Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Arklens processes personal data when you visit www.arklens.ch and when you contact us or apply through the forms on this website.

This privacy policy is available in English, French, German and Italian. In the event of any discrepancy between language versions, the English version prevails, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

2. Controller

The controller responsible for the processing described in this policy is:

For any questions about privacy or to exercise your rights, please contact us at this email address.

3. Data we receive through our forms

We only receive the information you enter in a form, plus a few details our server adds when you submit it. Our forms do not ask for sensitive personal data. Please do not include any in your messages.

3.1 General contact form

• Name
• Business or organisation
• Email address
• Phone number (optional)
• Existing website (optional)
• Reason for contact
• Your message

Added when you submit the form: the date and time of submission, the language version of the website and the page from which the form was sent.

3.2 Arklens Website Programme application

• Your starting point (for example a new website, an update or additional features for an existing website, or starting with a Digital Business Check)
• The address of your current website, only if you want to update or extend it
• Business name and industry
• What you want to achieve (optional)
• Your name and email address
• Phone number (optional)
• Your agreement to the Terms of Use and acknowledgement of this Privacy Policy

Added when you submit the form: an application reference, the date and time of submission and acceptance, the versions of the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy you accepted, the application language and the page from which the form was sent.

No payment information is collected through this form.

When internal application review is enabled, we also store Website Programme applications, the recorded acceptance and review history in a private Cloudflare database normally for up to six months. An administrator may ask Arki to assist with assessment using Infomaniak AI Services and the Apertus model. Only the business description, selected service, industry, language and verified eligibility facts are sent for this review; contact fields and the legal acceptance record are excluded. Please keep personal or sensitive information out of your business description. Arki provides an internal recommendation; a person decides how to proceed. No approval or rejection email is sent automatically. If you use a private Arki conversation link, we also save your answers with your application and send the project description and answers, with obvious contact details removed, to Infomaniak to choose useful follow-up questions. You can review and correct your answers before submitting them for human review. Keep the link private. Contact and Experience Programme submissions are not included in this AI review.

3.3 Arklens Experience Programme application

• Your name and email address
• Canton or region (optional)
• Languages and your level in each
• Current situation (optional)
• Project interests
• Skills, tools or experience you could bring, and what you would like to learn
• Availability: when you could start and how much time you could usually make available
• Remote or on-site preference (optional)
• Up to two links, such as a profile or work example (optional)
• Your acknowledgement of the programme expectations, with the version of that text

Added when you submit the form: an application reference, the application language, the date and time of submission and the page from which the form was sent.

The application does not ask for a CV, date of birth, nationality, gender, photo, home address, work permit, salary or health information.

After you submit a form, we send a confirmation email to the address you entered.

4. How we use your data

• General contact form: to respond to your message and follow up on your enquiry.
• Arklens Website Programme: to review your application, check whether your business is suitable for the programme, contact you and, if your application is accepted, administer your project.
• Arklens Experience Programme: to review your application, assess possible project matches, contact you and manage the application process. We do not use Experience applications for marketing.

The Experience Programme is intended for eligible participants under the programme rules. Additional consent or information may be required before a project begins, where applicable.

For all forms, we also use technical data to protect them against spam and abuse (see section 5).

5. Website, security and technical data

Our website is hosted on Cloudflare Pages and delivered through Cloudflare’s network (CDN). When you visit it, Cloudflare processes technical information needed to deliver and protect the website, such as your IP address, browser information and the page requested.

Our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to protect against spam and automated abuse. Turnstile processes technical signals from your browser, such as your IP address and browser characteristics. When you submit a form, our server sends the result of this security check and your IP address to Cloudflare for verification.

To prevent abuse, our server limits the number of form submissions from the same IP address. For this, it briefly stores only a shortened, hashed (pseudonymised) value derived from your IP address, together with a counter. This entry is deleted automatically after no more than 10 minutes. Your IP address is not included in the messages we receive.

When you open the home page, our server may use your browser’s language setting and your saved language choice (see section 6) to show the matching language version. This information is not stored.

We do not use analytics or tracking tools, and we do not build behavioural profiles. The fonts used on this website are served from our own website.

6. Cookies

• We do not use marketing, advertising or analytics cookies.
• If you choose a language in the language menu, we store this choice in a cookie named arklens_lang for 12 months, so that the home page opens in your language next time.
• On pages with a form, Cloudflare Turnstile may use technically necessary storage in your browser for the security check.

You can delete cookies in your browser settings at any time.

7. Service providers and data sharing

We do not sell personal information. We share data only where needed with service providers that support our website and communication, and where we are legally required to do so. Our service providers are:

• Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc.): hosting and CDN, website security and Turnstile verification. Cloudflare may process technical information as required to provide these services.
• Infomaniak (Infomaniak Network SA, Switzerland): email. Form submissions and our confirmation emails are delivered and managed through Infomaniak, a Swiss email provider.

8. Processing outside Switzerland

Some service providers may process data in other countries, for example through Cloudflare’s global network. Where required, we use appropriate providers and safeguards to protect your data.

9. Retention

• General contact form: contact messages are retained only as long as reasonably necessary to respond, follow up and keep appropriate business records.
• Arklens Website Programme: applications that do not proceed are normally retained for up to 6 months for follow-up and administration, then deleted unless there is another valid reason to retain specific information. If your application is accepted, records relating to your project may be retained longer where needed for project administration, contractual records, or legal and accounting obligations.
• Arklens Experience Programme: if your application is not matched to a project, we keep it for up to 6 months, so that we can contact you if a suitable Experience project becomes available during that period. After that, we delete it unless there is another valid reason to keep specific records.
• Security data: the rate-limiting entry described in section 5 is deleted automatically after no more than 10 minutes.

10. Data security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your data from unauthorised access, loss or destruction.

11. Your rights

Under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), you can in particular:

• request information about your personal data
• have incorrect data corrected
• have your data deleted, where applicable
• have processing restricted or object to it, where applicable
• withdraw your consent at any time where processing is based on consent

To make a request, please contact us at [email protected].

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our website or services change. The current version is published on this page. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.