Privacy Policy

We care about your privacy. Our policy tells you what you need to know about data use and collection on our website.

Who we are

Responsible for this website and its content in the sense of the data protection laws, in particular the EU data protection basic regulation (GDPR), is:

SPARK, a project by Perth GmbH
Minervastrasse 23
8032 Zurich
E-Mail: info@spark.earth

Content supervisors: Ariane Fischer & Serena Olgiati

Our website address is: https://spark.earth

What personal data we collect and why we collect it
Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service of Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA (hereafter: “Google”). Google Analytics uses so-called “cookies”, ie text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. However, due to the activation of IP anonymization on these websites, your IP address will be shortened by Google beforehand within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be sent to a Google server in the US and shortened there. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to website activity and internet usage to the website operator. The IP address provided by Google Analytics within the framework of Google Analytics will not be merged with other data provided by Google.

The purposes of the data processing are the evaluation of the use of the website and the compilation of reports on activities on the website. Based on the use of the website and the Internet, other related services will be provided.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Contact forms

The data you enter will be stored for the purpose of individual communication with you. This requires a valid e-mail address and your name. This serves to assign the request and the subsequent answering of the same. The specification of further data is optional.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Events Calendar

We use events calendar to manage our events page.

If you create, submit, import, save, or publish Event, Venue, or Organizer information, such information is retained in the local database:

  1. Venue information: name, address, city, country, state, postal code, phone, website, geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude)
  2. Organizer information: name, phone, website, email
  3. Event information: website, cost, description, date, time, image

When purchasing Eventbrite Tickets, attendee, purchaser, and order information are stored and managed by Eventbrite.

Events Calendar: API Keys

Events Calendar makes use of certain APIs, in order to provide specific features.

These APIs may include the following third party services: Google Maps (API key), Meetup (OAuth token), PayPal (email, Client ID, Client Secret), Eventbrite (API key, auth URL, Client Secret), and Zoom (email, Client ID, Client Secret).

Google Maps

On this website we use the offer of Google Maps. Google Maps is operated by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (hereafter “Google”). This allows us to show you interactive maps directly in the website and allow you to conveniently use the map feature.

For more information about Google’s data processing, please refer to the Google Privacy Notice. There you can also change your personal privacy settings in the privacy center.

Mailchimp

We use mailchimp to produce our newsletter. When you sign up to our newsletter, your information is shared with mailchimp. To read more about their privacy policy please click here.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Meta

This website uses so-called social plugins (“plugins”) of the social networks Meta, which is operated by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited. The plugins are marked with a Meta, Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp logo or the addition “Social Plug-in of Facebook”, “Social Plug-in of Instagram”, “Social Plug-in of Whatsapp” or “Facebook Social Plugin” or “Instagram Social Plugin” or “Whatsapp Social Plugin”. An overview of the Meta plugins and their appearance can be found here.

If you visit a page of our website that contains such a plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to the Meta servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by Meta directly to your browser and integrated by this in the website.

By integrating the plugins, Meta receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp account or are currently not logged in to Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to a Meta server in the US and stored there. If you are logged in to Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp, Meta can directly assign the visit to our website to your corresponding account. If you interact with the plugins, for example, click the “Like” button or leave a comment, the corresponding information is also transmitted directly to a Meta server and stored there. The information will also be posted on Facebook or Instagram and displayed to your Facebook or Instagram friends.

The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Meta, as well as your rights and options to protect your privacy, please refer to the privacy policy of Meta.

Script libraries (Google Webfonts)

To make our content cross-browser accurate and graphically pleasing, we use “Google Web Fonts” from Google LLC (1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, hereafter “Google”) to display fonts. The privacy policy of the library operator Google can be found here: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

Social plugins

Socialmedia plugins are used on our websites. These plug-ins may send information, including personal information, to the service operator and may be used by the service provider. We prevent the unconscious and unwanted collection and transmission of data to the service provider through a 2-click solution. To activate a desired social plugin, it must first be activated by clicking on the corresponding button. Only through this activation of the plugin is the detection of information and its transmission to the service provider triggered. We do not collect personally identifiable information by means of social plugins or their use.

We have no control over what data an enabled plugin collects and how it is used by the provider. At present, it must be assumed that a direct connection to the services of the provider will be expanded and at least the IP address and device-related information will be collected and used. It is also possible that the service providers try to save cookies on the computer used. Please refer to the privacy policy of the respective service provider to see which specific data is collected here and how it is used. If you’re logged in to Facebook at the same time, Facebook can identify you as a visitor to a particular page.

WPML

WPML uses cookies to identify the visitor’s current language, the last visited language and the language of users who have logged in.

While you use the plugin, WPML will share data regarding the site through Installer. No data from the user itself will be shared.

WPML Translation Management will send the email address and name of each manager and assigned translator as well as the content itself to Advanced Translation Editor and to the translation services which are used.

WPML String Translation will send all strings to WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor and to the translation services which are used.

YouTube

On some of our website pages, we embed YouTube videos. The respective plug-ins are operated by YouTube, which is operated by Google. The operator of the pages is YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plugin, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. Here the YouTube server is informed about which of our pages you have visited.

If you’re logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

YouTube is used to help make our website appealing. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of YouTube under https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy.

Who we share your data with

We treat the data you provide us with respect and privacy.

We do use external providers to host and power our website. These providers may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction on our website.

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

The Events Calendar does not send any user data outside of your website by default. Data might be sent to a third-party service such as Eventbrite, Google Maps, or PayPal if the corresponding API keys are activated. These services may be located abroad.

How long we retain your data

The data you provide when registering for an event/class or individual session is retained in the local database indefinitely, unless otherwise deleted. This is to facilitate the registration process and waivers’ policies if you attend future event/classes or individual sessions organised by SPARK. We do occasionally use the data provided to contact you, in case further clarifications on your attendance are needed, and to provide you with all the necessary information to attend the event/class or individual session.

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

How we protect your information (SSL encryption)

To protect the security of your data during transmission, we use state-of-the-art encryption techniques (such as SSL) over HTTPS.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Amendments

We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time without notice. The current version published on our website applies.

Contact

If you have any questions on this privacy policy, please email us: info@spark.earth.

Zurich, 8.6.2023 (last edited)