Privacy Policy

This website can be used without giving any personal data. Buying, managing a subscription and getting in touch produce data. What that data is, is set out here.

1. Controller

Responsible for the processing of personal data on this website is:

Media Atelier
Stefan Fürst
Bühlstrasse 43a
8055 Zurich
Switzerland

[email protected]
https://mediaatelier.com

Questions about data protection go to this address. No data protection adviser has been appointed; Swiss law does not require one for a business of this size.

2. Applicable law

Media Atelier is based in Zurich. The primary reference is therefore the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) together with its ordinance.

GrandTotal is also sold to customers in the European Economic Area. For their data the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR) applies in addition, because the offering is expressly directed at people in the EU. Where the two frameworks differ, whichever provision is more favourable to the person concerned applies.

The competent supervisory authority in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), Feldeggweg 1, 3003 Bern.

3. What a mere visit to the site produces

a) Server logs

Every request leaves an entry in the web server's log: address requested, date and time, IP address, browser and its version, operating system, the page visited before (referrer) and the volume of data transferred. They serve the operation and security of the website and checks on compliance with the licence agreement.

b) The cookie

This website sets a single cookie, __id. It holds a random identifier with no connection to a name, is set on the first page view and expires after two years. The identifier connects page views, program download and later purchase in the same browser, and serves audience measurement to tell returning visits from new ones (see letter c).

The cookie is readable only by the server (HttpOnly) and is passed on to no one. Third-party cookies — for advertising or tracking purposes — are not used. To fend off automated access, however, Cloudflare (see letter e) may set a technical cookie of its own.

Every browser can be set to refuse cookies or to delete those already stored. Without this cookie the website remains fully usable; returning visits then count as new ones in the measurement.

c) Audience measurement with Matomo

Matomo is used to evaluate access to the site, analytics software on this website's own server. The data collected does not leave that server. Recorded are the pages requested, the referring source, the time spent, details about browser, operating system and screen size, and individual events on the page — how far a page was read, for instance, whether a video was started or a file downloaded. Plus the IP address: it is stored in full and serves to detect automated access. Matomo sets no cookies of its own; it recognises returning visits by the identifier from the cookie described under letter b. The browser setting “Do Not Track” is respected: anyone who has it switched on is not recorded by Matomo.

d) Log of page views

The server records which pages were requested in which order. The log hangs on the identifier __id from letter b and serves the question of which content leads to a purchase decision. No merging with third-party data takes place.

e) Delivery via Cloudflare

This website is delivered via Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., USA). Cloudflare sits in front of the web server, speeds up delivery and fends off automated attacks. In doing so it processes, as a processor, the IP address of every request (on disclosure to the USA see section 7). Privacy terms: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/

4. Getting in touch

Anyone who makes contact by e-mail or through a form on this website transmits at least an e-mail address and the content of the enquiry. These details are stored in order to answer the enquiry and to be able to follow the history in the event of later questions. The same applies to enquiries made from within GrandTotal.

Replies.io and Gmail are used to handle e-mail correspondence, Sentry to evaluate program crashes. These providers are processors and may use the data only for the purposes named.

5. Purchase, payment and subscription

For a purchase, name, e-mail address, billing address, the payment method chosen and the subscription details are processed. This data is required to perform the contract; without it no purchase comes about. Licence and invoice arise from it, and it is then subject to the statutory retention obligation (see section 8).

a) Stripe

Payments and subscriptions are handled through Stripe. Payment by credit card, SEPA direct debit and iDEAL runs through it, as does the recurring charge for a subscription. Name, e-mail address, billing address and the payment method details are transmitted for this purpose. Full card details are processed exclusively by Stripe and never reach Media Atelier's server. Stripe's privacy terms are at https://stripe.com/privacy.

b) Chargebee

Before the move to in-house subscription management, subscriptions were managed through Chargebee. No new data is transmitted there any more; only the remaining subscriptions not yet moved over still run through Chargebee, until they are moved or expire. Chargebee's privacy terms are at https://www.chargebee.com/privacy/.

