This is a machine-translated version of the orgininal Datenschutzerklärung in German.
Through the following notices, we explain how we and our commissioned partners (e.g., a web host) process your personal data (your name, email address, etc.) in connection with the use of our website.
Controller
The controller for the processing activities described is the Psychiatric Museum Bern.
If you have data protection concerns, you can contact us at: info@psychiatrie-museum.ch
Legal basis
The processing of personal data is always carried out in accordance with the applicable cantonal data protection act (KDSG) governing the Psychiatric Museum Bern and, where applicable, the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG).
General data and information when visiting the website
The protection of your data is very important to us. All personal data collected on our website is processed only to the extent necessary to ensure the functioning of the website, for its content, or for the services offered.
Access data (server log files)
With each call to our website, automated data (so-called server log files) about your visit are stored (“access data”). This data includes in particular:
- Name and URL of the website accessed
- Date and time of the request
- IP address
- Browser type and browser version
- Operating system
- Referrer URL (i.e., the webpage from which you reached our website)
The access data is processed exclusively for the purposes of ensuring functionality, security, and optimisation of our website. Deletion occurs once retention of the access data is no longer necessary for achieving the collection purpose (as a rule, after 10 to 30 days).
Cookies
We use cookies on our website to make it more user-friendly. Cookies are data that the visited website or its servers place on your computer via the browser in order to recognise it later. Cookies are used, for example, to display complex and dynamic content, to recognise you on your next visit to our website, or to improve user-friendliness. Depending on the case, cookies are deleted immediately after you close your browser or automatically removed from the hard drive of your computer after a certain period of time.
By configuring your browser accordingly, you can prevent the installation of cookies at any time or have a warning displayed before accepting a cookie so that you can decide for yourself whether to allow cookies. Cookies already stored can be deleted at any time.
Contact by form or email
If you contact us by email or via a form, the data is transmitted to and stored by the internal recipients designated for further processing. We use the information you voluntarily provide (e.g., name, email address, telephone number, question) solely to process your request and involve the internal departments and persons responsible for this. Data sharing with third parties occurs only on the basis of a legal authorisation or after obtaining your explicit consent.
Please note that communication by email or, in part, via a contact form does not take place over a secured or encrypted data connection. This means that your data may be lost during transmission or may be accessible to unauthorised persons. Contact by form or email is therefore at your own risk; in this regard, we assume no liability and reject any liability claims asserted in this connection.
By contacting us via the form or by email, you explicitly consent to the data processing described.
Third-party tools and plug-ins
By visiting our website, you also consent to the data processing described below.
Google Maps
Our website sometimes uses, via an API, the mapping service Google Maps provided by Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) for displaying an interactive map and creating directions. When using Google Maps, information about your use (e.g., IP address) may be stored and transferred to a Google server in the USA. You have the option to disable the Google Maps service and thus prevent data transfer to Google Maps. However, please note that in this case you will not be able to use the map display on our website. Further information on the handling of user data can be found in Google’s privacy policy.
Everst Forms
We use Everest Forms software to operate the contact form on the website. Everest Forms sends the entered data directly to our email address and stores a copy of the content in encrypted form on its servers in accordance with its Privacy Policy. No data is shared. Further information on the handling of user data can be found in Everest Forms’ Privacy Policy.
Akismet (anti-spam service)
We collect information about visitors who leave comments on websites that use our anti-spam service Akismet. Which information we collect depends on which Akismet settings the user has set for the website. In general, however, this includes the IP address of the comment author, the user agent, the referrer, and the URL of the website (supplemented by information provided directly by the author of the comment, e.g., name, username, email address and the comment itself).
Retention period
We process and store your personal data for as long as it is necessary to fulfil our contractual and legal obligations or otherwise the purposes pursued by the processing, and, in addition, in accordance with statutory retention and documentation obligations. It is possible that personal data is retained for the period during which claims against our company may be asserted and, to the extent we are legally required to do so or legitimate interests require it (e.g., for evidence and documentation purposes). Once your personal data is no longer required for the purposes listed above, it will generally be deleted or anonymised, where possible.
Disclosure and data transfer abroad
We disclose your personal data only to third parties in order to use technical or organisational services that we require to fulfil the stated purposes or our other business activities.
Any further disclosures of your personal data occur only if you have given your express consent or if the data has been anonymised in such a way that no conclusions can be drawn about you.
If data is transferred to a country without an adequate level of data protection, we ensure an adequate level of data protection as provided by law, by using appropriate contracts (in particular on the basis of the so-called Standard Contractual Clauses) or so-called Binding Corporate Rules, or we rely on statutory exceptions of consent, contract performance, the establishment, exercise or enforcement of legal claims, or overriding public interests.
Rights of website users
You have the right at any time and free of charge to request information about the processing of your personal data; for this purpose, contact the body stated in the imprint. Further rights, such as the right to data erasure, data rectification, restriction of processing, the right to data portability, the right to withdraw any consent that may have been given, and the right to object to the processing of your personal data, exist within the framework prescribed by law. Please note, however, that we reserve the right to assert the statutory limitations—for example, if we are obliged to retain or process certain data, have an overriding interest in doing so, or need it for the assertion of claims.
The exercise of such rights generally requires that you clearly prove your identity (e.g., by providing a copy of an ID document).
Collecting data for providing the website and storing data in log files is mandatory for operating our website. Therefore, users of our website have no right to object in this regard.
Changes
We may update this privacy policy at any time without prior notice. The latest version published on our website applies. Where this privacy policy forms part of an agreement with you, we will inform you in the event of updates about the changes by email or by other appropriate means.
Last updated: July 2026