Introduction. www.syngentafoundation.org is managed by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Switzerland (SFSA) - the “data controller”. Your privacy is important to us. SFSA has therefore developed this privacy statement (this “Statement” or “Privacy Statement”) to inform you how SFSA collects, stores use and processes the personal data and information you provide us through this website or site.
Effective Date. 15th February 2022
Scope of this Statement. This Statement covers the personal data and information (hereinafter “Personal Information”) we collect through this site. Personal Information is data that identifies you personally, either alone or in combination with other information available to us. Examples of Personal Information include your name, address, email address, and the information you provide when you use our site to create an account or a personal profile or register for an event.
Your consent. By using this site, you are accepting the practices described in this Statement (including the Cookies Policy available on this site). If you do not agree to this Statement or the Cookies Policy, please do not use this site. We reserve the right to make changes to this Statement or the Cookies Policy at any time. Any changes will be posted in this Statement or the Cookies Policy, and material changes will generally apply only to activities and information collected on a going-forward basis. We encourage you to review this Statement and the Cookies Policy regularly in order to make sure that you are aware of any changes and how your information may be used.
What Personal Information do we collect through our site? In accordance with the legal requirements, we undertake to collect Personal Information concerning you in a manner that is appropriate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary. Personal Information is requested when you register with SFSA via the website, for example when you register for an event or an account, and/or when you interact with us via the website, for example via a contact form on the website or when you participate in online surveys to improve our services. For example, this information might include your name, address (both billing and registered), and email address. Such information may be held on our contacts and administration databases either because of the work we have done with you or are currently engaged in, or because we believe you might be interested in receiving material from us about our programs and services. This allows us to manage our relationship with you efficiently, improve our site and the services which we offer to you, and target items of interest we may send to you.
Non-personally identifiable information refers to information that is statistical in nature only and that does not, by itself, allow to identify a specific individual or entity, which depends upon the visiting you do on the site. For example, this information may include the domain from which you access the internet, the date and time you access the site, and the internet address of the website from which you linked directly to the site. This information is used in an aggregate form to make the site more useful and attractive to its users.
Agreements governing your use of special features and password-protected areas. This site may include special features and password-protected areas. When you sign up to use a special feature or password-protected area, you may be asked to agree to special terms governing your use of the special feature or password-protected area. In such cases, you will be asked to expressly consent to the special terms, for example, by checking a box or clicking on a button marked "I agree." This type of agreement is known as a "click-through" agreement. If any of the terms of the click-through agreement are different than the terms of this Statement, the terms of the click-through agreement will supplement or amend this Statement, but only with respect to the matters governed by the "click-through agreement".
Cookies and similar technologies. We use "cookies" and other web technologies to collect information and support certain features of our websites. For more information see our Cookies Policy where you can manage your cookie consents. The legal basis for processing activities related to essential cookies is our legitimate interest in lawfully operating our website (in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). The legal basis for processing activities related to non-essential cookies (preference cookies, statistics cookies, marketing cookies) is your consent (in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) GDPR).
How does Syngenta use your Personal Information? Generally, we use the Personal Information we collect through our site:
- To respond to your inquiries, complaints, questions, and suggestions related to our programs, services, and vacancies that you send to us via the website's contact form.
- To provide information and services you request from us, including e-newsletters and event registrations.
- To contact you with information we believe will be of interest to you, where you have given us permission to do so.
- Based upon a legitimate interest we have, as appropriate:
- To provide you with effective customer service;
- To provide you with a personalized experience when you use our site;
- To contact you with information and notices related to your use of our site;
- To invite you to participate in surveys and provide feedback to us;
- To better understand your needs and interests;
- To optimize and improve the content, functionality, and usability of our site;
- To improve our services and promotional efforts; and
- To diagnose server problems, resolve other website misconfigurations, and ensure data security.
- For any other purpose identified in an applicable privacy notice or other agreement between SFSA and you.
How does SFSA share your Personal Information?
Service Providers. We may share Personal Information with Syngenta Group subsidiaries and affiliates or other third parties that perform services on our behalf. For example, service providers in the HR area who support us in the area of online applications, companies that provide support services to us (such as event registration platforms and web hosting services), companies who support us in designing and making our Internet-based applications available, as well as service providers who support us in generating reports and statistics, printing documents and designing our services. These third parties are required by contract to use the Personal Information we share with them only to perform services on our behalf and to take commercially reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality and security of your Personal Information.
Compliance with laws and protection of our rights and the rights of others. We may disclose Personal Information when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law, a court order, or a subpoena. We may also disclose Personal Information to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce or apply our online terms of use or other agreements; or to protect our own rights or property or the rights, property, or safety of our users or others.
Aggregate information. We may share aggregated demographic or survey information with third parties, but this information is in an anonymous form and does not contain any Personal Information. The aggregate information that we share may include anonymous information that is captured using cookies and other similar tracking technology, as explained in the above section entitled “Cookies and similar technologies”.
