Privacy Policy

This privacy policy explains how SmartVignette, providing services through our online platform, collects, uses, and protects personal data. We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and handling your personal data in compliance with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Swiss data protection legislation.

Our Service

Our online platform allows users to purchase and instantly activate their Swiss motorway vignette within minutes. This convenient service helps you meet the legal requirements for using Swiss motorways. We also offer an optional auto-renewal function, designed to assist you in avoiding expiration issues by automatically renewing your vignette before it expires, ensuring continuous compliance and peace of mind.

Data We Collect

We collect personal data necessary to provide our services, including:

Identity Data: Information that identifies you, such as your name.
Contact Data: Information allowing us to contact you, such as your postal address.
Vehicle Data: Details about the vehicle for which the vignette is purchased, including vehicle type, country of registration, and license plate number.
Transaction Data: Details about payments to and from you and other details of services you have purchased from us.
Payment Data: Information required to process payments, which may include payment card details or other payment method information. This data is often processed by third-party payment processors, and we do not typically store full payment card numbers on our systems.
Usage Data: Information about how you use our site and services, such as IP address, browser type, pages visited, and referring URLs.
Communication Data: Information contained in any communication you send to us.

We collect data directly from you when you provide it to us while using our platform, making a purchase, or communicating with us. We also collect some data automatically as you interact with our site.

How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To Provide and Manage the Service: This includes processing your purchase, activating your Swiss motorway vignette with the relevant authorities, and managing your account and our relationship with you. This is essential for fulfilling our contractual obligations to you.
To Process Payments: We use payment data to process payments for the services you purchase.
To Manage Auto-Renewal: If you opt for the auto-renewal service, we use your data (including vehicle and payment details) to process the renewal before the vignette expires, based on your instructions.
To Communicate with You: We may use your contact details to send you service-related communications, such as confirmation of your purchase, information about your vignette activation, or details regarding the auto-renewal service.
To Improve Our Service: We analyse usage data to understand how our platform is used and identify areas for improvement.
For Legal and Regulatory Compliance: We may process your data to comply with our legal obligations and cooperate with regulatory authorities.
To Protect Our Interests: We may use data to protect our business, prevent fraud, and ensure the security of our platform.

Legal Basis for Processing

We rely on the following legal bases under GDPR to process your personal data:

Performance of a Contract: Processing is necessary for the performance of the contract for providing the vignette activation service and optional auto-renewal.
Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject (e.g., reporting to authorities for vignette activation, financial regulations).
Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party (e.g., improving our service, preventing fraud, ensuring security), provided your fundamental rights do not override these interests.
Consent: We may rely on your consent for specific processing activities where required (e.g., for certain marketing communications, though we primarily use data for service provision).

Sharing Your Data

We may share your personal data with third parties under specific circumstances:

Relevant Authorities: We share necessary vehicle data and potentially limited identity data with the competent Swiss authorities as required to activate your motorway vignette.
Payment Processors: We share transaction and payment data with third-party payment service providers to process your payments securely.
Service Providers: We may share data with trusted third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as hosting, data analysis, and customer support. These providers are obligated to protect your data and only use it for the purposes specified by us.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your data if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.
Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your data may be transferred to the acquiring entity.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The specific retention period depends on the type of data and the purpose of processing. For example, data related to a purchased vignette and auto-renewal will be kept as long as necessary for the validity of the vignette and the auto-renewal period, plus any period required by law for financial records.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. However, please note that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under applicable data protection laws, you have rights regarding your personal data. These may include the right to:

Request access to your personal data.
Request rectification of inaccurate personal data.
Request erasure of your personal data (in certain circumstances).
Object to the processing of your personal data.
Request restriction of processing your personal data.
Request the transfer of your personal data to another party (data portability).
Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.
Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, please send a written request to our physical address provided below. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

Cookies and Other Technologies

Our site uses cookies and similar technologies to function effectively, improve user experience, and analyse site usage. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings.

International Data Transfers

As we operate from Switzerland, which is considered by the EU to have an adequate level of data protection, data transfers within Switzerland comply with GDPR. If data is transferred to countries outside of Switzerland or the European Economic Area (EEA), we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, to ensure your data receives adequate protection.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post the updated policy on our site. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, or if you wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us in writing at:

SmartVignette
Avenue de Montchoisi 10
1006 Lausanne
Switzerland