1. Definitions
The platform operator is Rotary Communication Services Switzerland-Liechtenstein, an association incorporated under Swiss law (hereinafter also referred to as "RCS"), c/o Juris Treuhand AG, Industriestrasse 47, 6300 Zug (Switzerland), +41 (0)43 299 66 25, info@rotary.ch.
Community means all organizations affiliated with POLARIS and their user groups, in particular Rotary, Rotaract, Interact and Inner Wheel, including their respective organizational units.
Organizational units means all organizational structures of the community, in particular clubs, districts, multi-districts, services, fellowships, foundations, commissions or committees and comparable units.
POLARIS (or "platform") refers to the Internet-based club management system developed and operated by the platform operator for organizational units.
Rotary International (RI) refers to the global umbrella organization of the Rotary community, headquartered in Evanston, Illinois (USA). RI provides, coordinates and supports the global administrative, service and communication structures for the affiliated Rotary, Rotaract and Interact clubs.
User refers to all members of an organizational unit affiliated with POLARIS, including prospective members, invited non-members and persons with special administrator rights at club or district level or within another organizational unit.
2. Introduction
The platform is made available to organizational units for their own use so that they can carry out their administrative tasks – in particular club and district administration and the organization of events in digital form. In addition, POLARIS enables data exchange between affiliated organizational units and, where necessary, with RI (except Interact and Inner Wheel).
The community processes users' personal data in connection with the use of POLARIS. Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. Processing is carried out on the basis of the relevant legal provisions, in particular, where applicable, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation, "GDPR") and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection ("FADP").
By logging into the platform for the first time or registering for a public event, the user confirms that they have read this privacy policy and accept its contents without reservation. Accordingly, the user expressly agrees that their personal data may be collected and processed in accordance with this privacy policy.
RCS reserves the right to amend this privacy policy at any time. Users will be notified of any significant changes in an appropriate manner.
3. What personal data is processed?
The various organizational units process users' personal data via the platform, in particular when it is collected, modified, supplemented or deleted.
Personal data is processed at a higher level exclusively for members of the Rotary community (Rotary, Rotaract) by transferring such data to Rotary International (RI). The transfer can be automated via technical interfaces or manually. RI's privacy policy is available at https://my.rotary.org/en/privacy-policy.
For candidates, other contacts and members of Interact and Inner Wheel, personal data is processed exclusively at the level of the respective club or district. No data is transferred to higher levels (namely to RI) for these groups of people.
3.1 Categories of personal data that are processed
When using POLARIS, the following categories of personal data in particular may be processed:
a) Master data
Surname, first name, middle name, title, title after name, gender, date of birth, language.
b) Contact details
Private and business addresses, telephone numbers, private and business email addresses.
c) Membership-related data
Club membership, membership status, functions, date of joining and leaving, classification, awards, sponsors, information on participation in events (attendance) or absences, and other information entered by users.
d) Profile and additional information
Profile picture, professional details, company, links to social networks and other information provided voluntarily by the user.
e) Technical data
When accessing POLARIS, technical information is automatically collected, in particular:
Server log data (browser type, access times, IP address, host name),
Device information (device, operating system),
Cookies (to facilitate registration and use of the platform).
Technical data is processed exclusively by the platform operator to ensure operation and IT security. This technical data is not passed on to Rotary International or other organizational units of the association.
3.2 Transfer of personal data
a) Members of the Rotary community (Rotary, Rotaract)
For these user groups, the above-mentioned data – with the exception of technical data – may be processed within the community and, to the extent necessary for the administration of international membership, transmitted to Rotary International. Personal data transmitted to RI is marked as such in Polaris (RI).
In some countries, the respective national organizational units transfer certain personal data of members (in particular name and postal address) to a publisher commissioned by them in order to enable the dispatch of the respective Rotary magazine or comparable publications. The transfer includes only the data necessary for this purpose and takes place only in countries where these mailing processes are organized centrally. In countries where clubs or districts organize delivery themselves, no data is transferred to a publisher.
b) Candidates, other contacts and members of Interact and Inner Wheel
The same categories of data are processed for these groups of people, but only at the level of the respective club or district. No personal data is passed on to Rotary International or other higher-level organizational units.
c) Voluntarily provided data
Voluntarily provided information (e.g., additional profile information) is processed only for the respective purpose and only within the community. This data is transferred to RI exclusively for members of the Rotary community and only to the extent necessary to implement their membership.
4. Who processes personal data?
The respective organizational unit is responsible for the processing of personal data within its own POLARIS access area. It decides alone or jointly with other bodies which personal data is collected and for what purposes and by what means it is processed.
The technical processing of personal data on the platform is carried out by the platform operator. RCS ensures the operation and functionality of POLARIS and processes personal data exclusively within the scope of the technical provision, maintenance and further development of the platform.
5. Who has access to personal data?
The personal data entered by the user in POLARIS is generally visible to other users within the same POLARIS instance, insofar as this is necessary for the respective purpose or function and provided that the user has not set any further restrictions in their profile settings. In addition, personal data may appear in community publications and thus be made available to a wider public, provided that this is in line with the respective purpose and is legally permissible.
Club members have access to the personal data of other members of the same club. In addition, the data of club members is also visible to all other users of the same POLARIS instance, insofar as this is necessary for the fulfillment of the respective club and district functions and the member has not set any restrictions in their profile settings.
RCS, as the operator of POLARIS, and service providers contracted by RCS have access to users' personal data to the extent necessary to provide their services and have undertaken to maintain confidentiality vis-à-vis RCS. These service providers may include, in particular, providers of IT services (including hosting and cloud services), telecommunications and printing service providers, financial service providers, logistics companies and debt collection service providers in Switzerland or abroad. In all these cases, RCS ensures that personal data is only processed in accordance with the applicable data protection standards.
6. Purpose of data processing
The community processes personal data exclusively for clearly defined purposes and only to the extent necessary to fulfill those purposes. Processing is carried out in accordance with the applicable legal requirements, such as the GDPR and/or the FADP. Personal data is primarily processed for the following purposes:
a) Membership administration
The community processes personal data for the purpose of managing club membership to the extent necessary for the implementation of the membership relationship. This includes in particular:
the provision of services associated with membership (e.g. sending magazines, newsletters and other information),
invoicing,
responding to enquiries,
providing support with technical matters,
further developing, improving and redesigning POLARIS. This may also involve the exchange of data between clubs and districts and the transfer of data to RI (except for Interact and Inner Wheel), to the extent necessary.
b) Statistical evaluations
When visiting POLARIS, certain data may be collected for statistical purposes. These analyses serve to better understand the use of the platform and to improve its efficiency and functionality.
c) Compliance with legal obligations
The community processes personal data to the extent necessary to comply with legal requirements.
d) Legal protection and enforcement of claims
Personal data may be processed or transferred to third parties in Switzerland or abroad in order to enforce or defend legal claims. This includes, for example, commissioning debt collection agencies, insofar as this is necessary and legally permissible.
e) IT security and ensuring the operation of POLARIS
To ensure IT security and the proper operation of POLARIS, the platform operator processes personal data, including in test and training environments where the data is pseudonymized in advance, if this is technically possible.
f) Safeguarding legitimate interests
The community and RCS may process personal data if this is necessary to safeguard legitimate interests. This includes in particular:
the publication of personal data of deceased members in publications,
data processing for the enforcement or defense of claims,
archiving purposes,
compliance with statutory limitation periods,
measures to maintain IT security.
7. How long is personal data stored?
Personal data is only stored for as long as is necessary to fulfill the respective purposes. The purpose for which the data was originally collected or processed is decisive in this regard.
In addition, personal data may remain stored if there is a legitimate interest in doing so, in particular
to enforce or defend claims,
to ensure IT security,
to comply with statutory limitation periods or retention obligations.
As soon as personal data is no longer required for the original purpose and there are no legal retention obligations, it will be deleted or anonymized in POLARIS.
Users may also request the deletion of their personal data, provided that there are no legal retention obligations or overriding legitimate interests that prevent this. Such a request for deletion must be addressed to the responsible administrator of the respective club.
8. What rights exist under data protection law?
Users or data subjects have various rights with regard to their personal data under the applicable data protection laws (in particular the GDPR and the FADP). These include in particular:
a) Right to information
Data subjects may request information about whether personal data concerning them is being processed. If this is the case, they are entitled to information about the type, scope, purpose and categories of the data processed and, where applicable, about the recipients and storage period. Requests can be sent to dataprotection@rotary.ch .
b) Right to rectification
Incorrect or incomplete personal data can be corrected at any time. Users can make changes directly in their user account or ask the responsible administrator of their club to make the correction.
c) Right to erasure
Data subjects may request the erasure of their personal data, provided that there are no legal retention obligations or overriding legitimate interests that prevent this. Erasure may generally result in the termination of membership.
d) Right to restriction of processing
In certain cases – for example, in the event of disputed data or during the examination of an objection – the restriction of processing may be requested.
e) Right to object
Users may object to the processing of their personal data on grounds relating to their particular situation, insofar as this is based on a legitimate interest. In this case, the data will no longer be processed unless there are compelling legitimate grounds for the processing. Such a revocation will also generally result in the termination of the membership relationship with the respective club.
f) Right to data portability
Where provided for by law, there is a right to transfer the personal data provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. Upon request, the data may also be transferred directly to another controller, provided this is technically feasible.
g) Right to withdraw consent
Consent that has been given can be revoked at any time with effect for the future. The revocation does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out before the revocation.
h) Right to lodge a complaint
Data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority if they believe that their personal data has been processed unlawfully.
Exercising rights
Data subjects may exercise their rights in writing or electronically by contacting the responsible administrator of their club. The club will respond to such requests within one month of receipt at the latest.
9. Data security
RCS takes appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of personal data collected and processed via POLARIS and to protect it from unauthorized access, misuse, loss, falsification or destruction. These include, in particular, access restrictions, data backups, instructions to administrators, confidentiality agreements and appropriate monitoring and control mechanisms. Access to personal data is only permitted to those persons who need it to perform their duties.
As with all internet-based systems, security risks cannot be completely ruled out despite appropriate technical and organizational protective measures. There is a residual risk, particularly when transferring data via the internet or communicating by email, instant messaging or similar services. Users are therefore advised to transmit confidential information via particularly secure channels (e.g. by post) wherever possible.
RCS makes reasonable efforts to ensure that the platform meets the requirements for confidentiality, availability, integrity and resilience, taking into account the current state of technology and the associated costs. However, RCS accepts no responsibility for the consequences of unauthorized access to personal data if this is due to failure to comply with POLARIS security requirements or the general terms of use.
10. Cookies
Cookies are small text files that are stored on the user's device when visiting a website. They serve to recognize the user on subsequent visits, to apply certain settings and to facilitate the use of the platform. Cookies can, for example, be used to store the login session so that the username and password do not have to be re-entered each time the user visits the site. Cookies may also contain information about usage settings such as language or display options.
POLARIS has an integrated web analysis program that evaluates data exclusively in aggregated form. It is not possible to draw conclusions about individual natural persons. The web analysis collects and evaluates information about user behavior on the platform. Its purpose is to improve the efficiency, user-friendliness and performance of the platform.
The analysis program used on the platform records the usage flow of users. The controller uses the data collected in this way in particular to evaluate platform usage and to better understand user behavior when visiting the platform.
By visiting POLARIS, users expressly consent to the use of cookies. Users can restrict or prevent the storage of cookies at any time by adjusting the appropriate settings in their browser (e.g. in the "Options" or "Settings" menu). Cookies that have already been stored can also be deleted there at any time.
Polaris Privacy Policy / Version 1.0, March 2026