As described in a privacy notice. We reserve the right to disclose your Personal Information as described in any additional privacy notice posted on the web page (or area) where you provide that information. By providing your Personal Information on that web page you will be consenting to the disclosure of your Personal Information as described in that privacy notice.
As described in a click-through agreement. We reserve the right to disclose your Personal Information as described in any click-through agreement to which you have agreed.
Your Choices. We respect your right to make choices about the ways we collect, use and disclose your Personal Information. In most cases, we will ask you to indicate your choices at the time we collect your Personal Information. We will also include an "opt-out" link in the newsletter or promotional email we send you so that you can inform us that you do not wish to receive such communications from us in the future. If you have created an account or a personal profile on our site, you may be able to update some or all of your privacy choices by changing the settings on your account settings or profile page. Please review the section above entitled "How does SFSA share your Personal Information?" to learn how we share your Personal Information with third parties and what choices you have.
How can you exercise your rights in relation to your Personal Information? We strive to maintain a high level of transparency about the data we process. As regards our processing of your Personal Information described in this Statement, you have the following rights:
- To confirm SFSA is processing your Personal Information, to get access to or receive a copy of the Personal Information we may have about you;
- To require us to rectify or update any inaccurate Personal Information, or complete any incomplete Personal Information;
- To require us to delete or erase your Personal Information;
- To restrict our processing of your Personal Information;
- To require us to transmit certain of your Personal Information to you or to transfer or have them transferred to another data controller (data portability); and
- To require that we stop processing your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes. Subject to other legitimate interests which we may be able to rely on (e.g., in the context of legal claims pending or threatened against us), we will then no longer be allowed to process your Personal Information.
If you wish to exercise any of your above rights, you can contact us at no cost by sending an email to syngenta.foundation@syngenta.com. We will respond to your reasonably specified request as quickly as possible after validating the request. We will without undue delay modify your Personal Information if we agree that it is either inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading, after taking into account the purposes for which it was collected. If we correct it and had previously disclosed it to a third party, we will also notify that third party if required to by law. If we disagree with your request to correct your Personal Information, we will explain the reason for refusal and the ways you can complain.
How long does SFSA store your Personal Information? We intend to keep your Personal Information accurate and up-to-date. We do not wish to store your Personal Information any longer than necessary for relevant purposes in relation to the use of our website. How long we need to keep your Personal Information depends on the purpose for which we collect it, and therefore there is no standard retention period. Thus, the retention period may vary depending on the circumstances. For other legal reasons, e.g. in the context of legal claims, we may need to hold Personal Information beyond the term required to meet the defined purpose for which they were collected in the first place. However, in these cases, we will no longer actively process the Personal Information for the originally specified purpose. Should you wish to obtain more information on where and how long your Personal Information is stored, and on your right of erasure please contact syngenta.foundation@syngenta.com.
How does SFSA protect Personal Information? We maintain a comprehensive data security program, including commercially reasonable administrative, physical and technological security measures, to protect Personal Information from unauthorized access, unauthorized use, and unauthorized or accidental destruction, modification, or disclosure. Although we take commercially reasonable precautions to provide an appropriate level of security, we cannot guarantee the security of Personal Information provided over the internet or stored in our databases.
Links to other websites. This site contains links to websites operated by other organizations, including websites operated by our third-party service providers, our affiliates, and other third parties. This Statement does not apply to Personal Information collected on any of these third-party websites. When you access third-party websites through a link on this site, please take a few minutes to review the privacy policy posted on that site.
Children. Our site is not directed nor targeted to children under the age of 13. We do not use our Site to knowingly solicit Personal Information from children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, do not provide us with any Personal Information. If we learn that someone under 13 has provided Personal Information through our site, we will use reasonable efforts to remove such Personal Information from our databases.
Special notice for visitors who reside outside Switzerland. SFSA is a Swiss foundation based in Basel, Switzerland. SFSA may use web servers and stores data in Switzerland, France, the United States, or other countries. We may transfer your Personal Information to our service providers and others located in Switzerland, France, the United States, or other countries for the purposes described in this Statement. Different countries have different privacy laws and requirements, and some provide less legal protection for your personal information than others. Please know, however, that no matter where your Personal Information is collected or processed, if it was collected through this site, we will ensure that it is protected by the terms of this Statement and any privacy notices or click-through agreements that apply to you. By using this site, you are consenting to the collection, use, and transfer of your Personal Information in or to the United States or any other country in the world.
Governing Law & Jurisdiction. This Statement is governed under the laws of Switzerland without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. The ordinary courts of Basel, Canton of Basel-Stadt, Switzerland, shall have exclusive jurisdiction for any claims relating to this Statement.
Questions, concerns, and complaints concerning our privacy practices. Should you have any questions or concerns on how SFSA utilizes your Personal Information, you can contact syngenta.foundation@syngenta.com. You also have a right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority (in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement).