This privacy policy applies to the mobile application Swiss Air Force (Android and iOS), which is operated by Schweizer Armee (Swiss Armed Forces) – Digitale Medien der Armee (DMA). If you have any questions about data protection, you can reach us at app@dma.swiss.
The responsible legal entity is the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). This policy explains which data the app processes, for which purposes, and what rights you have.
In brief
- The app requires neither registration nor a user account.
- It collects no personal data such as name, address, date of birth or details of military service.
- Whatever you set or save in the app stays on your device.
- Pseudonymous usage and crash data are transmitted to Google Firebase for stability and usage statistics.
- Push notifications are delivered through the services of Google and Apple.
- No advertising is served, no data is sold and no personality profile is created.
Responsible body
Responsible for processing data in this app is:
Which data is processed
Data that stays on your device
Your entries and settings in the app – such as saved content or the selected language – are stored exclusively in your device's memory. They are not transmitted to us and we have no access to them.
Usage and crash data
To keep the app stable and to understand which content is used, we employ Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics. The following is processed:
- app version, device type and model, operating system version, language setting
- the country derived from the IP address (the IP address itself is not stored permanently)
- time and duration of use as well as the screens opened
- in the event of a crash, a technical error report on the state of the app
- a randomly generated installation identifier issued by the device itself
This data does not allow us to identify you. We use no advertising identifier for profiling and do not combine this data with other sources. Insofar as attribution cannot be entirely ruled out, we nevertheless treat it as personal data.
Push notifications
If you allow push notifications, your device generates a technical identifier (a token) by which a notification can reach it. Delivery takes place via Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging on Android devices and via the Apple Push Notification service on Apple devices. The token says nothing about you as a person. You can switch notifications off at any time in your device settings; the token then becomes invalid.
Loading content
The app displays current content and loads it over the internet from backend.vtg.admin.ch, a server of the Federal Administration. When it does so, your device transmits to it the usual connection data – in particular the IP address, the time of the request and the file requested. These details are logged there briefly for operation and security and are not used to observe individuals.
For which purposes
- informing the public and members of the Armed Forces about activities, locations and events
- operating, stabilising and further developing the app
- identifying and fixing errors
- delivering notifications where you have allowed them
Legal basis
Processing takes place within the Confederation's information mandate (Article 180 paragraph 2 of the Federal Constitution and Articles 10 and 11 of the Government and Administration Organisation Act) and is governed by the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, SR 235.1) and its ordinance (DPO, SR 235.11).
Disclosure and transfer abroad
The following processors are involved:
- Google Ireland Limited and Google LLC – for usage statistics, crash reports and the delivery of push notifications on Android devices
- Apple Inc. – for the delivery of push notifications on Apple devices
Data may thereby reach the United States of America. Disclosure abroad is governed by Articles 16 et seq. FADP; it is safeguarded by the recipients' participation in the Swiss–U.S. Data Privacy Framework as well as by standard contractual clauses. Beyond this we pass no data to third parties unless we are required to do so by law.
Retention period
Usage and crash data are kept only for as long as they are needed for the purposes stated, at most 14 months; thereafter they are deleted or retained in aggregated form without reference to an installation. Server logs are deleted after a short time. Data on your device remains as long as the app is installed.
No advertising, no sale
The app is not financed by advertising. No data is sold, used for advertising purposes or employed to build personality profiles.
Deleting data
The app has no user account – so there is no account to delete. You remove all data held on the device by uninstalling the app or by clearing the app data in your device settings. To have the usage data held at Firebase deleted, a message to app@dma.swiss is sufficient; please state that it concerns the Swiss Air Force app.
Data security
The app's connections are encrypted throughout (TLS). Access to the analyses is limited to a small number of authorised people. The systems in use are kept continuously up to date.
Your rights
You have the right to information about the data processed about you, as well as to its correction, deletion and – where the statutory conditions are met – its release or transfer. Address your request to app@dma.swiss or to the address given above. So that we can deal with your request, you must prove your identity.
Because the app works without a user account, we generally cannot attribute usage data to a particular person. In that case we can answer a request for information only in general terms.
Complaint
If you believe that we are in breach of data protection law, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner:
Changes
If the app develops further or the legal requirements change, we will adapt this policy. The version published here is the one that applies; the date appears at the beginning and at the end of the page.