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The Sisters

The Sisters privacy policy

This privacy policy informs you about how the hotels Hotel Daniela and Hotel Chesa Valese, operating together under the brand The Sisters Zermatt, process your personal data. Protecting your privacy and ensuring transparency in how we handle your data are of utmost importance to us.
The responsible entity in terms of data protection laws is:
The Sisters Zermatt
Hotel Daniela AG Zermatt
Steinmattstrasse 39
3920 Zermatt
AND
The Sisters Zermatt
Hotel Chesa Valese
Steinmattstrasse 30
3920 Zermatt

1. Introduction

The aforementioned companies are sister hotels (The Sisters Zermatt) with family-related shareholders.
The hotels mutually commit to providing services related to accommodation, hospitality agreements, or other purchase contracts concluded between the guest and The Sisters Zermatt (Hotel Daniela AG, Hotel Chesa Valese).
We take the protection of our customer data very seriously. Both hotels therefore commit to complying with the Swiss Data Protection Act.

Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP)
European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

1. Introduction
2. What is this privacy policy about?
3. Who is responsible for processing your data?
4. How do we process personal data in connection with our products and services?
5. How do we process personal data in connection with advertising?
6. How do we process personal data in connection with our website?
7. How do we process personal data via social media?
8. How do we collaborate with service providers?
9. To whom else do we disclose your data?
10. Can we disclose personal data abroad?
11. Are there other forms of data processing?
12. How long do we process personal data?
13. How do we protect your data?
14. Are there other points to consider?
15. What are your rights?
16. Can this privacy policy be changed?

Last updated: 1.05.2025

2. What is this privacy policy about?

‘Personal data’ refers to all information that can be associated with a specific person, and ‘processing’ means any handling of such data, e.g., collection, use, and disclosure. In this privacy policy, we explain how we process such data, primarily in the course of our business activities and in connection with our website https://sisterszermatt.ch/. If you would like more information about how we handle data, please feel free to contact us (see section 3).

We have aligned this privacy policy with Swiss data protection law, which we are primarily subject to. However, certain types of data processing may also be subject to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In such cases, this privacy policy includes relevant notes. Whether the GDPR applies can only be assessed on a case-by-case basis. If you have questions about this, please feel free to contact us.

3. Who is responsible for processing your data?

For the data processing described in this privacy policy, the following company is the ‘controller’, i.e., the entity primarily responsible under data protection law (also referred to as ‘we’):

HOTEL DANIELA
Steinmattstrasse 39
3920, Zermatt, Switzerland

If you have any questions about data protection, you are welcome to contact us by mail or as follows:

sisters@sisterszermatt.ch

You may provide us with personal data relating to other individuals, such as family members or other persons for whom you book our services. We interpret this as confirmation that this personal data is accurate. Since we often do not have direct contact with these third parties, we ask you to inform them about our processing of their data (e.g., by referring them to this privacy policy).

4. How do we process personal data in connection with our products and services?

For contractual partners that are companies, we primarily process data of the contact persons we are in communication with, such as names, contact details, professional information, and information from our communications, as well as details about executives, etc., as part of the general information about the companies we work with.

5. How do we process personal data in connection with advertising?

We also process personal data to promote our services:

• Newsletter: We send electronic newsletters that advertise our services and offers. We ask for your consent beforehand, unless we are promoting certain offers to existing customers. In this context, in addition to your name and email address, we may also process information about which services you have already used, whether you open our newsletters and which links you click. For this purpose, our email service provider offers a function that essentially works with invisible image data, which is loaded from a server via an encoded link and thereby transmits the corresponding information. This is a common method that helps us assess the effect of our newsletters and optimise them. You can prevent this measurement by adjusting the settings of your email program (e.g., by switching off the automatic loading of images).
• Market research: We also process personal data to improve our services and develop new products, e.g., information about your reaction to newsletters, information from customer surveys and polls, or from social media, media monitoring services and public sources.

6. How do we process personal data in connection with our website?

6.1. General Information

You can generally use our website without disclosing any personal data to us. In this case, we may associate the data collected with certain visitors, but not with personally identifiable individuals. In that sense, the data is generally not considered personal. However, if you provide us with your name, email address, or other personal data via our website, we will process this personal data and may then link it to otherwise non-personal online data. In such cases, we may also collect online data in a personally identifiable manner in connection with your continued use of the website, and we may combine this online data with other personal data about you in our systems and process it as personal data for additional purposes.

6.2. What personal data do we process in connection with our website?

For technical reasons, certain data is generated each time you use our website and temporarily stored in log files, especially the IP address of your device, information about your internet service provider and the operating system of your device, information about the referring URL, the browser used, the date and time of access, and the content accessed during your visit to the website. We use this data to enable the use of our website, to ensure system security and stability, to optimise our website, and for statistical purposes. If the GDPR applies, the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR (user agreement, legitimate interest).

We also collect further data about your behaviour in connection with the use of our website. For this, we also use cookies. These are small text files that are stored in the browser or on the device and read when the website is accessed again. Cookies typically contain an anonymous identification number so that we can recognise returning visitors, as well as other information about visitor behaviour or settings on the website. Depending on their purpose, cookies can be categorised as necessary cookies, performance cookies, and marketing cookies.

If you do not agree to the use of cookies, you can configure your browser to generally reject all cookies or only those from us. Our website will still be usable, but certain functions may be unavailable or only partially available.

Other technologies serve similar purposes to cookies and can also record behaviour within the website. For example, with “fingerprinting”, certain data (such as your IP address and details about your browser, screen resolution, or language settings) is combined. This combination is more or less unique, allowing us to associate behavioural data with individual, though not necessarily personally identifiable, users.

With “pixels”, invisible image files are embedded in a website or email and loaded via an encoded link from a server, which records the access and the data transmitted via the link. This also allows behaviour within the website to be tracked.

6.3. For what purposes do we process this personal data?

We process online data particularly for the following purposes:

If the GDPR applies, the legal basis is Article 6(1)(a) (consent, particularly for marketing purposes and statistical analysis using performance and marketing cookies) and, in the case of existing customers, Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest). You may revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future.

6.4. How do we obtain evaluations and statistics?

We use service providers to analyse the behaviour of visitors to our website. These providers may receive log data and other online data from us and use cookies and similar technologies themselves to collect online data via our website:

Google Analytics: We use the analytics service “Google Analytics” operated by a Google company based in Ireland (“Google”). Performance cookies (see section 6.2) are used to record data about behaviour on our website (such as duration and frequency of page visits, accessed content, geographical origin of access, etc.), and Google uses this data to generate reports for us on website usage. Google engages Google LLC in the USA as a processor, with IP addresses (which most directly identify individuals) being anonymised before being forwarded to Google LLC. However, we cannot rule out that Google may use the collected online data for its purposes, infer visitor identities, create personal profiles, and link the data to Google accounts. If you consent to the use of Google Analytics, you expressly agree to such processing, which also includes the transfer of online data to the USA. You can find more information about Google Analytics’ data protection at:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245, and if you have a Google account, details on how Google processes your data at: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites?hl=de.
You can deactivate Google Analytics by installing a browser add-on available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.

6.5. How do we conduct online marketing?

We and our advertising partners (currently, in particular, Google Ads and Facebook) are interested in delivering targeted online advertising—i.e., showing ads primarily to individuals we want to reach. For this purpose, we and our advertising partners also use cookies—provided you give your consent—that can track the content you access. This enables us and our advertising partners to display online ads that we believe may interest you, both on our website and on third-party websites that display advertising from us or our partners.

6.6. How do we integrate third-party content into our website?

We may integrate third-party content into our website, such as fonts, images, videos, etc. As a result, these providers may record, among other things, the IP addresses of users. They may also set their cookies and use user data for their purposes. This particularly applies to the following providers:

• Google Fonts and YouTube: Fonts and videos provided by Google, Inc., USA. Privacy policy: www.google.com/policies/privacy; Opt-Out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads.

• Google Maps: Maps provided by Google, used to show the location of our hotels. Privacy policy: www.google.com/policies/privacy.

• Google reCAPTCHA: Service provided by Google to identify automated submissions.

• Google Tag Manager: Tool provided by Google to manage Google Analytics and Google Ads. Usage guidelines: www.google.com/intl/de/tagmanager/use-policy.html.

• Facebook Pixel by Meta: Information available at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

7. How do we process personal data via social media?

We operate our presences on social networks and other platforms (currently a Facebook fan page, an Instagram account, and a YouTube channel). When you communicate with us there, or comment on or share content, we collect data which we primarily use for communication with you, marketing purposes, and statistical analysis (see section 6.4). The platforms may collect additional online data, such as log data (see section 6.2) and further information. Based on this data, these platforms can evaluate how you use our online offerings (for example, which content you view, comment on, “like,” or share, etc.), and they can link these behavioral data with additional information about you (for example, age or gender details), thereby creating profiles about you and statistics about the usage of our presences. The platforms use this information to personalise advertising and content, for market and user research, and to provide us and third parties with statistical user information. The respective providers also collect and use online data for their purposes, potentially combined with other data known to them, for example, for marketing purposes or content personalisation. In cases where we are jointly responsible with the provider, we establish an appropriate agreement, details of which you can find directly from the respective provider.

The data we receive from the platforms is processed for the purposes described in section 5, especially for communication, marketing purposes, and market research. We may redistribute content you publish (e.g., comments) (for example, in our advertising on the platform or elsewhere), and both we and the provider can delete content according to the terms of use.

Further details about how the platform operators process data (such as to which countries personal data is disclosed or what rights you have as a data subject) can be found in the privacy policy of the respective provider.

8. How do we collaborate with service providers?

We utilise various third-party services, particularly IT services (examples include hosting providers, data analytics providers, the reservation platform for our restaurant, the booking platform we use for the hotel, and the chatbot integrated on our website), logistics services, and services from banks, postal services, consultants, etc. These service providers may process personal data to the extent necessary. For information on service providers related to our website, for example, for statistical purposes, content optimisation and personalisation, and online marketing, please refer to section 6.

9. To whom else do we disclose your data?

We disclose data primarily to service providers as specified in section 8. If you book services from partner companies through us (e.g., transportation or third-party tourism services), we forward the necessary booking data to these third parties.

Your booking data will also be processed as follows:

• Your booking data will be forwarded to Bonfire AG and Zermatt Tourism (either by us or via our electronic booking system). • Your booking data will be recorded in a central database by Bonfire AG and/or Zermatt Tourism. • Based on this data, Zermatt Tourism settles and collects the applicable tourist tax from service partners. • Zermatt Tourism also reports this data to the Federal Statistical Office. • Bonfire AG and Zermatt Tourism grant the police access to the database of booking data, enabling them, for example, to retrieve relevant data in cases of missing persons. • Zermatt Tourism uses booking data for statistical purposes (e.g., occupancy rates, length of stay, number of arrivals).

The legal basis for these data processes lies in compliance with a legal obligation according to Art. 6 (1)(c) GDPR (settlement and collection of tourist tax/reporting to the Federal Statistical Office) or in safeguarding legitimate interests according to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR (granting access to police/statistical data collection).

We may also disclose your data to authorities and public bodies, for example, in connection with exercising rights, defending claims, or fulfilling legal requirements, such as during official, judicial, and pre-judicial proceedings, as well as within the scope of statutory disclosure and cooperation obligations.

10. Can we disclose personal data abroad?

Yes. Recipients of personal data are not only located in Switzerland. This particularly applies to certain service providers (e.g., IT service providers). They have locations both within the EU or EEA and in other countries worldwide, such as Google (section 6.4). We may also transfer personal data to authorities and other persons abroad when legally required or, for instance, in the context of a business sale or legal proceedings (section 11).

Not all of these countries have adequate data protection. We compensate for the lower protection levels through appropriate contracts, particularly the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. In certain cases, we may transfer personal data under data protection requirements even without such contracts, for example, when you have consented to the respective disclosure or when disclosure is necessary for contract fulfilment, for the establishment, exercise, or enforcement of legal claims, or for overriding public interests.

