data processing principles and information security (Article 12 to 12b)

FMH order of business

• This covers provisions on the tasks, powers and responsibilities of the Association organs.

Provided that you have given the General Secretariat or the SIME consent to process your personal data for specific purposes, the General Secretariat or the SIME process your personal data within the framework of and on the basis of such consent, unless it has different legal basis and is required. A granted consent can be revoked at any time, but this has no effect on already processed data. 

 

Disclosure of personal data

The General Secretariat and the SIME may disclose personal data to third parties, in particular for the purposes of research, planning and statistics, if the personal data is not used for purposes related to specific persons and the results are published in such a manner that the data subjects may not be identified (cf. Article 13 para. 2 lit. e DPA; Article 12a para. 3 FMH Statutes). Stricter data privacy regulations, in particular in cases where the FMH or the SIME is entrusted by the federal government with public duties, as well as data locks, are complied with at all times. Under all circumstances, data is disclosed where legally stipulated or regarded as essential in order to perform a legal task (e.g. as part of criminal proceedings).

The disclosure of personal data (e.g. individual addresses or address lists of members or non-members) is only permitted subject to specific conditions. In particular, such disclosure requires a written data protection agreement which governs at least the purpose, responsibilities and terms and conditions relating to data privacy and information security.

Newsletters are sent via providers specialising in such services. The FMH concludes special agreements to ensure that the applicable data privacy provisions are also complied with by these service providers.

 

Transfer of Data Abroad

To perform tasks in accordance with the purpose of the Association and to carry out the legal tasks of the General Secretariat and the SIME, personal data may need to be transferred to a country without adequate data privacy legislation. Before any such transfer of data is carried out and in accordance with the law (cf Article 6 para. 2 DPA), the General Secretariat or the SIME applies special safeguards to ensure an adequate level of protection for your personal data. In particular, the General Secretariat or the SIME obtains your explicit consent before any such transfer. 

Additional safeguards: 

• Contracts (namely based on the standard contract clauses of the European Commission, for further information visit the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner website under Transborder data flows);
• other legally defined exceptions such as the performance of a contract, the establishment , exercise or enforcement of legal claims, overriding public interests, published personal data, or where required in order to protect the integrity of the data subject. 

 

Newsletter

The FMH publishes a wide range of newsletters. The purpose of these newsletters is to provide information on the Association’s current activities. You receive these newsletters either because you are a member of the FMH or one of the organisations or committees of the FMH, or because you have subscribed to one of the newsletters.

Types of newsletters

• Flash: sent out to all FMH members; on request, also to partners such as FMH services;
• Weekly (sent weekly to all FMH organisations and committees, presidents of organisations which are represented on the Chamber of Physicians): contains news as well as latest information on consultations and statements of position;
• SAEZ weekly mails: (distributed by the FMH): contains references to issues covered by the Weekly;
• Media releases: anyone can subscribe to this website (via double-opt-in method); 
• SAQM Newsletter: anyone can subscribe to this website (via double-opt-in method);
• Infoletter Office for Outpatient Tariffs;
• Mailings concerning continuing professional development.

Subscribing to the Newsletter

With your consent you can subscribe to the Newsletters which interest you. To become a subscriber to our Newsletters, we usually require details such as your first name, surname, e-mail address and preferred language. Once we receive confirmation from you, we store your e-mail address for the purpose of sending the Newsletter. 

Double-opt-in method

Where registration is required to subscribe to one of our Newsletters, we use the double-opt-in method. After your registration, we send an e-mail to the given e-mail address asking you to confirm that you wish to receive the newsletter. If you do not confirm your registration within 14 days, your information is blocked and is automatically deleted after one month. We also store your set IP addresses and the times of your registration and confirmation. The aim of this method is to provide proof of your registration and, if required, investigate any potential unauthorised use of your personal data. 

Unsubscribing from Newsletters

All recipients of FMH newsletters can deregister at any time and unsubscribe from the newsletter. You can unsubscribe either by clicking on the link provided in the newsletter e-mail, or by e-mailing [email protected] or [email protected].

 

Cookies

Definition and use of cookies

On its website the FMH typically uses cookies and comparable methods in order to improve the user experience and to tailor the website contents optimally to users’ needs, analyse accesses to the websites and provide social media.   The use of cookies enables your browser or device to be identified. A cookie is a small text file which is sent to your computer or automatically stored on your computer or mobile device by the web browser whenever you visit our website. This allows us to identify you when you revisit this website, even though we do not know who you are.

