Privacy Policy

Ecoles d'Excellence by YS & Associates (“we”, “us”, or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal data of visitors, partners, institutions, and prospective members who use this website. This Privacy Policy explains, in plain language, what information we collect, why we collect it, the legal basis for doing so, your rights, and how you can contact us.

This policy is designed to comply with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation 2016/679), the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), and other widely recognised global privacy principles. It applies to all visitors of this website, wherever they are located in the world.

The data controller responsible for your personal data collected through this website is:

Ecoles d'Excellence by YS & Associates
Chem. du Rang Dernier 13
1059 Peney-le-Jorat, Switzerland
Email: office@ecolede.ch

Information you provide directly. When you submit our enquiry or contact form, we may collect:

• Full name
• Email address
• Organisation, school, or institution (optional)
• Area of interest (e.g. faculty request, student mobility, partnership)
• The contents of your message

Information collected automatically. When you visit the site, we may automatically collect:

• Basic technical data such as browser type, device type, and approximate region
• Information about how you found and use the site (e.g. referring pages, pages visited)
• Cookie identifiers, where applicable (see Section 9)

We do not knowingly collect special categories of personal data (such as data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, or health information). Please do not include such information in your messages.

We process personal data only for clear, legitimate purposes, and only where we have a valid legal basis under the GDPR:

• To respond to your enquiries and requests (e.g. faculty or expert requests, student mobility enquiries, partnership discussions) — based on your consent and/or the steps necessary to enter into a potential agreement (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)).
• To provide and manage our services, programmes, and memberships — based on the performance of a contract or pre-contractual steps (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)).
• To operate, secure, and improve our website — based on our legitimate interests in running and protecting our online presence (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)).
• To communicate with you about your enquiry or our services — based on your consent or our legitimate interest in responding to your request (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) / (f)).
• To comply with legal obligations where applicable (GDPR Art. 6(1)(c)).

We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by applicable law. Enquiry and contact-form submissions are typically retained for up to 24 months after our last correspondence with you, after which they are deleted or anonymised unless a longer retention period is required to comply with legal, accounting, or contractual obligations.

You may request earlier deletion of your data at any time by contacting us (see Section 12).

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include access controls, encrypted data transmission, secure storage, and regular review of our systems. However, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information only with:

• Trusted service providers who help us operate the website and store submissions (e.g. hosting and database providers), acting as processors under our instructions;
• Partner institutions or representatives, only where necessary to fulfil your specific request (e.g. a faculty placement or mobility enquiry);
• Authorities or third parties where required by law or to protect our legitimate rights and safety.

Any third-party provider we use is bound by appropriate confidentiality and data-protection obligations.

Because we operate a global network spanning five continents, your personal data may be processed in countries outside your country of residence, including outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Where this occurs, we ensure an adequate level of protection through appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), recognised adequacy decisions, or other lawful transfer mechanisms under applicable data-protection law.

This website may use essential cookies and similar technologies required for it to function correctly, and may use optional analytics tools to understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it. Where non-essential cookies or analytics are used, they are designed to operate with minimal identifying data, and you can manage or disable them through your browser settings. We do not use cookies for intrusive cross-site advertising tracking.

Our services are directed at educational institutions, professionals, and prospective partners. This website is not intended for children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can promptly delete it.

Some text, images, illustrations, or other materials on this website may be generated or assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Such content is reviewed by a member of our team before publication to ensure it is accurate, appropriate, and aligned with our standards. AI-assisted material is provided for general informational and illustrative purposes and should not be relied upon as a sole source of professional advice.

If you have any question about whether a particular piece of content is AI-generated or AI-assisted, or if you believe any content is inaccurate, please contact us at office@ecolede.ch.

Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• Erasure — request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”);
• Restriction — ask us to limit processing of your data;
• Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format;
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• Withdraw consent — where processing relies on consent, withdraw it at any time;
• Lodge a complaint — with a supervisory authority, such as your local data-protection authority or the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

To exercise any of these rights, email us at office@ecolede.ch. We will respond within one month, as required by the GDPR.

If you have any questions, requests, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:

• Chem. du Rang Dernier 13, 1059 Peney-le-Jorat, Switzerland
• office@ecolede.ch

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the services we offer. The “last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically.