Privacy Policy

    Privacy Policy

    Last updated: 14 April 2026, 16:00 CET

    In case of discrepancies between language versions, the German version shall prevail.

    1. Introduction

    The Biel International Chess Festival (the "Festival", "we", "us") respects your privacy and processes personal data in accordance with:

    • the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (revFADP / nFADP, also referred to as "DSG");

    • the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), where applicable.

    This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal data when you:

    • visit our public website (including analytics);

    • register for tournaments;

    • request invitation letters;

    • make donations; or

    • contact us.

    Public website: https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Homepage.html

    2. Data Controller and Contact

    Controller:

    • Organising Committee of the Biel International Chess Festival

    • Association Biel Bienne CHESS

    • 2500 Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

    • Email: office@bielchessfestival.ch

    Data Protection Contact:
    Email: office@bielchessfestival.ch
    Note: Where no official Data Protection Officer (DPO) has been appointed, this email address serves as the contact point for data protection matters.

    3. Categories of Personal Data

    Depending on your interaction with us, we may process the following data categories:

    3.1 Identification and Contact Data

    • First name, last name

    • Email address

    • Phone number

    • Postal address (street, postal code, city, country)

    3.2 Tournament and Participation Data

    • Date of birth

    • Gender (if provided)

    • Chess data (Elo ratings, FIDE/country code, club/federation, category)

    • Registration data and selected tournaments

    • Payment status and check-in status

    • Language preferences

    • Participant comments / messages

    3.3 Invitation Letter and Travel Support Data

    • Passport number

    • Passport issue and expiry date

    • Nationality

    • Invitation letter comments

    3.4 Donation Data

    • Donor identity and contact details

    • Company/organisation name (if provided)

    • Donation amount, currency, payment method, message

    • Receipt and transaction references

    3.5 Payment and Transaction Metadata

    • Payment method (e.g., credit card, bank transfer, cash)

    • Stripe technical identifiers (e.g., checkout session ID, payment intent ID, customer ID)

    • Payment timestamps and accounting references

    Important: We do not store full credit card numbers or security codes. Card data is processed by Stripe as our payment processor.

    3.6 Technical and Usage Data

    • IP address

    • Browser / device information

    • Basic log and security data

    • Cookie and analytics events (subject to necessary consent)

    3.7 Media Data

    • Photos and videos taken during the event as described in the participation terms and this policy.

    4. Sources of Data

    We collect data:

    • directly from you (forms, registration, donation, email);

    • from event operations and payment processes;

    • from technical systems (logs, cookies, analytics);

    • in limited cases, from official chess federation contexts if necessary for registration completeness.

    5. Purposes and Legal Bases

    We process personal data for the following purposes and on the following legal bases:

    5.1 Tournament Registration and Participation Management

    • Purpose: managing registration, participant administration, scheduling, check-in, results, communication.

    • Legal Basis: contract performance; legitimate interests in event organisation.

    5.2 Donation Management and Receipt Issuance

    • Purpose: processing donations, maintaining accounting records, issuing confirmations/receipts.

    • Legal Basis: contract performance; legal obligations (accounting/tax); legitimate interests.

    5.3 Invitation Letter Processing

    • Purpose: handling visa/invitation support requests.

    • Legal Basis: contract performance (if applicable); consent (for certain passport-related processing); legitimate interests.

    5.4 Customer Support and Communication

    • Purpose: responding to inquiries and operational messages.

    • Legal Basis: legitimate interests; contractual necessity.

    5.5 Festival Updates, News and Promotional Communications

    • Purpose: sending relevant Festival information.

    • Legal Basis: consent where required. You may unsubscribe at any time.

    5.6 Publication of Photos/Videos and Media Coverage

    • Purpose: communication, media coverage and promotion of the Festival.

    • Legal Basis: consent where required, and/or legitimate interests in event communication, subject to applicable laws and participation terms.