The use of the website is also possible without cookies. You can set your browser to reject cookies, store them only for one session, or delete them in advance. If you disable cookies, you may not be able to access some website functions (e.g. choice of language).

Types of cookies

In addition to cookies, which are used only during a session and are deleted when you leave the website (“session cookies”), cookies can also be used to store user settings and other information for a specified period (“permanent cookies”). There are also third-party cookies. This includes, for example, cookies set by social networks such as Twitter. Like other cookie providers, Twitter has its own data privacy policy. The use and processing of data stored via cookies from third parties such as Twitter is outside the FMH's sphere of responsibility. The FMH therefore accepts no liability in this regard.

To some extent and as far as permitted, we also integrate in our newsletters visible and invisible graphic elements which, when called up by our servers, allows us to determine whether and when you have opened an e-mail, so that, here too, we can measure and better understand how you use our offerings and which subjects are attracting the most interest. You can disable this in your e-mail program; most are set to this by default.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is generally transmitted to and stored by Google on a server in the USA. However, if IP anonymisation is activated on this website, Google shortens your IP address within European Union member states or other signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transferred to a Google server in the USA and then shortened there. By agreement with the operator of this website, Google uses this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activities, and to provide website operators with other services related to website usage and Internet usage. The IP address transferred from your browser under Google Analytics is not combined with other data by Google.

You can prevent cookies from being stored by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; however, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the user data generated by the cookie (including your IP address) being collected and used by Google, you can opt out by clicking on the following link:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en

For more information on how Google uses data for advertising purposes, and on options for controlling the information collected by Google, visit the following Google websites: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites?hl=en
(«How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services»), https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads?hl=en
(«How Google uses cookies in advertising»), https://adssettings.google.com/anonymous?sig=ACi0TChGopH4khMrc7x-hmpQ_ahyGY8onXlaXnAUWtpiFiPvhKkEa2AzkbYlrY7q3dDv6Mb-nQjJ_yUGqEHoRVBSc1488p53GF7jo8VFWwzmylzn0g33RIM&hl=en
(«Control information used by Google to show you ads») and https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated?hl=en («Control the ads you see»).

Google Maps

This website uses Google Maps API to display map material. When using Google Maps, Google also collects, processes and uses data on the use of the map functions by visitors to websites. You will find the Google Maps terms of use under https://www.google.com/help/legalnotices_maps/. For further information on Google's privacy policy, visit: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

Google reCaptcha

We use Google reCAPTCHA to determine whether a human or a computer has entered any information in our contact or newsletter forms. The legal basis for use of this service is Article 13 para. 1 DPA and Article 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR, since the FMH is justifiably interested in ensuring the security of its website and protecting it against automated entries (attacks). reCAPTCHA is a free service that protects against spam and abuse activities. It uses sophisticated risk analysis methods to distinguish between humans and bots. Google uses the following data to determine whether you are a human or a computer: IP address of the device being used, which of our reCAPTCHA-protected websites you visit, the date and duration of the visit, the identification data of the browser and operating system used, Google account if you are logged into Google, mouse movements on the reCAPTCHA surfaces, and tasks which ask you to identify images.  Information on which data is collected by Google and why is provided on https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-AT. The terms of use for Google services and products are available under  https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en-AT.

Social media 

The FMH incorporates on its website buttons for the social media listed below. These buttons only provide a link to the relevant social media service. However, the FMH has no control of the data collected by these social networks. More information can be found on the websites of the relevant social media and under their privacy policies and data protection conditions.

Addresses of  the social media services and URL with the corresponding data privacy policies:

• Facebook, Inc., 1601 S California Ave, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA; https://www.facebook.com/policy.php
• Twitter, Inc., 1355 Market St, Suite 900, San Francisco, California 94103, USA; https://twitter.com/en/privacy
• Google plus (Google+): Google+ has no data privacy of its own. For information on the collection and use of data, you must consult the general data privacy policy of Google, which applies to all Google services.
• LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, California 94043, USA; http://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.
• Vimeo, LLC, 555 West 18th Street, New York 10011, USA; https://vimeo.com/privacy
   

Duration of personal data retention 

The General Secretariat and the SIME process and store your personal data for as long as is required for the purposes of fulfilling statutory, contractual and legal obligations or for other related purposes, i.e. for example for the duration of the entire membership or beyond, in order to comply with the legal obligations governing retention and documentation.   In some circumstances, personal data may be retained for the duration of the period in which claims are made against the General Secretariat or the SIME and if the General Secretariat or SIME is otherwise legally obliged to retain such data or if retention is justifiable in the interests of the Association (e.g. for the purposes of evidence and documentation). As soon as your personal data is no longer required for the above purposes, they are essentially deleted/destroyed or anonymised to the extent possible. Shorter retention periods of twelve months or less apply to technical data (e.g. system logs, log files).

Information security

The General Secretariat and the SIME employ all appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data and systems for which it is responsible. However, please note that the information and services provided on this website, as well as applications such as myFMH, are accessed over the internet and thus over a network available to all. Although this website is encrypted and data are transferred between the user and the General Secretariat or the SIME in encrypted form, certain transport link data such as sender and recipient addresses remain unencrypted. Even though the security safeguards used by the General Secretariat and the SIME are regularly reviewed and optimised, no absolute security can be guaranteed. Ultimately it is your responsibility to protect your devices such as computers and smartphones and, for example, select a secure password for applications such as myFHM and treat them as confidential.

Your rights

Within the scope of the applicable data protection law and to the extent required by the law (such as in the case of the GDPR), you have the right to access, rectification, erasure, the right to restriction of processing or to object to our data processing in addition the right to receive certain personal data for transfer to another controller (“data portability”).

Please note, however, that we reserve the right to enforce the restrictions required by law in cases where we are obliged to store or process certain data, have an overriding interest in so doing (to the extent that we may call on it) or require it to assert claims. If this incurs any costs for you, we will notify you in advance. 

Please note that exercising these rights may be conflict with contractual agreements and may result, for example, in premature termination of contract or incurred costs. In such cases we will notify you in advance where this is not already contractually regulated. 

Moreover, every data subject has the right to legally enforce their claims or file a complaint with the responsible data protection authority.  The responsible data protection authority in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (http://www.edoeb.admin.ch).

Data blocking

You have the right to block any disclosure of your data to third parties. In this case, the personal data of doctors are used only for:

• Addressing the Swiss Doctors’ Bulletin;
• Addressing the invoice for membership fees;
• Correspondence from the General Secretariat or SIME;
• Data synchronisation with the basic organisations, FMH services and supporting organisations for specialist qualifications under the Specialist Training Regulations Act.

All other information such as details of further training institutions or congress information is not provided in the case of data blocking. Under all circumstances, data blocking does not include data required by law (e.g. data synchronisation with the MedReg register of medical professions) or to fulfil legal obligations. 

 

Contact

As a rule, exercising your data privacy rights (including data blocking) requires you to provide clear proof of your identity (e.g. copy of an ID in cases where your identity is not otherwise clear or verifiable). To exercise your rights, please contact the following offices:

Responsible offices

You can find contact details for the offices responsible for processing your personal data under the following links:

• Dienststelle DLM or
• for continuing professional development, the SIME

Please send your request in writing (by post or e-mail) to the office responsible for data processing (including a copy of a valid ID).
 
FMH
DLM
Elfenstrasse 18
Postfach
3000 Bern 16  

SIME
c/o FMH
Elfenstrasse 18
Postfach
3000 Bern 16
 

General queries concerning data privacy

You can send any general queries concerning data privacy to the following contact address: [email protected]
 

Data protection adviser
​​​​​​​
The external FMH data protection adviser can be contacted at the following address: [email protected]

Amendments 

Please note that individual updates of this privacy policy may be required due to further development of this website, the implementation of new technologies, or amendments to legislation.  The FMH therefore recommends that you re-read this privacy policy from time to time.

The FMH reserves the right to amend this privacy policy at any time, taking into account the applicable data protection regulations.  The current version published on this website applies. 

* The Swiss Institute for Medical Education (SIME) is an autonomous institution under the umbrella of the FMH. The legal information and data protection declaration of the FMH are adopted by the SIME.

Last amended: 1/10/2020

This privacy policy was compiled with the aid of DSAT.ch