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Privacy policy

Last updated: 1 October 2026

1. What this privacy policy covers

This privacy policy explains how we process personal data when you visit the website qualitytiles.ch (QualityTiles), send us an installation request, a tile search request or an order request, or contact us in any other way.

It is based on the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), in force since 1 September 2023, and the Data Protection Ordinance (DPO). Where the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, the information in section 15 applies in addition.

2. Controller

The controller responsible for the data processing described in this privacy policy is:

Keramik Elia AG, Füllerichstrasse 51, 3073 Gümligen, Switzerland

Email: info@qualitytiles.ch

For questions about data protection and to exercise your rights, please contact us at this email address.

3. Visiting the website

3.1 No cookies, no analytics or tracking services

We do not set any cookies when you visit the website. We do not use analytics or tracking services, advertising or remarketing technologies, or social media plug-ins. The website’s images, videos and code are loaded from our own server; no fonts from external providers and no content delivery networks (CDN) are used.

Only the non-public administration area for authorised staff uses a technically necessary session cookie after login. This cookie cannot be read by scripts (HttpOnly), is valid only for the administration interface and expires after 12 hours at the latest. Visitors to the website are not affected.

3.2 Server log files

Each time the website is accessed, our web server automatically records the following information in log files:

  • IP address of the accessing device;
  • date and time of access;
  • requested address (URL) or file and the type of request (e.g. page view or form submission);
  • HTTP status code and amount of data transferred;
  • previously visited page (referrer), if your browser transmits it;
  • information about the browser and operating system used (user agent).

We need this information to provide the website, to ensure its security and stability, to prevent misuse and to analyse errors. We do not combine it with other data and do not create usage profiles from it. Log data is kept only as long as necessary for these purposes and then deleted, unless it is needed in an individual case to investigate a security incident.

3.3 Protection against misuse

To protect our forms and interfaces against misuse and overload, we limit the number of requests per period. For this purpose, your IP address is not stored in plain text but only in pseudonymised form as a cryptographic check value. These entries are deleted automatically as soon as they are no longer needed for this purpose.

4. Storage in your browser (local storage and session storage)

To keep your selections, the website stores certain information in your browser’s local storage. This data stays on your device and is not transmitted to us:

  • “qualitytiles.interactive.v2”: selected language, product selections (e.g. colour and size), cart, choice between delivery and collection, areas entered, favourites and your room and surface details for product selection;
  • “qt-recent-v1”: up to twelve recently viewed products (product identifiers only).

In addition, the website stores a random value in session storage under “qualitytiles.shop-order.v1” so that the order of products in the shop stays the same during your visit. Your browser deletes this value when you close the browser window or tab.

You can delete this data at any time in your browser settings. The website also works without local storage; your selections are then kept only for the current session.

5. Room visualisation with your own photos

In the “View in a room” tool, you can try out surfaces in sample rooms or on your own photo. Your photo is processed exclusively locally in your browser. It is neither uploaded to our server nor transmitted to third parties, and we do not store it. If you save a result image, it is stored only on your device.

6. Installation requests and tile search requests

6.1 Data we process

When you send us an installation request or a tile search request via the website, we process the following data:

  • contact details: first name, last name and email address and, if you provide them, telephone number, postcode and town (postcode and town are required for installation requests) and your preferred contact method;
  • project details for installation requests: e.g. type of project and work, surfaces concerned and area details, desired time frame, budget, existing covering, your description and any linked product (with the number of packs, where calculated);
  • details for tile searches: e.g. product link, brand, series, article number, size, quantity, desired degree of match, area of use and your description;
  • files you upload (photos, videos and PDF documents) as well as messages and files that you or we add later on the private project page;
  • administrative data: project number, selected language, date and time of the request and of your confirmation of the privacy information, processing status and history.

Mandatory fields are marked in the form. Without this information we cannot process your request; all other information is voluntary. Where possible, please do not upload photos or videos in which people can be recognised, and do not send us sensitive personal data.

6.2 Purposes

We use this data to review and answer your request, to clarify questions, to prepare a quote or offer, to communicate with you via the private project page and by email, and to perform any resulting contract.

6.3 Storage and protection of files

Your request is stored in a database on our server. Uploaded files are stored in a directory that is not publicly accessible and can only be retrieved via the private project page and by authorised staff. When uploaded, photos are re-saved and cleaned of embedded metadata such as EXIF data and GPS location data. Embedded metadata in videos and PDF documents is not removed; please check such files before uploading them.

Our server does not automatically open a product link that you provide.

6.4 Project number and private project link

After submitting, you receive a project number and a personal link to your private project page. There you can view your request, exchange messages with us and add further files. Anyone who knows this link has access to the project, the messages and the files. Please share the link only with people you trust and inform us immediately if unauthorised persons may have obtained it.

6.5 Email notifications

If email delivery is enabled, you receive an acknowledgement of receipt with the project number and your personal link after submitting, as well as notifications of new replies. Our team receives a notification containing your contact and project details. Uploaded files are not sent by email; they remain on the server and can be accessed via the project page. We use Hostpoint AG (Switzerland) to send emails.

7. Order requests in the shop

When you send us an order request via the shop, we process the following data: first name, last name and email address and, if you provide them, telephone number and company; the chosen delivery or collection method, the delivery address and the billing address; the requested products with size, number of packs, the area you need as entered by you and the provisional values calculated from it; your message and whether you also request installation work; and administrative data such as project number, selected language, date and time of the request and of your confirmation of the privacy information, processing status and history. If you place an order with us in another way, we process the data required for this and our correspondence with you.