6. Details from the program itself

At regular intervals GrandTotal checks the licence held with Media Atelier's server and asks it for a new program version. Transmitted in the process are the licence and subscription number, a device identifier, details about the device and the operating system, and about which program features are used to what extent. From this follows how many devices a licence runs on — the number of workstations is part of the contract —, which features are developed further, and whether a licence has been passed on without authorisation.

The contents of the documents do not leave the device. A device that does not report in for six months is deleted along with these details.

7. Disclosure abroad

The web server and the Matomo installation are located in Switzerland. Some of the processors named in sections 3 to 5 are based in the United States or process data there. In those cases the disclosure rests on the standard contractual clauses of the European Commission, which the FDPIC has recognised for Switzerland, or on a certification of the recipient under the Swiss–U.S. Data Privacy Framework. No disclosure to recipients other than those named here takes place, unless a legal obligation requires it.

8. Retention and deletion

Personal data is kept only as long as the purpose requires or the law prescribes. In detail:

  • Purchase and invoice data — kept indefinitely. The commercial retention obligation runs for ten years; beyond that, invoices and licences stay available so they can still be downloaded from the customer portal years later. Anyone whose last purchase was before 2016 and who has no subscription can delete their account in the customer portal: all personal data is removed — name, address, email, VAT ID. The amount and date remain as an accounting record.

  • Enquiries and correspondence — as long as the matter must remain traceable, at most as long as warranty or contract questions can arise from it.

  • Server logs — archived monthly; the host keeps the archives of the last few months.

  • Download log — three months; after that only monthly totals remain, with no reference to an individual download.

  • Details from the program (section 6) — six months without the device reporting in, then they are deleted.

  • Measurement data and page log — the individual entries are deleted after twelve months; only totals remain, with no reference to an individual visit.

Delete account: the sign-in link for the customer portal arrives by email.

9. Data security

The website and the customer portal are encrypted throughout with TLS. Access to the server and to the database is limited to the controller. Payment data is not stored in-house but processed exclusively by Stripe.

10. Rights of the person concerned

The following rights exist towards Media Atelier. They can be exercised informally at [email protected]; as a safeguard, it is checked whether the person asking is in fact the person whose data is concerned.

  • Access — to whether and which personal data is processed, for what purpose, for how long and to whom it is disclosed (Art. 25 FADP, Art. 15 GDPR). Access is free of charge.

  • Rectification — incorrect data is corrected on request (Art. 32 para. 1 FADP, Art. 16 GDPR).

  • Erasure — data is deleted provided no statutory retention obligation stands in the way (Art. 32 para. 2 FADP, Art. 17 GDPR).

  • Release and transfer — data processed on the basis of consent or of a contract is released in a common electronic format or, on request, transferred directly to another body (Art. 28 FADP, Art. 20 GDPR).

  • Objection — processing for measurement purposes (section 3, letters c and d) can be objected to at any time, without giving reasons and without disadvantage (Art. 30 para. 2 let. b FADP, Art. 21 GDPR). Switching on “Do Not Track” in the browser or sending a short message is enough.

  • Restriction — instead of erasure, it can be demanded that data only be kept and not processed further (Art. 18 GDPR).

  • Withdrawal of consent — consent once given can be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future.

  • Complaint — to the FDPIC (address in section 2) or, for people in the EU, to the supervisory authority of one's own country of residence (Art. 77 GDPR).

11. No automated individual decisions

Decisions that significantly affect someone legally or in a similar way are not taken automatically. The measurement in section 3 serves the design of the website.

12. Basis of the processing

Swiss law requires no special permission for processing personal data, as long as it is done in good faith, proportionately and recognisably.

Where the GDPR applies in addition, the processing rests on Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR where it is needed to perform the purchase contract or to answer an enquiry; on Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR where a legal obligation exists, in particular in tax and accounting matters; and on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR for the secure operation of the website, the warding off of automated access and audience measurement. Where consent is obtained, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR is the basis.

13. Changes to this policy

This policy is adjusted as soon as the processing changes. The version published on this page is the one that applies.

As of September 2026