Delivery address data at Swiss Post
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Swiss Post operates an address database containing current, future and past private and business addresses. We need these addresses in order to fulfil our statutory mandate (delivery of postal items). By managing and processing addresses, we deliver our services efficiently and make sure that more than 1700 million letters and 180 million parcels reach their recipients every year. The processing of delivery addresses is based on Article 7 of the Postal Services Act.
We have further customer databases containing address data, which we use for further processing purposes. The processing of this address data is usually based on contractual agreements.
What we do with delivery addresses at a glance
If you have not concluded any additional contracts with us and have not consented to any further data processing, we will process your delivery address data as follows:
We process general personal data concerning you, such as your name and contact details.
We process personal data that we collect about you.
We process personal data that we collect about you.
We do not use your personal data for marketing and advertising.
We do not use your personal data for further purposes unrelated to the core service.
We do not pass on your personal data to other companies that can decide for themselves how to use your data.
We do not sell your personal data.
We also process your personal data outside Switzerland and the EEA.
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We obtain the addresses primarily through communications with our customers and staff. Addresses from publicly accessible directories supplement the address database. We have no access to federal, cantonal or municipal address registers that are not publicly accessible. Whenever a postal item is to be delivered, our staff check whether the address is still current and whether addressed items can be delivered.
In order to ensure that postal items can be delivered correctly, you must inform us of any changes to your address. You can notify us of changes of address at Swiss Post branches or via the “My Post” customer portal. Most customers inform us of their new address by issuing a forwarding order.
We also record new/changed addresses of a private individual or business person when delivering consignments, for example if a new name appears on a house letterbox. We report incorrect addresses (new road names, new buildings, new residents, newborns, deaths, name changes, etc.) directly to the Address Competence Center of Swiss Post.
We do not receive any private addresses from third parties, nor from municipal, cantonal or federal authorities. We obtain business addresses of newly established companies from the register of enterprise identification numbers (UID Register) of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.
We process address data in order to deliver postal items correctly and to carry out processes associated with this.
Within the Group, all business units and staff have access to the addresses that they need in order to make deliveries, as well as for the upstream and downstream processes.
Processing addresses enables us to provide our services seamlessly and efficiently. We only process addresses for the purpose of delivering postal items correctly and optimizing logistics processes. Different business units within the Group process address data. We also engage third parties who may have access to the data in some circumstances. In all cases, we make sure that this data is processed for the intended purpose and that the applicable data protection laws are complied with.
If you use our online services or conclude additional service contracts with us, the delivery addresses may also be used for further purposes in accordance with the contractual provisions.
The delivery addresses are stored and processed in Switzerland. We operate a data center for this purpose.
When processed in connection with a specific service, the address data is processed in further applications and systems. To do this, we use suppliers, some of whom access or process the address data abroad.
In order to provide a service (for example, international consignments), it may be necessary for us to transmit addresses to foreign authorities (such as customs authorities) or other postal companies. You can find more information about this here: data protection notice for services. Old address data is archived for ten years and then deleted.
Supplies of Swiss Post may have access to the delivery addresses in connection with maintenance and support work performed abroad. If this data is processed in a country whose data protection legislation offers a lower level of protection than in Switzerland, Swiss Post shall ensure appropriate protection by concluding corresponding standard contractual clauses that are made available for this purpose by the European Commission or the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).
For the transmission of address data in connection with international postal traffic, corresponding agreements are in place between the postal companies that define an appropriate level of data protection.
We treat your addresses in a responsible manner and do not engage in address trading. We only disclose delivery addresses to third parties in the following cases:
- where we are legally obliged to do so
- if you, as the data subject, have consented to the disclosure
- where strictly necessary in order to provide a service
We are required by law to disclose address data in connection with the forwarding, redirecting or retention of postal items. In such cases, we have to exchange the addresses with other providers of postal services for the intended purpose.
Swiss Post carries out address updates for third parties with the consent of customers. If a company, an authority or a private individual has an old address, and if the customer has consented to the address update, Swiss Post discloses the new address to the third party for the purpose of updating the address.
It may also be necessary for us to transmit addresses to foreign authorities (such as customs authorities) or other postal companies in order to provide a certain service, for example in the case of international consignments. However, this disclosure of data is always limited to the specific event only. You can find more information here: Other services.
Postal legislation provides for the exchange of information between the providers of Swiss postal services in order to ensure that postal items are forwarded, redirected and retained correctly. We have to regularly inform postal service providers of the forwarding orders of our customers at their request (Article 7 of the Postal Services Act). Postal service providers may only process the address data for their delivery services.
According to the Register Harmonisation Act, we are also required to make our addresses available to municipalities. However, addresses are only exchanged in exceptional cases and we review the legal requirements for this beforehand.
For all other cases where addresses are to be disclosed to third parties, the data subject has to give their consent.
For example, we report address updates to third parties on the basis of such consent. Customers can grant their consent to this process by setting up a forwarding order when moving home. By updating their address, customers can prevent returns and undeliverable items, even after the forwarding order has expired, without having to inform the sender directly.
The third parties must be in legitimate possession of the old address in order for us to disclose the new address.
These third parties are primarily Swiss companies, but also address service providers such as the companies KünzlerBachmann Directmarketing AG or AZ Direct AG.
The third parties update their customer master data and use the updated addresses according to their defined purpose of processing. We are not responsible for the further use of updated addresses by the third parties.
Do you wish to withdraw your consent to reporting address updates to third parties? You can do this at any time with your “My Post” customer portal or by getting in touch with us.
There may also be other legal obligations to disclose addresses.
It is important to us that you are able to control how your address data is used.
You can keep your address up to date with us, for example, by letting us know when you move house or change your name. This will prevent you from missing any letters or parcels. You can report a change of address quickly and easily at your Swiss Post branch or online at any time via the “My Post” customer portal.
Do you wish to withdraw your consent to reporting address updates to third parties? You can do this at any time in the“My Post” customer portal or by getting in touch with us. For legal reasons, it is not possible to delete the delivery address in the central address data system.
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