    5.7 Security, Fraud Prevention and Platform Reliability

    • Purpose: securing systems, preventing misuse, maintaining audit trails.

    • Legal Basis: legitimate interests; legal obligations.

    5.8 Analytics and Website Optimisation (Google Analytics)

    • Purpose: analysing traffic and improving website quality.

    • Legal Basis: consent for non-essential cookies/analytics where required.

    6. Cookies and Analytics

    We use cookies and similar technologies as follows:

    • Strictly necessary cookies – required for basic website operation and security.

    • Optional analytics cookies – We use Google Analytics on the public website to analyse user behaviour. Non-essential analytics cookies are only activated with your consent where legally required. You may withdraw or change your consent at any time via the cookie settings.

    For further details (cookie names, retention periods set by analytics tools and control options), please refer to the specific cookie notice/banner configuration consistent with this policy.

    7. Recipients and Processors

    We may disclose personal data to the following parties:

    • Payment processors: Stripe (payment services);

    • Hosting and infrastructure providers;

    • Email and communication service providers;

    • IT and security providers supporting Festival operations;

    • Authorities, courts or regulators where required by law;

    • Banking and accounting partners where necessary.

    All third parties are selected and managed with appropriate contractual and technical safeguards.

    8. International Data Transfers

    Some service providers (including Stripe infrastructure and Google Analytics) may process data outside Switzerland or the EEA/EU, including in countries that may not provide an equivalent level of protection.

    Where such transfers occur, we apply required safeguards such as:

    • adequacy decisions, where available; and/or

    • Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and supplementary measures, where applicable.

    Further information on applicable transfer safeguards can be requested at office@bielchessfestival.ch.

    9. Data Retention

    General principle: We retain participant and donor data for operational, historical, legal, accounting, fraud prevention and audit purposes. In practice, player and donor data is kept long-term and not routinely deleted.

    Concrete retention approach

    • Tournament and participant data: retained as event history and operational archive.

    • Donation and financial data: retained as financial/accounting history.

    • Payment metadata (including Stripe references): retained as needed for reconciliation, fraud prevention and auditing.

    • Technical logs and analytics: retention time depends on technical configuration and legal requirements; should be reviewed periodically.

    • Communication and inquiries: retained as needed to handle inquiries, legal claims and operational follow-up.

    Note on deletion rights: Deletion requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Where legal obligations or overriding legitimate interests require retention (e.g., accounting, auditability, legal defence and event history integrity), we may refuse full deletion and instead restrict processing where appropriate.

    10. Mandatory vs. Voluntary Information

    Some fields are mandatory for processing registrations or donations (e.g., identity, contact and transactional data). If mandatory information is not provided, we may be unable to complete the registration, donation, invitation letter processing or related services.

    11. Your Rights

    Subject to applicable laws (revFADP/GDPR), you may have the right to:

    • access your personal data;

    • rectify inaccurate or incomplete data;

    • request erasure;

    • restrict processing;

    • object to certain processing (in particular direct marketing, where applicable);

    • receive data portability for data processed through automated means;

    • withdraw consent at any time for consent-based processing (without affecting previous lawful processing);

    • obtain information about automated decision-making.

    Automated decision-making statement: We do not use fully automated decision-making processes that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

    To exercise your rights, please contact office@bielchessfestival.ch.

    12. Data Security

    We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

    13. Minors

    If a participant is a minor, personal data may be provided and managed by a parent or legal guardian, to the extent required by law or event rules.

    14. Complaints and Supervisory Authorities

    If you believe your data has been processed inconsistently with applicable law, you may lodge a complaint with:

    • the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC); and/or

    • your competent EU/EEA data protection authority, where applicable.

    15. Changes to this Privacy Policy

    We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The last update date is indicated at the top of this page.

    Biel International Chess Festival
    Website: www.bielchessfestival.ch
    Email: office@bielchessfestival.ch

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