11. Are there other forms of data processing?

Yes, as many processes require personal data processing, including standard and inevitable internal operations. It is not always possible to precisely determine in advance the nature and scope of processed data, but typical cases (though not necessarily frequent) are as follows:

• Communication: When we communicate with you (e.g., when you write to us or use a contact form or chatbot on our website), we process data regarding communication content, type, time, and location. To identify you, we may process proof of identity.
• Prevention: We process personal data to prevent criminal activities and other violations, such as fraud prevention or internal investigations.
• Statistics: We process personal data for statistical analyses to measure and improve offers and processes (including but not limited to website usage; see section 6.4).
• Legal proceedings: If we are involved in legal proceedings (e.g., court or administrative proceedings), we process personal data related to parties and other involved individuals, such as witnesses or informants, disclosing personal data to these parties, courts, and authorities, possibly abroad.
• IT security: We process personal data for monitoring, controlling, analysing, securing, and verifying our IT infrastructure, and for data backups and archiving.
• Competition: We process personal data regarding our competitors and the general market environment, including data about key individuals, particularly their names, contact information, roles or functions, and public statements.
• Transactions: If we sell or acquire receivables, assets, business units, or companies, we process necessary personal data to prepare and conduct such transactions, including customer information or employee contacts, and disclose relevant data to buyers or sellers.
• Other purposes: We process personal data as necessary for other purposes such as training and education, administration (e.g., contract management, accounting, claim enforcement and defense, internal process evaluation and improvement, creating anonymized statistics and evaluations; acquisition or sale of receivables, businesses, business units, or companies, and safeguarding other legitimate interests).

12. How long do we process personal data?

We process your data for as long as necessary for the intended purpose (usually the duration of contractual relationships), as long as we have a legitimate interest in retention (e.g., enforcing legal claims, archiving, or ensuring IT security), and as long as there are statutory retention obligations. For example, contractual data may be subject to legal retention obligations, such as booking documents (retention period of 10 years). Therefore, the duration of data processing depends on legal and internal regulations and processing purposes, including safeguarding our interests, such as enforcing or defending claims or for documentation and evidence purposes. After these periods, we delete or anonymise your data.

13. How do we protect your data?

We treat personal data confidentially and implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data, protecting it against unauthorised or unlawful processing and preventing loss, accidental alteration, unwanted disclosure, or unauthorised access. Our employees and contracted service providers are obligated to confidentiality.

However, despite extensive technical and organisational security measures, there remains a possibility that personal data may be lost, intercepted, or manipulated by third parties. We accept no liability if a third party alters, views, takes, uses, or exploits data entered by you or us. Please keep payment information confidential and close your browser window after concluding your communication with us.

14. Are there other points to consider?

Depending on applicable law, data processing may only be permitted if explicitly allowed by the applicable law. This does not apply under Swiss data protection law but, for example, under GDPR if applicable (which can only be determined on a case-by-case basis). In such cases, our processing is based on the necessity for contract preparation and execution (section 4), legitimate interests of ours or third parties (e.g., statistical evaluations (section 4) or marketing purposes (section 5)), legal requirements or permissions, or your consent. Relevant provisions are in Articles 6 and 9 of the GDPR.

15. What are your rights?

To help you control the processing of your data, you have various rights under applicable law:

• Right to request information about whether and what personal data we process;
• Right to have personal data corrected if incorrect;
• Right to object to our processing for specific purposes and to request restriction or deletion of personal data, provided we are not obligated or entitled to further processing;
• Right to request the provision or transfer of specific personal data in a common electronic format;
• Right to withdraw consent if our processing is based on your consent.

Applicable data protection law grants you, under certain circumstances, the right to object to the processing of your data, particularly for purposes of direct marketing, profiling related to direct advertising, and other legitimate interests.

Please note that certain conditions may need to be fulfilled to exercise your rights and that exceptions or limitations may apply (e.g., to protect third parties or business secrets).

If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us in writing (see section 3). To prevent misuse, we must verify your identity.

If you disagree with how we handle your rights or data protection matters, please inform us at the contact point mentioned in section 3.

You also have the right to complain about our data processing with the competent supervisory authority—in Switzerland, this is the EDÖB (www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/de/home/der-edoeb/kontakt/adresse.html).

16. Can this privacy policy be changed?

This privacy policy is not part of any contract with you. We reserve the right to adjust this privacy policy at any time. The version published on this website is always the current version.