Your order request is stored in a database on our server. No files are sent with the order request itself. After submitting, we show you a project number and a private link to your project page; sections 6.3 and 6.4 apply to the project page and to messages and files that you or we add there later. Email notifications are sent in accordance with section 6.5 if email delivery is enabled.

We use this data to review and confirm the order, to deliver or hand over the goods, to invoice, to keep our accounts, to handle notices of defects and warranty cases and to comply with legal obligations. No online payment is processed via the website; we therefore do not collect credit card or other payment data there.

8. Contact by email

When you contact us by email, we process your email address, the content of your message and any attachments in order to respond to your enquiry. Emails sent to addresses at the qualitytiles.ch domain are received via Hostpoint AG in Switzerland. Please note that emails may not be encrypted throughout transmission; therefore, please do not send us confidential information by email.

9. Purposes and grounds for processing

We process personal data only for the purposes stated in this privacy policy and only to the extent necessary. The processing is based in particular on:

  • preparing and performing a contract with you, e.g. handling requests, quotes, orders and warranty cases;
  • compliance with legal obligations, e.g. retention obligations under commercial and tax law;
  • our overriding legitimate interests, in particular in the secure and stable operation of the website, the prevention of misuse, efficient communication and the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
  • your consent, where we ask for it in an individual case. You can withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future.

We do not use your data for advertising and do not sell it. We do not make automated individual decisions and do not carry out profiling.

10. Recipients and processors

Only authorised staff of Keramik Elia AG have access to your data, to the extent they need it for their tasks. In addition, data may be disclosed to the following recipients:

  • Hosting: the website, the database and uploaded files are located on a server of Hetzner Online GmbH in Germany, which acts on our behalf.
  • Email: Hostpoint AG, Switzerland, for receiving and sending emails.
  • Transport companies, manufacturers and suppliers, to the extent necessary for procuring, delivering or directly delivering ordered products, e.g. name, delivery address and telephone number for announcing the delivery.
  • Authorities and courts, to the extent we are legally obliged to do so or it is necessary to protect our rights.
  • External advisers, e.g. for fiduciary or legal matters, to the extent necessary in an individual case and provided they are bound by confidentiality.

Processors may only process the data in the way we ourselves would be permitted to, and only on our instructions.

11. Disclosure abroad

Our server is located in Germany; your data is therefore stored and processed in Germany. Where necessary for procuring or directly delivering products, individual details, e.g. name and delivery address, may also be disclosed to manufacturers or suppliers in Italy or in other EU or EEA states. The Swiss Federal Council has determined that Germany, Italy and the other EU and EEA states provide adequate data protection (Annex 1 DPO).

No disclosure to states without adequate data protection is planned. Should it become necessary in an individual case, it will only take place under the conditions of Articles 16 and 17 FADP, e.g. on the basis of standard data protection clauses or because the disclosure is necessary to perform a contract with you.

12. Retention and deletion

We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected:

  • We keep data from installation requests, tile search requests and order requests for as long as necessary to handle the request and to perform any resulting contract, including warranty.
  • We keep data that forms part of the business records we are required to retain, e.g. invoices and the related order and contract documents, for the statutory retention period. Under Swiss commercial law, this period is ten years (Art. 958f of the Swiss Code of Obligations, CO).
  • You can ask us at any time to delete your data earlier. We will comply with this request unless a statutory retention obligation or an overriding interest, e.g. the protection of legal claims, prevents it.
  • Data in your browser’s local storage stays on your device until you delete it.

13. Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include in particular encrypted transmission (HTTPS/TLS), password-protected access restricted to authorised staff, storage of uploaded files outside the publicly accessible area, unguessable access keys for private project links and the removal of metadata from photos. However, absolute security in the transmission and storage of data on the Internet cannot be guaranteed.

14. Your rights

Within the scope of applicable data protection law, you have in particular the following rights:

  • access to information on whether and which personal data we process about you (Art. 25 FADP);
  • rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data;
  • deletion of your data, unless a statutory retention obligation or an overriding interest prevents it;
  • objection to certain processing and withdrawal of consent given, with effect for the future;
  • release or transfer of the personal data you have provided to us in a common electronic format (Art. 28 FADP).

Please send your request to info@qualitytiles.ch. To rule out misuse, we may ask you to prove your identity. We generally respond to requests within 30 days. These rights are not unlimited; statutory exceptions, e.g. under Art. 26 FADP, remain reserved.

If you believe that we are not processing your data lawfully, you can contact us at any time. You can also file a report with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), Feldeggweg 1, 3003 Bern, www.edoeb.admin.ch.

15. Information for persons in the EU and EEA (GDPR)

Where the GDPR applies to the processing of your data, for example because we offer goods or services to persons in the EU or EEA (Art. 3(2) GDPR), the following also applies:

  • Legal bases: performance of a contract or pre-contractual measures (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR), legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR), legitimate interests, in particular in security, prevention of misuse and communication (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), and your consent where we ask for it (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).
  • Rights: you have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR), data portability (Art. 20 GDPR) and objection (Art. 21 GDPR), and the right to withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR).
  • Complaints: you can lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement (Art. 77 GDPR).
  • Transfers to Switzerland: the European Commission has recognised that Switzerland ensures an adequate level of data protection.

16. Changes

We may amend this privacy policy at any time, in particular if we change our data processing or introduce new features. The current version published on this website applies.